<p>I received my financial aid package to my dream school of Bethel. Tuiton, Room and Board is $38k a year. I was offered roughly $28k a year in gift aid.</p>
<p>Is taking $10k a year in loans too much? My EFC was $0, and the most my Mom will be able to afford is paying for the things she already does right now--toiletries, cell phone bill, and the occasional gas fill up. Being $40k in debt sounds insane, but is that standard? Is there anything I can really do? Will my college negotiate? My stats are a 3.15/3.4, 33ACT, with tons of volunteer hours, good leadership roles, and decent school extracurriculars. </p>
<p>Also--for the loans I was offered $3500 in Direct Subsidized, $2000 in Direct Unsubsidized, and $5430 in "Other Loan Eligibility". What would that last category likely look at, and what would I want to take from first? My Mom's credit is horrible as well :(</p>
<p>You can ask about negotiating. 33 ACT is a good score, did you get any other offers?
The average student debt is usually in the low 20’s, 24,000 last year. I wouldn’t want to go over that, usually full stafford loans come to about 20.000. 40.000 with all the interest for a BA is very high.</p>
<p>Were you offered work/study so you can earn some spending money while you are actually on campus? If I were you and this is your number one choice I would sit down and add up what you need for tuition, for your dorm, for your meal plan, put a book estimate in, any fees not included in the posted tuition, transportation back and forth and what you will need for spending money. Then subtract your grants, scholarships and your Staffords. The difference is what you need. Then call the college and schedule a time to talk to someone in financial aid…that is really all you can do, but if your GPA matches your ACT scores they might be interested in you enough to help you figure something out. But, and this is a big but…be prepared for it not to work out and make sure you have an alternative choice that you know you can afford. I agree that $25,000 is about the max you should accumulate in student loans.</p>
<p>You are at the top end of Bethel’s ACT score range (middle 50% is 16-23) so I would definitely ask them for additional aid. They very likely will want to keep you! Good luck!</p>
<p>What other alternatives do you have? Is Bethel your only school? Have you explored other options? With a zero EFC, the most pragmatic thing to do is to use the PELL grant and get your undergraduate degree from a local state school while commuting. You may end up with no debt that way and a college degree vs $40K in debt at minimum. The figures you are using do not include total COA at the school, and they can add up viciously, not to mention any cost increases. Plus most schools expect a student to take increasing responsibility for their college costs, not decreasing. </p>
<p>I agree that you should talk to Bethel about your situation, but I would also look at some local options as well. Basically, you are borrowing to live away from home. I would think long and hard about that.</p>
<p>$40K in debt for some kids is fine depending on what they are getting for it. If they have family that can help them with the repayment and in those first rough years out of school when getting a living wage is not easy, it’s one thing. You can’t put this on your mom given her own financial issues. Unless you are going into a field where you are pretty much guaranteed a job at a salary that can handle that debt, it can be a big monkey on your back and your mother’s, or whoever you get to co sign the remaining loans.</p>
<p>The other loan option is likely a Parent Plus loan. Your mom can apply, but since her credit is bad, she’ll get declined…and THEN you’ll be offered another $4k.</p>
<p>However, how much can you earn over the summer to reduce your loan needs? $40k in debt is a LOT. What will your major be? What career?</p>
<p>My major as of right now, is undecided. I’m thinking perhaps either Computer Science, or Media Communications with an emphasis in production and a minor in Information Systems Management. So something computer related.</p>
<p>Being in a private school is important to me. The only other schools that I applied to were St. Olaf and Augsburg. St. Olaf denied me, and Augsburg only gave me ~$24k a year, with not even enough loans to cover the difference.</p>
<p>My state grant number was low–around $3k. Does anyone know how the state figures out how much to give me? I got the maximum Pell Grant, but the maximum state grant was $9k. I also was not offered the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG) either.</p>
<p>I don’t know how your state grant program works. But SEOG are funds that individual colleges apply to get and dispense as they see fit. No guarantee any school is in the SEOG program or how much anyone can get from any given school. It can differ widely. Same with Perkins funds.</p>
<p>Well I know Bethel gets SEOG funding because it’s listed on their website. Why would I not receive any of this funding? I would think that an EFC of $0 with a Mom who makes ~$8k a year would be worthy of some extra money.</p>
<p>Xigbar, you are going to have to ask Bethel about the SEOG.</p>
<p>The only loans that you can qualify for on your own are the federal loans (Stafford, Pell, extra Stafford if your mom applies for a Plus and is denied). Anything over that will require a co-signer. So the short answer is no, you probably can’t take out $40k in loans.</p>
<p>You need to sit down with the financial aid award letter from Bethel and go through the details carefully. Here is one calculator that will help you break the factors down: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid) Are there any expenses listed that you can control - for example, if you only buy used books online, can you reduce that expense? How much work-study is included in our aid package? Can you make more money during the summers or at a different kind of job?</p>
<p>If Bethel can’t be made affordable, and you can’t find a place that you like that will be affordable, you will have to come up with a Plan B. Maybe you need to take a Gap Year while you create a new list to apply to, maybe you need to get a job with an employer that will help you pay for your education, or maybe you need to enlist in the military so that you will have education benefits when you are done. Think about all of your options, and come up with the best future for yourself.</p>
<p>Schools don’t tend to have enough SEOG funds for every eligible person to get some of it. It’s not like PELL where there is a formula for what you get. You can ask the Financial Aid office just in case some of these funds have been overlooked for you. Also someone who got a SEOG award may not end up at Bethel and would free some of that money and you can ask if you can be first in line for such situations. Usually SEOG money goes very fast so I doubt there is any extra lying around. SEOG awards tend to be small amounts, in my experience, so it isn’t going to take care of your shortfall–it’ll be a drop in the bucket, and not guaranteed year to year, from what I have seen.</p>
<p>Well I’m looking at anywhere from $45k-$60k a year I believe. Could go as low as $40k, could go as high as $70k if I’m very unlucky/lucky. So what should my limit be in debt?</p>
<p>Xigbar - I think 40K is too high, particularly given your family situation. Your mom is not in a position to help you at all if something goes wrong.</p>
<p>In computer related fields state schools tend to have good program and opportunities; if you could commute to a state public your debt should be considerably lower I would think and this would allow you more flexibility in activities you could become involved in, clubs you could join etc. </p>
<p>Your dream school could leave you in circumstances where your life revolves around scrambling for money so much of the time that you end up feeling apart from the college experience there. You want to spend your mental efforts during the college years planning for your future, not worrying about it 24/7.</p>
<p>A state school isn’t in the picture. I never applied to one, so it’s too late. Plus, going to a private school is super important to me. My faith is an integral part in my life and I absolutely love and want the environment that it provides.</p>
<p>Also–I’m planning now on graduating in 3 years, so that’s only $30k in debt.</p>
<p>xigbar. You seem to be ignoring the answer you have been given. No matter how many different ways you ask, the same response will be given. @ or about 20,000 in debt is reasonable for an udergrad degree.</p>
<p>Xigbar, the loan limits,for the stafford loan seem to be reasonable debt. If your mom applies for a plus loan and she gets denied, you will be eligible for 4000 more.</p>