<p>Thank you for this, by the way. You’ve been the voice of reason here today. :)</p>
<p>I say this because the prices keep going up! Don’t tell me about free money – she’s going to have a TON to pay back after graduation. And I’ve personally dropped a small fortune on books that the damned loans and grants DON’T pay for!</p>
<p>Furthermore, my daughter is a straight-A student, who has been looking for work FOR A YEAR! She lucked into this job and I’m glad she has it.</p>
<p>You’re insinuating that she wasn’t looking for work and she was, desperately. I’ve managed to get her this far on a wing and NOT ONE ANSWERED PRAYER.</p>
<p>So I think your assumptions are a bit off.</p>
<p>Good luck, I hope she finds a way to work things out. I’m glad she finally managed to find a job. That sounds like maybe ONE answered prayer?</p>
<p>Everyone on here drops a small fortune on our kids’ education, and most of our kids are also taking quite a bit in loans in their own names. We do it because we hope it is a worthwhile investment in their future. But you do have to make a decision about whether the amount you & she have to pay is indeed a worthwhile investment in her future. If it’s not, then stop spending the money and help her find a more appropriate path. It’s not a “scam” (unless maybe she is at a for-profit school) – it’s an EXPENSIVE investment, and as with every investment, you have to figure out whether or not you can afford it, and whether or not it’s worth it in your situation. Not everyone has to take the same path.</p>
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<p>No, not everyone. Some of us seek out and take advantage of affordable routes to high quality educations.</p>
<p>Fordham is a very expensive private university located in one of the most expensive cities in the world. The school does not meet the full need of all accepted students. </p>
<p>Working enough hours to earn $400 a week sounds like TOO many hours of work for a full time student.</p>
<p>I agree with annasdad…but I would amend to say that MOST people choose colleges that are affordable without going into huge debt. </p>
<p>I would have your daughter talk to her dad. If he REALLY has the means to pay this bill, maybe he will do so. If he doesn’t, this is something you will face year after year…and the cost of attending Fordham will go up annually. If its NOT affordable, better to find a more affordable option NOW than when your daughter is a junior.</p>
<p>Ella, I feel your pain. I’m part of an SSS program, and the vast majority of my students are low income. “Holds” on registration are quite common for them, and it is a scramble every semester to come up with cash. Ofttimes, students can’t register for spring until the day before classes start because they had to go work over break/summer to pay off balances. It is frustrating. The last minute registration means classes can close. Mostly faculty are accommodating, but sometimes, there’s a limited number of lab stations and no way to overload.</p>
<p>The institution, however, is a business with bills, too. It requires a shift in our thinking, but we have to make it and look at the school as a business rather than a public entity. (If you have something on layaway, you can’t take it home until the balance is paid, even if you have just a few dollars left.) They cannot allow us to continue until the bill is paid. It comes back to bite them when that happens. </p>
<p>If you’ve already been rejected by Sallie Mae, is that good enough, then, to go get the payment plan?</p>
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Agree with this. Most students don’t get free money at taxpayer expense.
How much will she owe after graduation? What’s her major? Do you think paying back the loans will be a problem?</p>
<p>To the OP, I realize your frustration, but you cant blame the school. Your daughter should thank her lucky stars that the semester is almost over and her classes havent been dropped, because that is the rule at most schools. Colleges are quite clear, balances must be paid in full. If she has used her max stafford, then you should apply for a plus loan for the 1K, actually a little more than 1k since there are origination fees. Plus loans have very lenient credit requirements and they are provided by the govt. Your daughter can then pay you back. </p>
<p>You should be thankful that your daughter, qualified for Pell. There are a whole bunch of us that are considered middle class, we dont qualify for grants, yet we dont have 20-40k a year sitting around or saved up, for college. I have one in school now, and one who will enter next year, and yes, my sons bill has to be paid in full each semester. I certainly dont have months to come up with the balance.</p>
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<p>Well, this isn’t really incompatible with dropping a small fortune. We also chose a school that is “affordable” for us are not going into debt for our son’s schooling, but we are spending what feels like a fortune to us. He is contributing and taking on debt – max $7500/year though he was able to take less this year by saving more from a good summer job. Even though most people do choose schools that are “affordable” I think almost everyone feels stretched by paying for college. Those with non-cooperative NCPs even more so, in many cases.</p>
<p>Not all of us have state schools within commuting distance, though, so our options are more limited.</p>
<p>Both schools I have been associated with will put a hold on the student’s account and not allow enrollment if there is any outstanding unpaid balance. I think that is the norm. One of the schools would drop a student out of classes if they were not paid for. The other did not do that, but did block any enrollment. Both also charge 1.5% interest each month on unpaid balances.</p>
<p>Many schools do have payment plans, but they must usually be set up *before *the bill becomes due, it is generally too late once the bill is past due. Once the current outstanding bill is paid up, have your daughter check to see if there is a payment plan she can sign up for in advance for future balances. I know my son-in-law, who is in grad school, missed the boat and did not get signed up for the payment plan his first semester as the application had to be done a couple of weeks before the total payment would have been due. His school would not let him sign up for the payment plan after the deadline, so he ended up having to pay some late and incurred some interest fees. He learned a big lesson from it. Although a big chunk of his tuition is covered by a TA tuition waiver, he still has some to pay and this upcoming semester he is making sure to sign up by the deadline for the payment plan so he can spread the payments over a few months and pay it out of his monthly TA stipend.</p>
<p>My kids both got FA - PELL but also a small state grant and, luckily for her, my daughter was in school when the ACG and SMART grants were in place. She also had some good merit scholarships which were a lifesaver and, along with the federal grants, helped keep her total debt down to around $20k which is more than enough to start life with. We paid some out of pocket but they both ended up with some debt as well. We were extremely grateful for that grant aid, but I’m not sure I would call qualifying for the PELL *lucky *as it means your income is very low. The first time my son tried college it would not have crossed our minds to apply for aid as our income was good. Things changed because of job layoffs and some severe health issues and, having been in both places, I felt a *lot *luckier back then when our income was too high for aid than I did a few years later when our financial lives had changed unexpectedly for the worse! Very grateful then option was there but I would have preferred not to be poor enough to qualify. But I don’t know how receiving grant aid can be referred to as a scam by the recipient. It was a life saver for us</p>
<p>I think the OP was meaning to refer to the cost of college overall as the “scam”, even though she said financial aid. I have my fingers crossed that everything works out for the OP’s student.</p>
<p>I just looked up rm& board for Fordham - wow, very expensive!</p>
<p>I am concerned that OP says her daughter is going to owe a small fortune at graduation,while I think maximum Stafford loans are managable for most students, oweing more than that can negatively impact their abilty to consider jobs after college not to mention taking on new expenses like buying a car or a house.</p>
<p>I also think that earning $400 a week for expenses, may be much more than students should be working, it “might” seem manageable as a freshman, but at any college academic ramp up for upperclassmen.
I wonder if she had other schools that were more affordable, maybe offer merit aid along with loans & grants?</p>
<p>I assume the student is not paying the full cost of Fordham but got some other merit and/or need-based aid.</p>