<p>Just wondering where people draw the line when it comes to student loan debt at the Ivies. How much is too much to pay?</p>
<p>I'm a transfer student with 2.5 years left. I have to make a decision on whether or not to attend Cornell. My FA requires me to take out $36k a year. The principal would be roughly $83k, not counting other personal expenses. I'm thinking I should find a cheaper option, but some people are telling me to do it.</p>
<p>It would be great if people with experience in this type of situation could chime in.</p>
<p>there are many many threads discussing how much debt is too much, and whether or not to take on more debt for an Ivy.</p>
<p>The general line is that $27k is the maximum debt for 4 years of u/g school.</p>
<p>$83,000 is tooooooo much, for any u/g degree.</p>
<p>Have you done the math? What will your monthly payments need to be? What gross salary do you need to earn in order to make those monthly payments? How long will you be making those payments?</p>
<p>You can’t take out that kind of loans without a co-signer, so it probably is a no-go anyway. </p>
<p>That amount of debt is flat-out excessive for an undergrad degree. You need to find a less expensive option. There are a number of useful calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) that you can use to see how much money you would need make in order to pay off your loans. The one I like best is this one, because it will compare several financial aid packages side-by-side: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid)</p>
<p>In the FA forum you’ll find people who say avoid this kind of debt. Go to the parents forum and you’ll find that IVY is worth any cost, it’s all about “experience” “elite” “selective” “special” etc. </p>
<p>IMO 83K is enormous, good luck paying that back in this terrible job market. Heck even in a great job market that’s a lot of money to pay back.</p>
<p>Unless you are able to pay the interest while you are in college, the debt will have grown by the time you graduate. With interest at the end of 2 1/2 years it will be around $100,000+. You are looking at payments of $1200 a month every month for 10 long years.</p>
<p>Way too much debt (yes, I’m one f the FA forum people )</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the great feedback and input. I’m definitely leaning toward a cheaper alternative. Unless my family wants to dish out a good portion (it’s because of them that I got a small grant from CU), I’m definitely not stupid enough to go into heart-stopping debt just for a brand name.</p>
<p>What percentage of the population has more than $50k in student loan debt? How the hell do they make it?</p>
<p>It would be nice to hear from people who took the opportunity and are strapped with the large debt in this economy. Success, failure, and struggling encouraged to chime in.</p>
<p>A very good friend of D1, CoE graduate, took out 60K loans. He is making 65k at a consulting firm first year out of school. He is paying down his loans as fast as possible (not just minimum payment of 650) and he is living by himself. I think he is still able to take D1 out sometimes.:)</p>
<p>I don’t know why 27K is the magic number for maximum loan amount. I think it depends what is your major and what you are planning to do after graduation - medical school and law school will add on to your debt, but if you are going into finance or consulting where you could make 60K+ then you could manage more loans.</p>
<p>certainly, the loan amount depends depends on the individual, security of future employment, potential expenses for grad school, how much your unknown spouse borrowed…</p>
<p>Because we don’t have a crystal ball or know many details, and I see unemployed kids and adults from top-tier schools… I go for low-debt.</p>
<p>They end up with a burden that will last decades and have enormous unforeseen consequences. Check out this article. These are people who have a lifelong debt obligation because of student loans:</p>
<p>That is the maximum aggregate loan limit for 4 years of subsidized and unsubsidized Direct Stafford Loans (year1 $5.5K + year2 $6.5K + year3 $7.5K + year4 $7.5K).</p>
<p>perhaps that might be true for engineering or finance, but only looking at potential salary of an English Lit major is asking for financial pain. Sure, the “potential” salary might be say, $40k for an Ivy Lit major, but the odds of getting that job is perhaps less than 10% (if not lower). A PT retail job is more likely, at minimum wage. Even some business jobs – communications for example – are extremely hard to come by for college grads.</p>
<p>Now see, I will be over 27k in debt no matter what UNLESS I stay at home and go to the local, virtually unknown, college about 20 minutes away from me (which would not truly benefit me/ further me along with my major at all except for actually graduating with a degree). In this case, I will be just at 27k (and probably a couple thousand over this amount). Background information: Transferring out of a CC after two years to save money on gen eds.</p>
<p>I only received 6,500 in an unsubsidized loan to my state university and 15,000 in a scholarship to a private university. My mother died, but my father’s retirement plan is built upon having a rental property with annual rent (which comes up as annual income) and as a result, whether or not he actually makes enough to pay for 90% of my education, I do not get any kind of actual “aid” from tuitions to attend.</p>
<p>Essentially, unless I stay home, I will accrue at least 60k in debt for the next two year no matter what because we did not receive aid except the option for the unsub. loan at 6.5% and these aren’t for universities as top notch as Cornell. 30k each year at state and 40k each year at private.</p>
<p>If your major is in a field where a high income is the norm or a high possibility out of the gate, then it might be worth it to have the Ivy name attached to your degree.</p>
<p>There is no magic number in terms of a debt ceiling. The $27K figure is a set point that EVERY student cleared through FAFSA can get without a co-signer, without a credit check. To go beyond that point, should make anyone pause, because it means stepping into “other” categories. It means you are going to have a lot more debt on your head than most kids. </p>
<p>In some situations, that is fine. If parents are in good shape and can help out here and there, it may be the best way to go. But the truth of the matter is that a kid whose family has a low EFC and whose family cannot scratch up much money for college is going to have a tough time even with the Stafford debt. A job does not magically materialize after college, and those who have families with financial troubles of their own are going to be stepping out of college with about as much loan, maybe more than s/he can earn in a job and need to foot the bills for a lot things in the college to work world transition. I have a number of friends and acquaintances who spent and are about to spend a lot of money helping their kids make that transition. Getting a place to live for graduate schools, putting an apartment together, a wardrobe, a car. The differences really stand out once kids are out of college as to what a parent can give to get started in life. And a huge loan makes it that much of a quandry.</p>
<p>The OP did not get these loans in a financial aid package. These are likely private loans. Can your Dad take out PLUS? If denied that will give you more in Staffords. The interest rates should be compared at very least. Who is cosigning these loans for you? </p>
<p>Can you take a gap year and get some more requirements out of the way so that you can get through Cornell in 2 years, saving a semester of cost? Then maybe enrolling for summers if (and for many schools this is the case) and getting out of Cornell after 3 academic year semester? Hopefully if you do this, you can find a less expensive place to live and by being very frugal, take a few thousand off the loans as well. Also, hopefully you are working like demon to get more cash to reduce that loan nut. </p>
<p>Going to Cornell may well be your best choice, but be very aware that you are graduating with a large debt burden if you do this. It is a serious issue and one that causes a lot of stress and decrease in quality of life for years to come after graduation for a lot of students and families.</p>
<p>*I will accrue at least 60k in debt for the next two year *</p>
<p>Lauren…what is your major and future career? $60k in debt is too much and it’s very likely that your future career will not earn enough to pay that back without severe living…such as living with dad (which your future job’s location may not allow or would not work out if you’re in a relationship after you graduate). </p>
<p>*If your major is in a field where a high income is the norm or a high possibility out of the gate, then it might be worth it to have the Ivy name attached to your degree. *</p>
<p>There are very, very few jobs that get high income “out of the gate” and where an “ivy name” will help get you more money. The only jobs that I can think of are Wall Street jobs for finance and econ majors…but they may also need a grad degree. </p>
<p>Even an engineering degree, which tends to lead to a higher starting salary, is not high enough to have that kind of debt.</p>
<p>Is your dad going to co-sign your loans? Is he helping to pay any/much of your education?</p>
<p>It looks like you want to transfer to CAS NYU…that is NOT worth $60k in debt…at all.</p>
<p>What is your major and future career? You’ll probably earn the same amount after graduating from your local college.</p>
<p>Why can’t you go to Rutgers, TCNJ, or Ramapo?</p>
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