NotMamaRose

I think soozievt is absolutely correct. Parents and students need to understand very, very clearly that very few schools commit to providing 100% of the difference between what parents and students can pay and the cost of attending a school. BoCo makes this clear and we certainly knew this going in. We also clearly understood/understand that financial aid is not something that any school OWES an accepted student: it's something the school can choose to offer or not. However, I have heard of some kids getting some very large merit/talent scholarships at BoCo, so one can always hope for one of those.

swimcatsmom

Back to the OP.

taythetenor:Are you talking $40k a year in loans? However much you love the program do not take out $40k a year in loans. How are you going to pay the interest each year while you are in school? At 7% you will hve to pay $2800 in interest the 1st year, $5600 the 2nd year, $8400 the 3rd year and $11200 the 4th year and will owe $160,000 at the end of 4 years. You will then have to make loan payments of $1800+ a month for ten years or $1250 for 20 years. Are you guaranteed the income needed to make such payments from the day you graduate? ($150k to over $200K).

If you capitalize the interest (add it to the debt) you will be paying interest on the interest and the debt will have grown to over $190,000 by the time you graduate. Yes it is insanity to do this - Your 4 year dream could become a 20 year nightmare where every choice you make is governed by whether you can afford to pay your monthly loan payment and afford to eat and have somewhere to sleep.

Black Suits

Boy, we're really splitting hairs here. In the eyes of a college administrator or a college counselor loans by themselves might be considered aid - but to a parent who is paying the bill, I can assure you that telling me I have a Stafford loan is giving me no aid - zero. You can call it what you'd like. I can understand a package of grant, loan, work study being called financial aid. but a loan by itself, I'm hard pressed to call this FA. I can't be the only parent that feels this way.

soozievt

Black Suits,

I am a parent of two college students who qualify for financial aid. In fact, I just got off the phone with my oldest with regard to FA at one of the grad schools she was just accepted to (which, voila, offers no need based aid). Originally you were saying that BOCO offers no need based aid. That got changed now to no need based grants. Believe me, as a parent, a loan or work study (we declined all work study for our kids) is not seen at all in the same light as a grant!!!! We have massive loans because we plan to pay ALL of the student loans for our children and we took out Parent Plus Loans to cover the amount that we could not fully afford even if the formulas say we can. Trust me, I know the difference between aid that is in the form of a loan and that which is a grant that you don't pay back. My kids' undergrad FA PACKAGES included grants and loans (and work study but we don't want them to do that as they have no time).

But the fact remains that when talking about need based aid, or financial aid, that loans that colleges provide to those who qualify for need based aid IS called FINANCIAL AID. So, if someone says a school offers NO aid but they really do, that is not accurate. An accurate statement is that this particular school offers need based student and parent loans and work study, doesn't meet 100% of need, and also offers some merit based scholarships. The need based components that they offer may not be desirable or satisfactory to you, understandably, but it is still referred to as financial aid. Also, some of the federally subsidized student loans have lower interest rates and you don't pay them back until after graduation and thus have some advantages over the Parent Plus Loans that we also have had to take out. I understand that you are hard pressed to call student or parent loans "FA", but be that as it may, since many people read this forum, I feel an obligation to stick with the definition of financial aid and FA encompasses loans, work study, and grants.

taythetenor

The loans I'm looking at are from private vendors. They do not require to be payed back til 6 months after graduation. It will be less than $40,000 dollars a year now that I have received more financial aid and scholarhips. Thanks!

swimcatsmom

But the interest is still accruing during the 4 years you are a school right? That means at the end of 4 years you will have a debt of @ $190,000 (or more depending on the interest rate). Do you seriously and realistically think that you will be able to afford $1500 to $2200 a month in loan payments 6 months after graduating? And for 10-20 years?

Even if you were studying a field that would lead to a steadier income I would strongly discourage you from taking on such a horrendous debt. If musical theater is what you want to spend your life doing then you are probably destroying your own dreams if you take on such debt. Even if you come out of school and land a role on day 1 (which I am sure you know is unlikely however talented you are) you will be unlikely to make enough to pay the loan and eat and have somewhere to sleep.

I really hope you rethink this - tough though that may be. Instead of looking at the short term picture (4 years of school) look at the long term picture and how you see the 10-20 years after graduating. Your life will be ruled by the debt rather than following your dreams.

KatMT

Private loans do accrue interest from the start of the loan. I have had students in the past (not BOCO students... I do not teach at BOCO.. actually these were not students where I currently teach either.. but at other schools where I have taught) who took out private loans and when they graduated were not able to take advantage of some of the wonderful (but lower paying) performance opportunities that were offered them because they would not be able to, make their loan payments.

I could be wrong... is there someone on here that confirm or deny?... but my understanding is that it is difficult to impossible to defer private loans for more than 6 months and they are not eligible for student loan consolidation... federal students loans give you additional deferral periods, I believe...

I could be wrong... my understanding is from my experience paying for graduate school with assistantships and loans, and from undergraduate students I have taught who were juggling loan repayment after graduation.

I do not say this to discourage you from attending your "dream school" but to encourage you to make sure that you ask the questions that will help you to make a more informed decision.

Congratulations on your acceptance!

Black Suits

The school's literature speaks for itself. Nuff said.

Black Suits

The school's literature speaks for itself. Nuff said.

cktsing

I agree it's crazy to let your college loans dictate your life for the next 20 years. It would limit all of your choices, including ever starting a family, buying a house, etc.

A couple of people have posted that some Boco students were given large talent based scholarships- does anyone know what "large" means? Are we talking full tuition?

Black Suits

Agree with you cktsing, borrowing 40K a year, with interest. That's a lot of $$$ to be looking at after graduation - in a field where job security is iffy. Good luck to you tay - I hope you can swing the finances some way without borrowing that much.

NotMamaRose

I think I read somewhere online about a kid who got a $20K a year talent scholarship at BoCo.