Some are assuming that he is getting $5500 in federal loans on top of the $14,000 a year of private loans. He isn’t willing to live at home after college, assuming in a big city, but is willing to commute for four years? If there are enough friends going to Kent, it should be fine. Many from my high school went to the regional university. Lower grad rate and regional jobs unless a strong accounting student.
OP directly said that in the first post:
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I agree that there is a big hole in the narrative, here. So far as I can tell - and, taking into consideration the $5500 in federal student loans - this is another situation where a private college (Miami UofO) has matched a local public in terms of tuition discounting (primarily in the form of financial aid grants), but the parents are still unable to fulfill their portion of the EFC without Parent Plus loans. We’ve been to this rodeo before. The bottom line is that the only way the OP can afford college is to commute for some portion of his college life.
I would love to see the actual net price calculations involved here, but that’s up to the OP. I’m just a little annoyed that any parent would allow their kid to go down the path of taking on that much debt instead of sitting them down right from the beginning and telling them how much they could actually afford to spend on college.
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Miami is public.
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Oops. NVM. Query: Then, would commuting to Miami be impossible?
See post “The cost of the two are almost exactly the same if I were to live on campus. So, yes, the savings are completely from living at home. And unfortunately I cannot commute to Miami since it is 4 hours away. Otherwise I would since I’d only have to pay 3k per year at Miami commuting. And, yes, I still have parental contribution and summer earnings at Miami, but that still only would bring be down to 14k per year in total loans (federal and private, living on campus). Miami costs ~19k per year to live on campus and kent would cost ~6k a year to commute, maybe 7-8k including gas, but my parents would probably be willing to pay for gas.“
Yes commuting would not be possible as OP said it’s a 4 hour drive from their house to MOhio in post #7.
Keep in mind that if you can move to off campus housing after the first year your housing costs should go down significantly - may be able to cut it in half. Not sure if your cost estimates take that into account. Also, $19k is pretty high for room and board - have a look and see if you have options for a less expensive dorm (triple/quad??).
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Sure did.
“If I were to commute to this college I would save sooooo much money, it’d cost me about only $6000 per year to commute and with the money I make during the summer and my parent’s contribution I’d be down to only $1000 (or less) a year and I have enough in my 529 to cover these leftover costs.”
Miami (#103 ranking):
$19,500 in loans
Kent State (#217 ranking):
$5,500 in loans
Assume internships and final job outcome is a bit better at Miami but would OP get internship in his hometown area or in big city requiring living expenses. Summer jobs for first couple years would probably be in home area. Miami says their graduation rate is highest among Ohio public Us. Not sure about Kent State.
Kent State as a commuter makes the most financial success.
BUT . . . If you decide to commute to Kent State and participate in “the full college experience” as a commuter, then you’d better take a pledge that you’ll NEVER get behind the wheel of a car after consuming alcohol. NEVER. EVER.
How much is your life worth?
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So, wait. In-state tuition at Miami is $12K. OP is still being treated to a substantial amount of tuition discounting, if his net cost (not counting R&B) is only $3K.
Basically, the parents don’t have the money to pay any tuition - but, they’d still be eligible for Parent Plus loans? Sure about that?
I don’t know the parents’ financial situation, nor do I know what type of loan they will be accessing. Parent Plus loans are generally very easy to qualify for, but certainly it is a risk for some families that they might not continue to qualify for $20K in loans each year for four consecutive years.
ETA: I still think nearly $90K in loans is too much for undergrad, even for a CS major.
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I think we’re in agreement.
I a m with the consensus here -Kent State is the best choice.
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There seem to be “reasonably” priced off campus options at Miami which could potentially reduce the R&B costs.
Perhaps you could start at Kent or a local CC and then transfer to Miami too. Just trying to think of other options.
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No there aren’t, not even Harvard and Stanford.
Certainly there’s a caveat there and that’s the amount of debt. Students routinely pay full price at elite schools turning down full rides at their state flagships or OOS state schools. There’s no evidence that on a pure financial basis they’ll ever make up the opportunity cost of that money.
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So “full college experience” just means getting drunk regularly?
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Are you trying to be insulting or are you just being obtuse?
Freshmen and sophomores required to live on campus at Miami OH.
Room Selection | Campus Services Center - Miami University
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Neither. Trying to understand what you are saying.