Hi! I’m a high school senior in the final stages of committing to a certain university. I got a financial package in which I’ll have to pay about 40k, but my parents said that they will only be able to pay 20k. The school gave me $3000 in direct subsidized loans, but none in unsubsidized. Where would I be able to get the other 17k in loans? Sorry if this question is really broad/obvious, I’m really new to the whole loan thing. My family’s EFC is about $12300. I’ve also reached out to the office asking for unsubsidized loans (since the limit for unsub/sub loans if $5500 for undergrad freshmen), but it seems that they’re really busy; it’s been a few days and I haven’t gotten a reply yet.
You will be able to take out the $5,500, but that still leaves a considerable gap. You can’t take out another $15K in loans, your parents would need to. I wouldn’t advise going $80K into debt for undergrad.
Have you been accepted into any affordable schools?
Did you apply to a SUNY?
Your total direct loan can be $5500 for the year. You have $3000 now which means you can ask for the 2500 remaining but it will be unsubsidized.
So that leaves your balance needed at around $15,000.
Either your parents need to take a Parent Plus Loan, or something like a home equity loan…or they need to be willing to co-sign that $15,000 loan, and be qualified to do so for all four years.
If that can’t happen, you need to matriculate at a less costly college than this one.
You need to go to an affordable school. This is not it. I suspect your parents know that though. Go to your best in state NY option or a better offer that you have leveraged with your stats.
YOU likely cannot. Your parents would have to put themselves on the hook either with PLUS or a co-signed loan which is worse than PLUS in that those loans hamstring both you and your parent.
If your parents feel they cannot take that risk, that hit onto their credit, you cannot afford that school. Simple as that.
I agree with the other comments, but there is another risk. It is possible in some cases for a student to get the loans for the first year of their education and maybe for two or three years, but then find that they and their parents together do no qualify to borrow any more money. This can leave the student and their parents with large debt but with no degree. This can be quite bad.
Even if you could get the loans, $80,000 in debt is a huge debt even if you were able to graduate in four years – many students take longer than four years.
To me based just on what I have seen on this thread it sounds like you need a more affordable option. That might be community college for two years followed by a transfer to a nearby public university.
I see you got accepted to Michigan.
The school uses the CSS profile in addition to your FAFSA. The CSS profile takes a deeper look at your finances. They say your family can pay 40k, your parents say they can pay 20k - big disconnect.
This means your tuition is going to be more than 50k each year for the next 4 years. Your parents are telling you Michigan is not an affordable option for your family and this may be a real disappointment to you. You are going to have to let this go.
Did you apply to any SUNY schools (Bing, UB, Stony Brook, Albany)?