<p>does anyone know if working in the DA’s office as an ADA qualifies for loan forgiveness? </p>
<p>edit…looks like it does, but only after make 120 payments</p>
<p>Is the answer here?</p>
<p><a href=“Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense”>http://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_aid_indigent_defendants/initiatives/loan_repayment_assistance_programs/state_loan_repayment_assistance_programs.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_aid_indigent_defendants/ls_slcaid_lrap_state_chart_eligible_loans.authcheckdam.pdf”>http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/legal_aid_indigent_defendants/ls_slcaid_lrap_state_chart_eligible_loans.authcheckdam.pdf</a></p>
<p>@mom2collegekids Yes, but not in all states and the terms vary by state. For example, in New York, the DA or ADA is not eligible until they’ve completed 4 years on the job and the max forgiveness amount is 20k. Also, if the loan has ever been in default, the employee is disqualified from this opportunity. </p>
<p>No employer is going to pay off a 90k loan (assuming the OP graduates in 3 years and was even able to borrow 30k per year), and no one is going to pay off a loan without putting in some years on the job first. The loan doesn’t get paid off in a lump sum, either. The payments may begin in year 5 and end in year 9, but if the employee quits his/her job, the loan payments stop. As others have also mentioned, PLUS, Perkins, and private loans do not qualify for loan forgiveness.</p>
<p>Any public employee, including lawyers working in a DA’s office, can qualify for the debt forgiveness offered by the government on qualifying loans. You must make 120 payments (they do not have to be consecutive)r and then request that your remaining debt be forgiven. 119 payments? No forgiveness. Leave the job after 67 payments? No forgiveness. If you combine that program with the income based repayment program (also available on qualified loans), any amount remaining will be forgiven, and not taxes. Ten years is a long time to be working at a low wage. Most ADAs don’t make it that long.</p>
<p>It is a good program for some people, but it a really long road to plan to be on it for 10 years at fairly low wages. The IBR is adjusted every year, so as you start making more, your payments would go up too. Even if the pay to a public lawyer MAY be lower than peers are making in the private sector, the jobs do still pay more than the average office worker. If payments are 10% of the wages (there is a minimum that is excluded), and the wages are $80k, the IBR payments are going to be large. One can’t possibly know that all this is going to work out and the OP or any student is going to be a lawyer in 7 years with a job in public service. Just can’t know that.</p>
<p>Here is the info on public loan forgiveness as stated above that I just found:
<a href=“https://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/public-service-loan-forgiveness.pdf”>https://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/public-service-loan-forgiveness.pdf</a></p>
<p>Right now the main issues are not loan forgiveness policies. First of all the OP needs to understand exactly what the school costs per year, per semester. The OP needs to understand what her award is, in grants, loans, workstudy per year, per semester. The OP needs to know how much the school will be billing her In August, and how of that her award will cover, and how much she needs to come up with. Then again in January. She then needs to figure out WHERE she’s getting that money, AND the other amounts she will need out of pocket for transportation, books and supplies. </p>
<p>I doubt she can even get the loans to pay that bill in August from what she is saying, or manage to pay it at all if the amount for one term that the university is going to bill is $15K. Any loans she gets will have to involve her mother or other parent, and only the Direct Loan that she can take out (and Perkins if the school gave it to her) are forgiveable in any program for student loan forgiveness. And it’s not that easy getting into a program that forgives loans and make the criteria that starts the forgiveness. It takes time.</p>
<p>My friend’s DIL was thrillled to get a teaching job that seemed to fit the bill in terms of loan forgiveness. But it doesn’t. Don’t know why it doesn’t, but apparently the teaching jobs that have that feature are specific and hers does not have that feature even though she is now a public school teacher in a “bad” school district One has to work 5 years at a designated school program before the loans are forgiven, as well In the mean time you pay. A niece joined some community service loan forgiveness program, and even if she worked the max hours each month the amount it forgives is very, very small, ad she’d do better finding another job even for min wage and just pay it off. </p>
<p>But we aren’t even there yet. OP CAN’T get a loan in the amounts needed without mom signing on and her mother is already in dire financial straits. It would be insane for mom to take on loans for the DD and those lonas can’t be signed over to DD later, nor can they be easily forgiven. They have to ruin you first, and mom is already in a financial situation where this would be a cruel thing to request.</p>
<p>OP, when my one son was applying to colleges, he got a great award from one school high on his list. He got a $30K scholarship. We whooped it up and congratulated him and had stars in our eyes, because $30K is a lot of money to me, to him and in scholarship money. Per Year. Yes, that is a very nice award.</p>
<p>But, it then hit me full in the face that it still left $30K to pay. More than our state schools would cost altogether with NO scholarships, no loans, no workstudy, nothing. More than some other commuting options that did not give as much money. In the end, our state school gave our son just $2500, but then the stick price for a SUNY was about $19K for a year with room,board, est books and expenses as well as tuition and fees, but the meant we would have $16500 right there and with the $5500 in Direct Loans that he could take out, his savings and some outside scholarships , it was by far the least expensive option. </p>
<p>It’s not what you GET in award that count at all, but what YOU end up having to PAY. Also work study and loans are not really what you should be counting as aid, because you can work anyways without the awards (my kids all have) and you are automatically entitled to $5500 in Direct loans as a freshman in most cases whether you have need or not. " Need z’ just means getting some of the interest subsidized while in school.</p>
<p>I am outraged the way a lot of schools package their aid. It’s very difficult fo figure out the bottom line from many of them. Some people think they are getting full aid met when the school is essentially giving them NOTHING. Just entitlements and referring them to loans which involve their parents. for which they may or may not even qualify, and for which they cannot afford and even be considering. And it should be very, very clear especially how much the family is going to have to PAY out of pocket when that first bill arrives and for the year. Something is wrong when there is that much confusion over what school is going to cost.</p>
<p>$30K a year out of pocket, from jobs is way too much. THink about it. Families live on that much. It’s a salary some are seeking for full time work, and OP is thinking of earning that amount while going to college. That’s really not something to do. May not even be possible to get that kind of money; in fact highly unlikely and very much not recommended if even achievable.</p>
<p>So I have to pay $15k for the first semester. I am eligible for a $5k grant from my college and also a $5700 pell grant from the government, leaving me with only about $5k left I have to pay. In all of your opinions, is that a more affordable situation? I would only be taking out about $10k in loans for the entire year (considering that I don’t get anymore scholarships which I promised myself I will put directly towards education-realted expenses). I think that at first, I panicked because it seemed like a lot to pay, then I realized my FA was just being verified and had not fully come through yet (normal situation for students at my school, according to current students and other incoming freshman). I think with ALL my FA in total, it leaves me in a very good spot.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Um. NO. You don’t have $5700 Pell Grant for ONE semester. You have HALF that amount for one semester. So add $2850 onto,that $5000 you owe for just the first semester.</p>
<p>Now check your grant again…is that for,the YEAR or for the semester? If it is for the YEAR, add an additional $2500…</p>
<p>And you will have to come up,with the SAME amount for,the second semester.</p>
<p>This school is NOT affordable.</p>
<p>OP - your goal is law school. </p>
<p>Do not assume as much debt as you can get to ‘afford’ the undergraduate school you feel driven to attend. Even at this point it does not seem do-able, as there is a gap between the cost and what you can put together.</p>
<p>There are many posters on CC, students who realize that they do not want the horrific feeling of the debt while they are trying to apply themselves academically on their undergraduate program. Realistically are you going to benefit from the ‘dream school’ when you are working XXX hours a week just to make it by? What happens when due to lack of sleep you become ill (strep, mono, pneumonia) and the semester gets scratched?</p>
<p>You have to consider your short term and long term goals.</p>
<p>The college loan crisis is well documented. People’s lives are being destroyed. We don’t want you to be one of the statistics - not finished with school but saddled with paying back loans. If you can finish and earn enough to pay back - but you are putting blinders up on how realistic your plan is. </p>
<p>You also expressed frustration about being able to go to college. It sounds like you have more affordable college options. I would hope you have gotten scholarship at public 4 year college that is affordable - maybe one that is close enough for commute to save room and board? Otherwise two year community college with commuting?</p>
<p>Do not lose hope and do not be discouraged by not attending ‘dream school’ for undergrad. I believe you would be putting yourself into a big hole very quickly and not reaching your professional goals.</p>
<p>There are many bright, hard working students from other countries that would trade places with you, because they do not have the college opportunities you have - even with very limited funds in your situation. Try to see the opportunities you have instead of what others can afford for college choices.</p>
<p>By the way, my kids are at state colleges getting a great education - both on scholarship. We had money saved which took any stress off about going away - if we didn’t have the money, there is a four year college here that they could commute to (their majors are covered at local school).</p>
<p>I hope between the summer job and more investigation, you have clear thoughts on proceeding. Good luck and blessings!</p>
<p>From what I understand based on your post above on this page, this is what it appears to be:</p>
<p>Fall Semester only
Cost of tuition = $15,000 (Does this include room and board? or will you commute? or is this Total Cost of Attendance)</p>
<p>Financial Aid for Fall only
University Grant $2500 (or is it $5000 for each semester?)
Pell Grant $2850
Stafford Loan $2750
Fed Work Study $ 900 (This is future FWS earnings from job in Fall Semester & this needs to be paid back to school for tuition)</p>
<hr>
<p>Total Fin. aid $9000</p>
<p>Cost minus Fin.Aid = $15,000 - 9,000 = $6,000 </p>
<p>I believe this what you would need to pay in August for the Fall Semester, based on what you listed above. $6,000 is the “gap.”</p>
<p>Same thing again for the Spring 2015 semester, too.<br>
That would be an additional $6,000 that you need to pay again in December for the Spring Semester.</p>
<p>Is this list above what the Financial Aid office explained? </p>
<p>Also, you said you sent some of the cash scholarships into the bursar’s office. I believe that would reduce only the Fall Semester. Would it make it affordable, based on what you sent in? </p>
<p>Do you have additional scholarship payments from these same donors being given to you for the Spring?</p>
<p>Can you please clarify if the $15k cost includes the cost for room and board, and also, as @Thumper asks, if the grant is $5k per semester or for the year (so $2500 per semester)?</p>
<p>It might help to list everything out for each semester, as @BrownParent explained several pages back, to get an idea of what is due in August and again in December, and then decide if it affordable, or if there are other less expensive options as @SOSConcern recommends.</p>
<p>Also, can you talk to the Financial Aid office and ask if they would consider increasing your university grant?</p>
<p>The $15k includes everything - room, board, tuition, etc. The university grant is $5k per semester. Also, the grant won’t be increased. I already spoke to the FA office about that. So by your calculations, that would be $6,000 - another $2,500 making it $3,500 for the first semester. I believe that is definitely affordable. But I think there was a mistake somewhere, possibly in my interpretation. It was initially $20k per year, so it would be $20k - $5k -$2850 - $2750 - $900 = $8500.</p>
<p>And looking into other schools really isn’t an option for me. Sorry to seem stubborn, but I want help financing the education I’ve already committed to, not seeking another place to attend college. Switching schools is out of the question at this point, but thank you for the recommendations. </p>
<p>Also, just to clarify, the FWS is $900 per semester, so $1800 for the year. I don’t have to pay to back to the school, as per the stipulated guidelines of FWS for the school.</p>
<p>Lastly, I’m not quite sure what exactly qualifies as “affordable.” I think paying roughly $8500 a semester (I lowballed the numbers because some aren’t exact numbers like exactly $5k or exactly $20k) is not bad. I can’t expect to go to school to earn a quality education without investing in myself.</p>
<p>If your COA is $15k for the first semester, it’s not going ito be 20k for the year. It’d be 30. Your fin aid letter is also not going to give you amounts for the different periods of time. It won’t, for example, list the full year Pell (5700) and direct loans (5500) but then only 1sem of college grant aid. All amounts will be for the first year or will be broken down by semester. Look, you are very clearly having difficulty understanding your award and what you will owe. Who can you go to, in person, with the award to figure it out. We can only be so much help because we can’t see what your letter says. And it will, by the way, have exact amounts listed for billable costs.</p>
<p>Sorry OP you are trying to drive a square peg into a round hole. It isn’t fitting. Find the square peg ‘hole’ to put the square peg in. </p>
<p>Another school is an option, even if you have to take a gap year if you would be eligible for scholarships. </p>
<p>Your mind set is not getting you to your goals. You are so set on attending this un-affordable (to you) school and want ‘help’ financing the education you are committed to - but you are not in a position to finance this education. </p>
<p>The one poster suggested a way you can attend by starting second semester - it sounded like the most knowledgeable advice trying to attend that college.</p>
<p>You have no way to finance $8500/semester - you use terms like ‘investing in myself’ - you want to borrow your way through UG which the gov’t has set limits as previously stated.</p>
<p>The way to ‘invest in yourself’ is to have a plan that works for you to get through an UG education with the least amount of debt possible and on to the graduate law program you want to complete. </p>
<p>The real goal is not to attend college X, but to obtain an UG degree that would be attainable with these financial constraints, and doing well enough on UG education and LSAT to get into law school.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>CollegeC, that is a great post. And I’m super glad you talked to the Financial Aid office. </p>
<p>Two questions: </p>
<ol>
<li> If it is $15k for everything, does that take into consideration that it was $20k minus the $5k grant which is where the $15k comes from? I’m not sure I understand. (Sorry I’m so dense) If it is, then I think your number per semester is $8,500, as you say, or $17,000 for the year (minus any outside scholarships you sent in already).<br></li>
</ol>
<p>But if it is $15k and then $5k grant each semester, then the number becomes $3,500 each semester, or $7,000 for the year minus the outside scholarship $ you already sent in. This is more manageable.</p>
<p>$20k or $15k makes a big difference. Can you call Financial Aid again to ask?</p>
<ol>
<li> My understanding of FWS, is that they provide you a job and earnings, but the student still is obligated to paying that amount as part of the student contribution. Can some of the posters, wiser than me, answer this?</li>
</ol>
<p>To answer your question: “Affordable” means something different to each and every person. To me personally, I think it is “what can I pay each semester without it keeping me awake at night with a stomach-ache worrying I won’t be able to make the tuition payment that semester?” There is enough stuff to worry about in college (assignments, due dates, tests, etc) than to have to add money worries on top of it. So the question is, after you have taken the Stafford loan (all you can borrow as a student), where will you get the $8,500 each semester, (or $17,000 for the year), (or the $3500 each semester, $7k a year, if it is the other set of numbers)?</p>
<p>@CollegeCrisis96, it is great that you are thinking about all of this now early in the summer and figuring out all the details. Keep an open mind on how to best approach this, so that it is something that doesn’t cause you worry in the future. Everyone here is cheering for you to be able to achieve your dream of a college education.</p>
<p>You mention being “stubborn,” but that can also translate into determination, a very important trait. This will help you in your studies.</p>
<p>I really do appreciate all the help. Busyperson, you aren’t dense. I was having trouble interpreting the FA letter at first, but I took more time to understand it and contact the FA office about it. For the first semester, I owe $20k. I am eligible for the $5700 Pell Grant ($2850 for the first semester), a $5k university grant. That brings it down to about $12k. With the stafford loan, that’s about another $2750, and I am also eligible for the federal direct subsidized and unsubsidized loans, which totals about another $3k. So that would bring my overall total left down to about $6k. That is the ultimate breakdown, please disregard the other breakdowns and I apologize for the confusion.</p>
<p>When it comes to defining affordability, it’s means (to me) being able to draw from any resource I can draw from to invest in myself without ending up in a huge hole (as for the first semester, that is at least. Long-term, I see it working the same way as well). I’ve essentially made up my mind and decided to attend this college. I have no idea what awaits me in the coming months and there are more ways I can finance my education in the future. What I’m working with as of now is not horrible by any means (the ultimate breakdown). It’s something I am interested in pursuing and I believe that pursuing this is the best opportunity. I’m determined to make the best out of it and I will be more financially responsible than I’ve presented myself to be.</p>
<p>Again, thank you all so much. I know you all mean well and I appreciate it (as I must have said about a million times now). It can just be quite frightening to go to college as a first generation student, without much guidance and advice in the process (initially anyway).</p>
<p>I have to go to this school because it’s just something I personally have to do for myself. If I see that I’m digging myself into a hole I can’t get out of, I’ll go from there. However, as of now, I don’t think I’m digging myself into an inescapable hole.</p>
<p>OP, early in the thread you said you owed 20k per semester AFTER applying your grant and what you thought was a $5500 semester loan (but is actually $2250 per semester) plus the FWS. But now you are saying the total cost of tuition, fees, room, and board/meals is only $15k BEFORE applied grants and loans? Were you really not aware of the tuition cost for this school? How can the numbers have changed so much? The one thing you should know is the cost of tuition and fees BEFORE any aid. Did the tuition magically decrease? It still seems like there is some big wishful thinking on your part to get others in your corner, or you don’t know how to look up tuition costs which I think you do know how to do. </p>
<p>Your tuition numbers keep changing. I can understand you being confused about the grants and loans, but the cost for tuition and fees before applying any grants and loans is not confusing. It’s all available online and is usually one of the first things people check when looking at a school. How did the tuition, fees, and boarding costs suddenly drop compared to your earlier posts? </p>
<p>You also mentioned earlier that you paid down some of your tuition balance from the outside scholarship money/returned clothes, but I didn’t see that mentioned in your last post. There still seems to be missing pieces of information. You won’t get accurate answers here if the info you are providing isn’t accurate. If you were to give accurate numbers of tuition, fees, dorm and meal plan per semester, you can once and for all get some realistic answers so people can stop trying to guess what you mean. </p>
<p>OP, I think it’s great that you’re so involved in directing your own future. I’ve been where you are, so may I offer you some advice?</p>
<p>When I was young my dad had a really good job. We lived in a great big farm house on acres and acres of land. My dad became disabled and for several years all we had to live on was a small disability payment subsidized by public assistance. When my youngest sibling was old enough to start school (and the eldest was old enough to be able to babysit the rest of us afterward) my mother went back to work. She was college educated but had been a stay at home mom for many years. By the time we were college age, any money there may have been for college was long since gone. We all made it to college through hard work and careful planning, and you can too.</p>
<p>What sticks out to me in your posts is that you’re in the top 2% of your class and you’re a hard worker. I would suggest taking a gap year to strategically plan your college career. You indicated that you applied to this college on a whim, that teachers you know are assuring you that large amounts of debt are okay, your immediate family is on public assistance and can’t help you, that you have extended family who may give you financial assistance, and that if finances don’t work out the first year you’re willing to transfer. </p>
<p>If your stats are high, there are colleges that will give you merit aid, but only as a freshman. (Freshmen grants are renewable in many cases, but you have to enroll as a freshman to get them.) Not many grants are available to transfers, so many students who start out at a school that ends up being not affordable end up at their local community college. I happen to like cc’s (NY has a lot of good ones), but if you don’t want that as a plan B, you may want to rethink plan A. </p>
<p>Large amounts of debt aren’t advisable in most cases. Your teachers may be doing okay, but they won’t be paying your bills. The average teacher in our comminity makes over $75k/year; the average FAMILY makes roughly $50k. Most teachers I talk to don’t understand how difficult it is for a lot of people to make ends meet. In my opinion, teachers shouldn’t be encouraging children from a family who has trouble putting food on the table to take on large amounts of debt. My siblings and I didn’t take on debt. We attended our local in-state and lived at home. (Back then, Pell and NYS Tuition Assistance grants were enough to finance a SUNY education for students who were able to commute.) All are now professionals making decent salaries. Everyone (except the one who lives in Manhattan) owns their own home. Without a college degree, getting there would have been a challenge. Even with a college degree, if it was coupled with large debt, getting there would have been a struggle.</p>
<p>It’s great if your extended family can help you financially, but college costs increase an average of 5% per year. Your aid won’t. So that $40k school will increase about $2k/year, and so will your gap. If your gap for year one is $12k, years two through four will be something like $14k, $16k, and $18k. Are these family members really capable of giving you $1000-1500 every single month for the next four years? That’s $60,000. Even if you work and cut that figure in half, you’re still talking about $30k. That’s a lot of money. </p>
<p>What are your SAT scores and GPA? If they’re high enough to get a full tuition grant, the $5000 Pell and $5500 federal loans should go a long way to covering the room and board at some very good colleges. (There’s a guaranteed merit aid list pinned to the top of the financial aid forum that you should check out.) What state are you in? NYS has a special tuition grant available for in-state students. Maybe your state does too. </p>
<p>I would take a gap year, work and save as much money as you can, and look for a school that’s willing to reward your hard work. Gapping you $12-18k is not showing proper appreciation. Remember that if you work and save all your money in your name, colleges will count 20% toward what you can contribute to college (I think it’s 20% on anything over $6k.) Don’t put anything in your mom’s name or it may affect whatever assistance she’s getting. Whatever you prepaid to the school (less the official tuition and room & board deposits) should be refunded. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Stafford and direct sub/unsub loans are the same thing. You don’t get two loans, only one. Your first semester amount will be 1750 in sub direct/stafford and 1000 in unsub direct/stafford for a total of $2750 for the semester $5500 for the year. </p>