<p>I currently attend Bronx CC with hopes of being able to transfer to a 4 year college for the Spring '13 semester.
I desperately want to experience the true college feel and go upstate for college but money is the issue. Attending a CUNY, the tuition is awesome. I receive financial aid and I don't have to pay anything out of pocket for tuition. My family income is extremely low and on my FAFSA, my EFC is 0. While I am extremely grateful for the aid I am receiving, I would love to move on to higher heights. Attending a commuter college is extremely dull with not much social life. Most students just come and leave. The social scene is even worse for me as I just moved up here so I don't know ANYBODY.
I know I would experience so much more staying on campus.
My plans for transferring is to either attend CUNY Baruch or, if possible, SUNY Binghamton or Albany. If I stay in the city, I won't have to worry about tuition, if I go up state however, I would need to come up with around $6,000 or so.
I have heard the horrid stories about student loans and my mom advised me not to take out any. Is it worth it? Do I take the loans and as soon as I get a job work towards paying them off? Can somebody please shed some insight on me?</p>
<p>As long as you stick with the Stafford loans, you should be alright. It seems that people tend to go to extremes but some loans are acceptable. The ones that are scaring people are people who graduate with over $100,000 in debt or more just to attend a private school. The most you can borrow through the Stafford program is $27,000 for four years. You have already eliminated two years of loans by going to a CC–congratulations! Graduating with $12,000 is very doable. You have a six month grace period after graduating before you have to start repayments and you have up to ten years to repay. You can get more information at the financial aid office of the schools you are considering or at [Student</a> Aid on the Web](<a href=“http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp]Student”>http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/index.jsp). I think it would be worth the debt to spend your final two year on campus.</p>
<p>What is the full Cost of Attendance at each of these universities, and how much is covered by Pell, TAP, etc.? If you need to add increased living expenses on top of an increase of $6,000 for tuition and fees, that can add up to a really big number.</p>
<p>You may want to run your situation by the experts in the Financial Aid Forum. They will be able to help you figure this out.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>