<p>I'm a long time lurker that finally needs advice...
I'm a community college student that will need to be sending applications soon to continue my education. I am from FL, living in Miami. My intended major is meteorology, and I have the intention to pursue a PhD in it also.</p>
<p>The household income is about 85K a year, and our EFC has been for the past two years hovering at 22K. My own savings is about 10K. </p>
<p>When I started college, the assumption was that I will go to a community college to save money, work part-time, study hard, earn a scholarship and my parents will contribute for remainder of the cost. We assumming that there are scholarships widely available for transfer students, but that is not the case here. In addition I always thought my parents would be saving money for college; that did not happen either. Instead my parents now say they will be willing to cosign a 25K loan for me, and are sorry that they couldn't do anything more. I feel enraged about this, because to keep my debt at a minimum I will probably have to work even MORE now. There have been several times during the year where I was mentally exhausted and depressed because I oftentimes did not get enough sleep due to working and studying. My rigorous schedule of almost nothing but Math and Science and Lab, required alot more studying than I would have imagined to keep my GPA at a 3.8. In addition I had an unfavorable work schedule in the evening that sometimes cut into my sleep schedule. </p>
<p>How can I convince my parents to contribute a little bit more than a loan for me? From my research, a meteorology PhD can expect an 18K-25K a year stipend with free tuition, which doesn't allow room for much undergrad debt. While I love what I'm studying I feel miserable having absolutely no time for my self, or missing sleep because I can't find a job during favorable hours.</p>
<p>Have your parents considered taking out a loan in their name for a portion of the difference or would the monthly payment be too much for them? Try not to be too upset with your parents. The economy has not been kind to many parents in the past few years and that may have impacted their ability to save. There are many parents who would not be willing to cosign either. That level of debt seems high for undergrad (assuming 2x$25K), is it possible you could get a smaller scholarship, use your $10K, and economize to keep your debt at Stafford levels? Perhaps a well-laid budget with a reasonable parent contribution of around $5K a year and some info on Plus loans would convince them to take a larger role in the funding scheme.</p>
<p>Well the cost of Florida state schools is less than 25K so you definitely do not need to take that out as a loan. Have you looked into the military? Lots of metereologists start in the military. Maybe you can get ROTC aid or join the AIr National Guard and get training there plus money for college. I don’t know about the other services but the AF does use meteorologists.</p>
<p>Stop worrying about keeping your debt level to a minimum. It’s worth borrowing a reasonable amount to invest in yourself. $25K is not that that bad, and you can also add the maximum Stafford loan to that amount. When you’re in college, to the extent that you have a choice between spending time working and borrowing money to leave more time to study (not party, but study), borrowing is always better. Investing in yourself is a good investment. So is sleep. We’re not talking about borrowing $80K-100K which would be crushing debt, we’re talking about a very reasonable debt burden for the professional that you will eventually be. Thank your parents for that offer and Good luck.</p>
<p>When I was in school my parents paid nothing – not even the EFC. I carried a $20k debt into grad school and didn’t finish paying it off until I was 40 years old. It all worked out okay.</p>
<p>Remember that your parents probably saw a big chunk of their retirement savings vaporize over the past ten years. You’ve got 40 years of saving and investing ahead of you. A $25k loan right now is a much bigger sacrifice for them than it is for you, and you’re the one benefitting most, so maybe it’s not so unreasonable that you be the one to carry the debt.</p>
<p>Isn’t the student talking about borrowing $25K per year for TWO years? Transferring from a CC and having a $25K EFC and a $500 scholarship, that would seem to be the case. Imho, $50K for an undergrad degree is somewhat excessive and it will be years more until the PhD is a reality…and what are the employment stats for meteorologists at that level? </p>
<p>Without more info, I would respectfully disagree with CRD’s philosophy that debt is nothing to worry about! I wouldn’t advocate working to the point of exhaustion or sacrificing necessary study time, but students who work often achieve better grades and derive other benefits from the experience. I don’t understand borrowing up to the full COA while working since most school’s COA are well-padded with personal, transportation, and other non-billable expenses that amount to several K per year. Also, as a side note, the Stafford loan cannot be added on top of a $25K private educational loan if it would exceed the school’s COA…I believe that the school simply will not certify it and it will never be paid.</p>
<p>Your $10K in savings is adding $2K per year to your EFC since students have no asset protection. Unless you anticipate having to replace a car or make another large purchase, you should consider investing this in your education. The subsidized Stafford loan limit for juniors and seniors is $5500 and sub rates are extremely good right now…IIRC, they’re 4.5% for 10/11 and going to 3.4% for 11/12. If you can lower your EFC by $2K, you can probably save yourself a pile of interest by maximizing your subsidized loan eligibility (eligibility is based on need, calculated as COA - EFC - other student aid awarded).</p>