<p>Interest-free loans ARE free money. Just stick the cash in a savings/CD/money market account. Or if you have a safety net, stick it in the stock market.</p>
<p>Ugh, try being out-of-state and having your parents shell out 30K+ per year.</p>
<p>How in the world are interest-free loans free money? I still have to pay it back.</p>
<p>1) You get X dollars.</p>
<p>2) You put it in a 5% savings account.</p>
<p>3) You wait 4 years.</p>
<p>4) You pay back X.</p>
<p>5) You look in your pocket and see... ((1.05)^4-1)*X</p>
<p>Uh....aren't I supposed to be USING that money instead of putting it into a savings account...you know tuition and crap?</p>
<p>Uh....if you can't even figure out whether you want the loan or not maybe you don't even NEED it for, you know, tuition and crap</p>
<p>^Ouch ;)</p>
<p>Well, it's still displacing other money that could be saved/invested.</p>
<p>I'm not suggesting you take it. I'm just asking why you would turn down free money.</p>
<p>Well when I get the 3500 dollar loan, isn't that supposed to be used for you know, university purposes and not be put in a savings account and not touched...other wise, why even take out a loan?</p>
<p>you can do whatever you want with that loan. i know my friend took out loans to buy a car.</p>
<p>in the end, what matters is that you pay it back.</p>
<p>Listen guys, there's a 22,000 cost of attending. Of that 22,000, there's a 3500 loan. Why in the world would I take out a loan and not actually USE it towards the 22,000 needed? I just don't understand</p>
<p>You can lead a horse to water, but you cant make the horse drink it.</p>
<p>Same thing here, they expect you to use it for tuition but not everyone does.</p>
<p>If you don't use it towards the 22,000 then where am I supposed to get the money from to pay the 3500 during the course of 4 years?</p>
<p>You're funny Iran.4</p>
<p>No seriously...isn't that what loans are for?</p>
<p>Of course not, you should take that 3500 loan and buy like 3450 items from Mcdonald's dollar menu, EVERYONE does it, it's like the common thing to do with academic loans these days.</p>
<p>^^ lol.</p>
<p>Iran.4, my advice is to take the stafford loan and use it for tuition purposes since it seems you really need it for college. It's no interest, you can't get any better loans than that.</p>
<p>What dosen't seem to be getting through to your head though is that loans can be used for anything. Yes, they'll expect you to use the (Stafford) loan for academic purposes but like somewhereonearth said, not everyone does. People who don't really need that loan for tuition would much rather use it for something else since there's no interest to pay. It's like FREE MONEY. :) So take the loan, use it for UCSD... Then when you're done with school pay it back interest-free.</p>
<p>Thank you. You gave the most complete answer.</p>
<p>IRAN.4, the loan money when used for tuition still displaces other money that can then be used for anything (even to pay for more tuition, if you want). This displacement implies it's mathematically incorrect to turn down the loan.</p>
<p>At D's school, the amount of the Stafford loan is already deducted from our tuition bill. Of course, the money we are thus saving can remain invested and bear interest.</p>