<p>So I found out that I'm going to have to take out about $11,000 in loans each year. Is that about average? $44,000 seems like a lot of debt to graduate with...</p>
<p>Why don't you figure out realistically how much you might be earning after college and how much your cost of living will be, are you planning on living with parents, getting a car, etc....I think that is a ridiculous amount for a 21 year old just out of college to have to deal with; if you were my kid, I would tell you to attend a cheaper college if that is possible. USNWR ranks the universities which graduate kids with the most debt; Seton Hall (NJ) is #1 with average debt of $37,724.</p>
<p>I think the average debt after undergrad education is about $20,000 nationally -- that's what I'd read, at least.</p>
<p>Ouch. Okay, I guess I'll try negotiating?</p>
<p>Average means average, some have higher than that. My daughter currently has 28k, of which I am paying a $4000 one. She is a Junior. I am hoping for more aid for her as I will have another kid in school next year, but I would say she will most likely graduate with about 38k in debt. Above average and I feel like crap about it, but it is what it is.</p>
<p>The basic rule of thumb is that your child should not be borrowing more than the maximum stafford allowances</p>
<p>freshman year 3500
sophomore year 4500
Junior year until graduation 5500/yer</p>
<p>This means if your child is graduating in 4 years their undergrad debt should not be more than $19,000 (30,000 if they take 6 years to graduate since grad rates are based on 6 years).</p>
<p>This amount of money does become onerous especially when if the student is considering grad school (unless they are going to a fully funded PhD or they work for an employer that foots their grad school bill) the FA will be in terms of loans. Basically the more stafford money they borrow now, the less they will have available in the future should they need it.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind the student loans can not be discharged through bankruptcy, so your child will have this debt for a long time and will affect where they live some and what freedom they have as far as the world of work is concerned.</p>
<p>If your child is looking at professional school their credit worthiness may be a factor in the admissions decision (Penn Law is very up front in stating this).</p>
<p>I just noticed you're going to Cornell...really hard to turn that down! Can you beg your family for more support?</p>
<p>well my son has a 2400 Perkins and 3500 subsidized stafford loan. I'm paying over my EFC of 12K and with a scholarship of 30K, that about covers the COA. I hope he can continue to get the Perkins and subsidized stafford loans for his entire undergrad. </p>
<p>If that puts him over 30K in loans for an NYU degree, so be it. There is no possible way I could pay any more than I am, and he wants to be at NYU.</p>
<p>I've already told him I am not going to have any $$ left for grad school. I hope to pay the 4 years of EFC for undergrad out of savings, not loans. I'm not going to start taking out loans for any grad schools. I might consider cosigning a loan for him .... but for goodness sakes I don't want to be paying off his college when I am 65 (I'll be 50 when he graduates in 2011)</p>
<p>If your loans are $11,000 this year, it would be safe to say that your loans are going to increase each year because your borrowing limits are going to increase each year.</p>
<p>In a nutshell, yes $44,000 is a lot of debt to come out of undergrad with. Your situation is also one of the down sides to applying ED. </p>
<p>Essentially you are not in a position to negotiate because your decision binding (placing you on the down side of the power dynamic). </p>
<p>My recommendation is to try to get a postion as a RA next year (at least saving you the cost of room-possibly boarding). This will help to reduce some of your costs. In the mean time, it you don't have a job get one so that you can save as much as you can to offset some of these expenses.</p>
<p>CampusLife</a> - Resident Advisor Program</p>
<p>Sue,</p>
<p>has your son considered becoming a RA? If he were to become one would it cut into his scholarship. If his scholarship covers tuition, it would certainly help reduce your EFC (which a good chunk of it is probably paying room and board fees).</p>
<p>NYU</a> > Residential Education > Staff > Student Staff Recruitment > RA Selection</p>
<p>Cornell is not known for great aid. We met with finaid people at Accepted Students Weekend but no change. Luckily D did not enjoy Accepted Students Weekend and went somewhere else.</p>
<p>Sorry, I wasn't thinking and did not realize he applied ED and could not go somewhere else...</p>
<p>I don't think he wants to be an RA. He's not 'home' enough. And you need to be at least a junior. He's a freshman</p>
<p>He's working now so I'm off the hook for the day to day $$.</p>
<p>Yes, his scholarship is for tuition (but it doesn't cover all of it).</p>
<p>When he was home this past week, he kept telling me how cold it was. I told him to put on the thick socks and sweater. Mom's trying to keep the gas bill below 200 this month....</p>
<p>It's going to be a long expensive next 3+ years. I thank my 17 yo honda for starting every day :-)</p>
<p>Its not how much loan you can take but how much of a loan you can comfortably payoff, even when times get bad. </p>
<p>How about this as an "average." We did $20,000 TO $25,000 per year in student loans (2002-2006), with a high of $75,000 in total loans. And I say, we, coulda, woulda, shoulda taken out more student loans. But the Average, does not say is, At what terms - Averaged about 3.5% APR. Consolidated at average of 3.5% and to drop to 2.5% in two years, then permanently fixed at that rate for the next 21 years. </p>
<p>If we did this today, the APR would be 2x more than two years ago or close to 8% average, and something that we would not be able to comfortably afford. </p>
<p>Think carefully in taking student loans. There is no such thing as not paying off student loans. You can be selling your soul.</p>
<p>I'm going to pray that by the time my son graduates in 2011, they will have come up with a better refinance plan than the one it looks like is coming out soon.</p>
<p>The govt has 10 BILLION a week to **** away in IRAQ and we can't get a student loan for less than 5 - 7 %</p>
<p>Way to screw the generation that is going to inherit the massive debt our nation has accrued.</p>
<p>thisoldman, if you don't mind me asking, what is the monthly payment on that loan and how long is the repayment period</p>
<p>Im in bad shape as well ...mom makes 250k+, with 3 kids at top colleges all over 40k...so i got no financial aid and she can only contribute 22K a year for each of us. So 66k of her yearly salary goes towards helping us pay for college. So the other half about 25k is all student loans...thank goodness i chose finance as a career choice or id be staring at massive debt</p>
<p>ixjunitxi - Your mom kind of makes a lot of $$$$; if she isn't supporting 3 kids at home (they're all away at college) can't she pay a bit more than 22K? I realize I'm passing judgment on someone I don't know but I make way less than that and will have 3 kids in college at the same time and would never expect any of them to take out 25k in loans each year!</p>
<p>my d is a junior so she has 2 1/2 years of the Staffords outstanding and her most recent quarterly interest bill (at 6% and 6.5%) was over $160. She is paying the interest because she isn't making that much on her small savings but it is eating the savings away...</p>
<p>I thought that at first, but after careful thought I realized there is NO way she could pay anymore. 66k a year of her yearly salary is being spent on college tuition…at the end of all 3 of us 4 years that’s 198k. Her f.advisor suggested that that was the most she could afford without having a run on the banks. lol. You also have to keep in mind that she is in the highest tax bracket… Which doesn’t help. When we were filling out the css profile, her year to date fed deductions was 96,000. That’s not even including her other expenses like bills/mortgage/ 401k deductions….</p>
<p>take a look 250-96k (tax)-66( college tuition)= 88k not including mortgage...even if our mortgage was 2k a month (idk what it is but we live in a fairly nice neighborhood) 2(12)=24k mortgage 88k-24k= leaves her with 62k/12= and i dont even no the other utility bills/cars/insurance... see what i mean...</p>
<p>but her EFC isn't meant to only come from her current income. If she has been making good money for a period of time, she could(should) have been saving. Your EFC isn't higher with 3 in college. If your efc is 30K and there are 3, then it's 10k each vs 30K for 1 kid.</p>
<p>My efc is 35% of my net pay. I'm assumed to have savings to pay that from, as well as current income.</p>
<p>not relevant. sue. The student loans then are no longer available today. If such a loan would be available today, they would be called "teaser", "no doc", "adjustable option" loans and had cost you and I taxpayer tens of billions in current year liability and hundreds of billions in future tax liability. </p>
<p>We were 100% EFC, able to pay, and played the game almost to the maximum limits.</p>