Financial Aid thread

[school17777]

I like Creekland's suggestion of a lower cost Penn St campus, and even better if they can commute for two years, and then transfer.

 

As for the debt, your students will be able to take on less than 6K in loans each.  Any loans after that will need to be co-signed by the parents.  You can't make them attend anywhere, but you can tell them that you can't take the financial risk from the loans.  That is your choice. 

 

 

We haven't gotten further than stafford loans, so that is good to know about the $6k limit.  

[8filltheheart]

We haven't gotten further than stafford loans, so that is good to know about the $6k limit.  

 

I think you should spend some time researching how loans work b/c it sounds like it is going to be important.  Freshman are only allowed to borrow $5500, sophomores  $6500, and jrs/srs $7500.  

 

You might want to research articles like this one:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324532004578362290396501134

[shewhoseeks]

On the financial front, I'm feeling especially grateful for how things worked out, because we very nearly screwed this up.  My daughter applied to schools with big scholarships (like SMU's president's scholars, or the Duke/UNC Robertson Scholar program), to a nearby school that offered good merit aid for high scores (but oops- apparently only for National Merit Finalists; the very high actual SAT score taken only a few weeks later counted for nothing), and to some top reach schools that meet need without loans.  I overlooked an actual FINANCIAL safety somehow, and when I realized this and suggested my daughter apply for an in-state school, we found that they had a very early deadline that had passed.  So all private or out-of-state tuition schools.  Gulp. 

 

For us, even though SMU, OU, and New College gave scholarships, there would have been substantial loans and there was a large gap between their package and our EFC.  UNC-Chapel Hill gave us a financial package that met our need, but would have required at least $9K in loans/year.  We were considering this.  Swarthmore met our need (everything but the EFC + some change), without loans. 

 

I will definitely put more thought into financial safeties next time around!  At least one or two in-state financial safeties, a couple of schools that offer good merit aid, and a reach or two that meet need without loans. 

[FaithManor]

  Not freshman year.  Our plan is to buy a place after for them to live, plus roommates.

IF all three of our boys were going to attend MTU - not the case for C since he switched his major - we would have purchased a house there. We found several in the $50,000 range and within walking/biking distance of campus. Room and Board of $10,000 a year is better invested in a property. These homes all had three-four bedrooms so a roommate to help with expenses made it MUCH more affordable than RB.

 

We even considered it for Alma. We found a cute three bedroom four blocks from campus for about $50,000.00 The mortgage payment with taxes and insurance was less than the monthly amount to live on campus. Add on a roommate and it became a money maker!

 

I know of a local doctor who has four kids all of whom want to attend med school. (They are all only 18 months to 2 years apart in age so he'll have them all in undergrad or med school at once.) So he made them all apply to MSU - his alma mater - and then bought a small house for them to share in Lansing. It was so much cheaper. The house has appreciated some so by the time the last one graduates, he'll have made money on the deal. But, they all had to be high enough stats that along with legacy preference were pretty well assured of being admitted. The kids applied themselves to the task.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

Well, the second communication with the college didn't go as well as we had hoped.  The school will not guarantee anything other than the merit award.  The grants are based on having two in college and 5 people living in the home.  Since DD and DGD will only be with us for two more years, the college will expect our contribution to double for DS's junior and senior years. Our contact in the Financial Aid office has been wonderfully accommodating, running numbers for us and giving us anticipated numbers based on multiple scenarios. 

 

DS has decided to cross this school of the list.  There is no guarantee that we will have that kind of money in three years and he doesn't want to anticipate a transfer before he even goes to orientation.

 

I am sad because I do believe this school was the best social/educational fit for him.

 

[JanetC]

Well, the second communication with the college didn't go as well as we had hoped. The school will not guarantee anything other than the merit award. The grants are based on having two in college and 5 people living in the home. Since DD and DGD will only be with us for two more years, the college will expect our contribution to double for DS's junior and senior years..

 

I am sorry that the numbers don't work out, but I am very glad that the financial aid office has been so direct in explaining the costs and how aid will be calculated in future years.

[Hoggirl]

On the Stafford loans...

 

My understanding (which is extremely limited!) is that interest begins accruing from Day 1 on unsubsidized loan. So even though the total amounts per year are $5,500, $6,500, $7,500, and $7,500 (for a total of $27,000), the ending amount of debt winds up being > $30,000 (maybe around $32,000 - anyone know??) at graduation. SUBSIDIZED loans do not start accruing interest until graduation.

 

Am I correct in this?