Hey guys! I’ve been recently accepted to both colleges with similar financial aid. However, it is really difficult for me to make a decision.
On one hand, Luther gives me full financial aid plus work, so I have around $2,000 left that I can use for books and personal expenses. On the other hand, St. Olaf gives me full tuition and everything, but I have around $4,200 to cover, so they give me work and offer me a loan of $2,300 a year. What I was wondering is…do you think St. Olaf is worth the effort? I mean, I’m in love with the college and I’d love to attend! It’s just that as an international student I feel quite scared about getting a loan and all that stuff…
If you haven’t already, inquire about the repayment terms of your loan. Can you select an income-based repayment plan (e.g. capping loan payments at 10% of your income)? What happens to your loan if you decide to go to graduate school? Can you stop making loan payments temporarily if you are experiencing financial hardship? If an income-based repayment plan is available, will outstanding loan debt be forgiven after x years of making payments?
If you stay in the US after college, it would probably not be hard to repay a small student loan over a standard 10 repayment period after college. For context: about 70% of US college graduates have student loans upon graduation, with an average debt of about $30,000. A financial aid package with only about $2,300 in loans is comparatively generous.
Repaying the loan might be harder if you move to a country with much lower wages. However, if you leave the US, it’s virtually impossible to enforce those student loan payments and you could default on your debt without consequences… (If you were in the US, lenders could garnish your wages or seize your assets. But what are they gonna do if you live on a different continent?)
That’s a small loan. As mentioned above, look into the conditions (b@rium’s questions are exactly the ones you need to ask the college).
Saint Olaf is a fantastic university. Congratulations
Congrats, @ingale ! Both Luther and St Olaf are great schools and my S17 was fortunate to be accepted at both too. As you can see which school he selected, by my avatar, which I changed after our wonderful campus visit for accepted students weekend. Our S would love to have more international students at St. Olaf. You must be a strong student to be granted such great aid.
I agree that less than $10,000 in student loans, at the end of 4 years should be very manageable, and is very low compared with other students, as has been discussed. The network of alumni for St Olaf could provide you with amazing opportunities, and we cannot recommend the school highly enough! A lot of St. Olaf students have work study jobs (mine will!). One last point - coming from overseas, the campus in Northfield, MN will be a lot easier to get transportation to, than Decorah, IA. Although both are lovely towns. Good luck making your decision.
