<p>I'm sure this has been asked before, but here goes again. Ok, D got half her tuition paid for by scholarships, now it's time to find the other half ($20.000). What are the best avenues to pursue, Our bank with a home equity or student loan, Federal loan etc. Any advice for this first timer. We have received the final aid package from the school, plus we are filling out other scholarship apps. Thanks</p>
<p>Go and see what your options are for a home equity loan. Compare the terms with what you can get from Federal sources. If your EFC shows some yet unmet need, your student can get a subsidized Stafford Loan for some of this. Perhaps she can work this summer and during the school year to meet some of her costs too. Our son, through his own savings, loans and work pays about 30% of his costs. </p>
<p>Though PLUS rates are not the best, it’s easy to get the loan and it leaves the home equity option available for other needs, though these days it is not so easy to get HELOCs anymore.</p>
<p>How much other debt do you have? How much home equity do you have, and do you think your home will keep its value? Can you afford to service 80K+ of loans (20K x 4, and tuition will go up)? Is your job stable, and do you have other kids to educate? It’s impossible to answer your question without knowing more about your financial circumstances.</p>
<p>My opinion is this. Your student should not take out more than the maximum permitted in Stafford loans (about 30K over four years). Private student loans to 18-year-olds are a bad idea and people get into trouble with them. If you, as her parents, cannot afford to finance the rest (about 50K +) with PLUS, home equity, savings, then you should seriously question whether it’s a good idea for your D to attend this particular school.</p>
<p>What state do you live in? Some states have special loan programs (similar to PLUS) but with lower interest rates, i.e. NJ CLASS loans.</p>
<p>Are you saying that tuition, room, board and books for this school is about $40k and your D received about $20k in aid? So, you have $20k left to cover? </p>
<p>Is this your last child to put thru college? If not, how will you pay for the others? Your equity will be gone AND you’ll be making payments on your D’s debt. </p>
<p>By the time you’ve borrowed $80k (at least, since costs go up every year), what will your monthly payments be and for how long? I’m guessing that the monthly payments will be about the cost of TWO extra car payments…and for quite a long time. Is that feasible??? </p>
<p>Frankly, it sounds like you really can’t afford this school. Unless you’re quite affluent, then borrowing $80k for your D’s college costs is too much. </p>
<p>How much of your D’s costs can you pay out of current income each year?</p>
<p>I see that your D will be attending Elizabethtown College</p>
<p>tuition and fees:… $36,550
Room and board: $9,050 </p>
<h2>Books and supplies: $1,000 </h2>
<p>Basic costs are about $47k each year.</p>
<p>Looking at the costs, it appears that your daughter will be commuting to college and got $20K towards the costs. Congratulations, as it is a nice amount to get. That leaves another $20K a year. Before borrowing yourself, see what other options you have in terms of whittling that amount down with work, savings and student loans.</p>
<p>If the D will be commuting, and the $20k is all scholarship (free money), then it seems that with some thought, you (the parent) won’t need to borrow $80k (which is way too much).</p>
<p>If your D takes out a 5500 loan that she’s responsible for, and she earns some summer money to put towards college (maybe 1500), and you contribute $6k per year out of current income, then you’d only have to borrow about $7k per year. That’s much better.</p>
<p>Oh great, I’m excited about the responses so far, thanks. Here is a little more information. By no means is this a cry for help, we can afford to go pretty much all routes suggested, not easily but still doable. I just need to find out the best way to come up with the money. We have just one child, top 10 % in her class, hard worker, really a great all around person. Both parents married and work, hurt us on allot of the scholarship she has applied for, local, state and fed as far as need based. So it seems we fall into the category of, paying the rest on us, which I’m fine with but what is the best way. We have a mortgage, and a home equity loan for a kitchen renovation we had done a few years ago. So I need to pay $23,000 a year for the next 4 years. Totally new at this so please bear with my ignorance on how to go about it. A Home equity loan may be out due to the real estate market in the dumps especially in our area. I believe when we took out the home equity loan our house lost $20,000 just due to the market. Anyway thanks for all the help and it is really helping.</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids, I like the direction your going with that.</p>
<p>^It’s how most of us stay sane doing it ;)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, you’ve all been a big help. I’m good to go.</p>