<p>Neither I or my husband have college degrees- we make in a year- about what a public school teacher makes during the school year.</p>
<p>However- the govt assumes that we can pay full costs of an instate university or about $16,000 of the costs of another school.</p>
<p>My older daughter took out small subsidized loans to help with school, as well as working summer- work study & our own loans that we incurred because we couldn’t pay from income what the govt thought we could.</p>
<p>We recognized that a large instate public school was the most economical option for the short term- however- because we looked at the long term- to how much support from the school she would need to * finish* college, we decided that a small school would provide more towards that goal.</p>
<p>By having only small loans-( and getting a big grant from her school every day) she has been able to take a job that doesn’t pay big dollars but is giving her experience and is satisfying.</p>
<p>She also has been able to live on her own since graduating college- unlike her cousins who are having to live at home. However, her job doesn’t pay well & she is without health insurance, although she is on the wait list for low income insurance.</p>