UC/CSU Aid Reasonable?

Paying for College
1

Can anyone help me out pick a school that is financially sound and yet is high-ranked? Below is my financial aid package for UCSD and UC Davis. UCR offered me a 2k a year award but they haven’t given me a financial aid package yet. Still waiting for UCI, UCSC, SDSU, and Pomona also. I don’t know why but I currently hesitant on attending lower ranked UC’s. But for now, I just want to know if it is reasonable to graduate from UCSD as a math-CS major or UC Davis as a CS major with ~$50,000 in student loan “debt”.

Costs in the 2016-17 Year (UCSD)

Estimated Cost of Attendance
$30,493 / yr

Grants and Scholarships to Pay for College
Total Grants and Scholarships (“Gift” Aid; no repayment needed)
$17,099 / yr
Pell Grant
$2,165
Estimated Cal Grant
$12,294
UCSD Grant
$2,640
Outside Aid
$0

What Will You Pay for College
Net Costs (Cost of attendance minus total grants and scholarships)
$13,394 / yr
Options to Pay Net Costs

Work Options
Work-Study
$2,900

Loan Options*
Perkins/University Loan
$1,300
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan
$3,500
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
$2,000
Possible Federal Direct PLUS Loan
$3,694

Other Options
EFC: $3,694 / yr

(UC Davis) COA
$35,003

Cal Grant A-confirming elig. $12,294.00
Fed Direct Subsidized Loan $3,000.00
Federal Pell Grant Program $2,165.00

University Campus Fee Grant $540.00

University Grant $5,632.00

University Student Loan $2,000.00

$20,631/Year (WITHOUT Loans)

Net Cost: $14,372/Year

2

How much will your parents contribute? If none (though it appears that they have a high enough income to result in a net price too high for you to self-fund), you may have difficulty finding any affordable options. Remember, the maximum federal direct loan for first year is $5,500 – loans beyond that require a cosigner, which is generally not a good idea. Colleges generally expect only up to about $3,000 to $5,000 at the most for student work earnings, so your ability to self-fund is probably no more than about $10,000 per year.

3

@ucbalumnus Yea, I do not think my parents will contribute much, judging from the uncertain look they got once they looked at the EFC. I will wait for my other schools and see what they have to say.

4

How will you get $50,000 in undergrad loans? The Direct Loan limit is $27,000 for dependent students. Anything beyond that would need to be either taken out by your oarents or cosigned by them.

5

Wait until you get all financial aid offers.

Look at the net prices after subtracting grants and scholarships (not loans) from the list prices.

Look in the list prices to see where there may be room to economize. For example, check the “other or personal expenses” and see if a large estimate can be reduced in your actual living. Also, check to see if cheaper dorms exist than the on-campus housing estimate, and if cheaper off-campus housing exists than the off-campus housing estimate. This may require asking current students at each campus about where they economize on costs.

6

Another big chunk in the UC cost is for Health Insurance. Do you currently have insurance through your parents? If so, you can waive the insurance fee - which varied between $1650 and $2700 per year at the UCs that have so far sent my son financial info. Other costs are variable - travel, personal expenses, books, meal plans, housing. I know that one UC separated out “phone” as a cost. Of course, it is, but if it is something your parents were always planning on continuing to fund, it isn’t a new cost out of pocket.

7

It certainly is possible to attend less expensively than the published COA.

I’d wait until all your offers are on the table.