<p>I have mentee who's a local new college student and I believe she should learn more about her college funding. Right now, she just says "my parents take care of it." I am concerned that she doesn't know what she's "signing up for" in terms of debt. I won't be getting into her financial details myself, but I'm clueless about how to direct her. She's starting to stress and say she doesn't have enough money to stay in school. I basically just said "go talk to your financial aid counselor and maybe bringing your parents." Wise ones: Is there anything I can point her to that's a bit more specific? Is there something I could tell her to calculate or check on? What's the baseline literacy needed by a new college student about her college funding? </p>
<p>Are you saying that she does not even know if she has student loans?</p>
<p>List out the cost of school, and the sources of funds. Even my daughter who is not good at math understood that there was a difference, and that I was writing a check for that difference. That daughter made ~$10/hr at her job, so I pointed out that every $10 was an hour of work. She really learned to think twice before spending $10 at Starbucks when she was working for it herself.</p>
<p>My kids also had a ‘budget project’ as part of a senior course, and saw how money was split up from a paycheck once living in the real world - rent, utilities, groceries, taxes, car, insurance -and that there was nothing left for student loans (the most unrealistic part of the assignment).</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus @twoinanddone - It seems she and her family went into this blindly. She reports she has loans but I’m concerned she has no idea what she’s in for or how her family will provide so she can keep attending her school. I ask what job and salary she’s roughly aiming for post-college, and she has no idea what the field’s job titles are or how much they pay. I think we’re at square-one with personal financial education and, particularly, with college funding. I’ve recommended <em>Paying for College without Going Broke</em> for her and her family, but that horse might be out of the barn already. </p>
<p>oh gag…who knows what the parents have done. Not only might they have her signed up for full fed loans, but they may have also taken on Plus loans with the idea that she’ll pay those back (altho I know she isn’t legally obligated.)</p>
<p>The horse may be out of the barn…I hope she’s not in for some unpleasant news in a few years.</p>
<p>
Ask her to ask her parents or to check out her status at the NSLDS <a href=“https://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/”>https://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/</a> However, tt may not be most up-to-date.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids @4kidsdad - If they do this research, at least they’ll be prepared for the hit. Maybe they’ll find some options (isn’t there a Fed loan forgiveness program/s for working in certain NFPs or regions?). </p>
<p>^Yes, they should do their research. See <a href=“https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service”>https://studentaid.ed.gov/repay-loans/forgiveness-cancellation/charts/public-service</a> for “Public Service Loan Firgiverness”</p>
<p>Dyiu13, are you implying that the student’s parents are taking loans in the student’s name in excess of the Direct Loan amount?</p>
<p>For the federally funded Direct Loan and Perkins loans, all the student needs is her PIN and she can check on these loans. </p>
<p>If the parent is completing the master promissory note for Direct and Perkins Loans for this student without her knowledge, that would be fraud. If she doesn’t need the money, she could report it as such. If she needs these loans, she should ask that her parents include her in the necessary paperwork.</p>
<p>If these are private loans in the name of the parent, or are Parent Plus loans, the student has no repayment obligation AT ALL. These would be her parents’ responsibilities.</p>
<p>
NSLDS See <a href=“https://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/”>https://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/</a> If the student does not know his/her PIN, try <a href=“https://pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp”>https://pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp</a></p>
<p>Another thought…if this student really thinks her parents are fraudulently applying for federally funded loans without her knowledge, she should head over to the bursar’s office and change the privacy settings, and password for her bursar’s account so that her parents do NOT get this loan information. In the vast majority if cases, loan offers, and accepting these loans is done through the student portal. If the parents have access to this and are taking these loans without the student’s knowledge, then shut done the access.</p>
<p>Again…if they are private loans in the PARENT name only, the student has NO repayment obligation at all. Nine.</p>
<p>If the parents are forging the student name in loan documents, that is a whole other issue.</p>
<p>So…what exactly are you implying here!?</p>
<p>For starters, she can find out what the official cost of attendance is for her school, and check the numbers against the semester bills she has gotten, if any. So she’ll know how much that school generally costs. She’ll know the fixed tuition and fees, and what the average room and board are and other discretionary expenses and figure out if she’s under or over those averages if she has any idea at all. If not, she can start out using that number. Here is a site that can be visited for that info: <a href=“https://www.collegedata.com”>https://www.collegedata.com</a>. Put in her school and go to Money Matters.</p>
<p>She can then list what aid she is getting. Grants will lower the cost. Also any work study as well as any other income she gets for the year, will lower the costs. Then she needs to figure out what loans she has taken. She can also come up with what her parents have given her in allowances. The gap is probably what the parents are paying and she can ask her parents how they are paying this. If they refuse to answer, well,…that’s their business. As Thumper says she will not be responsible for the repayment of those loans. She should check what loans she has taken out in her name or that her parents (yes, parents do this), have taken in her name, by going on line and getting her PIN and going on the federal site, and also asking the school financial aid office about this. The tricky part would be if parents are signing her name for private loans, as a coapplicant without telling her. Yes, it’s fraud, but some parents do this, sorry to say. Student should ask parents outright what the loan amounts are in student’s name. If there is suspicion that loans are being taken out in student’s name without permission, student should check credit reports for this info and sign up for some credit monitoring service to make sure this is not done in the future. That’s really all one can do. What to do about past loans taken illegally, is up to the student. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, yes, parents have used kid’s ssn to get loans, and just filled in their signatures. Yes, PLUS will be on the parent’s head only, but about some of those private co-loans, I don’t know. This is not limited to college loans and college kids by the way. Many people upon examining credit reports find that others, often family member, parents, trusted friends have taken out a loan using their ssns, other personal info, and electronic or forged signatures And to bring charges against ones own parents, can be a big trauma. Sometimes just putting an end to it is the all one can stomach doing. </p>
<p>I want to add that I am covering one of the worst scenarios, not necessarily what is happening here. Some parents will not share payment info with their college students, but still complain about it. Telling the kid to watch, watch, watch the expenses. Stop those lattes. Do you really need to spend that much in books. No, we can’t afford to raise your allowance. Christmas will be slim this year. You need to share a room again next year, etc, etc. So it’s hard to say what’s going on here. </p>
<p>We didn’t share our info with our kids and they are not one bit curious We just pay it. For my first, we took out PLUS which we started repaying immediately. We didn’t sit and discuss it ever with him, nor did we say much to him about it. We did have our third take out Direct Student loans and we now send him repayment amounts. The interest was lower for him, and he gets credit build up and maybe can deduct the interest, though not quite now. We have the amount set aside for repayment of those loans in case anything happens to us. The one in college now, we are paying straight out with no loans. So our kids have been school loan payment free. </p>
<p>My kids don’t tend to spend a lot of money so the subject of over spending and such just does not, did not come up. That isn’t always the case in families. My good friend is constantly jumping on her daughters about overspending. She and her husband are paying full freight for their colleges and they feel it even though they are well to do, and they feel their daughters are not keeping costs down, so it’s an issue.</p>
<p>The problem occurs when the family really can’t afford the school but is somehow getting the money to pay for it on the short term. If a PLUS loan get denied, or something just doesn’t work out as hoped, that can end the tuition money train run right there… A student should be aware of these things. We did tell our kids what we could pay, and they went with those constraints and we did not discuss it further. The student should ask the parents what the financial situation is with college. How much info the parents will share is up in the air. And the student should make sure that her credit is as she knows it to be, that loans are not being taken out unawares in her name even if it’s for her behalf. Student should ask what the risks are financially in terms of being able to finish school. If the costs are really hurting the family, perhaps a transfer to a less expensive option should be made before too much debt is accumulated and damages done.</p>
<p>So far, I’ve told her to 1) read any educational financial/financial aid material on her school’s financial aid website, 2) book an appointment (or two!) with her financial aid counselor and bring her parents, 3) read that book and pass it to her parents, 4) check around for any free or low-cost financial planning available to her family (maybe through the mom’s or dad’s job?), and 5) put together her own long-range personal financial plan (for college and immediately post-college years) based on her career goals. She’s got what sounds like a nice relationship with her parents, but she is a 1st gen college student. I’ve suggested that she “show an interest” and let her parents know she’s ready to fully understand what her college funding is all about. I just have this gut feeling that they’re all getting in over their heads with paying for college. I’m afraid I might hear at the end of the year she can’t continue to afford her school (a 4-year) and will need to switch to a community college for a while. THANKS for the specifics above, such as those basics such as telling her to find the school’s COA, her free money, any loans + her budget. If she also starts the career research, that will move her a long way from where she started, which was a state of oblivion. </p>
<p>Lots of schools now have financial literacy programs…check to see if there’s one at her school. At Ds school there is an office for students to visit a financial counselor about personal finances (this is not financial aid counseling). Also, have her look on whatever portal the school uses. On Ds student network, you can see your account information, all the charges and then all the financial aid/scholarship and their status. Can see the previous bills from bursar and any offsets. That would be a good place to start.</p>
<p>@scmom12 - “At Ds school there is an office for students to visit a financial counselor about personal finances (this is not financial aid counseling).”</p>
<p>Wow. That is a great idea. It’d be smart for all schools to help with that, as it’d probably boost their grads’ loan repayment numbers, etc. </p>