<p>I’ll lay it out and you fit this to your family circumstances.</p>
<p>We’re not trying to corner you into cc. When Kinderny says you could graduate with 22k debt, he/she is referring to your Staffords only. That would cost you about $300/mo in repayments, for 10 years. That number seems small. But, if you get, say, a 30k job (picking a low number for professional level work- you could make more or you could end up scrambling to make less,) your take home would be about $1750 (after taxes) minus any extra you end up paying for health insurance. Out of that, you pay for rent, food, transp (maybe car payments and car insurance,) clothes, movies, etc. It sounds easy, in the beginning. It gets harder if you want a romance, the car needs repairs, or you get laid off. Just think about it. We love a success story, but most successes come from careful, “aware” planning.</p>
<p>But, worse: your mom is unemployed, your dad makes an average salary- I don’t know what your “average” is." Suppose your parents take out that 12k in Parent Plus loans. For 1st year starting 2nd semester, their payments will be about $150/month. If you live on campus 1st and 2nd years, now they’ll be paying roughly $300/month, starting about March of 2nd year. Can they? For 10 years?</p>
<p>If you live off campus, how will you pay for it? You need to look into housing that’s available near campus. How cheap? Where I am, it runs 350-750, depending, and the lower end can be a shared room, maybe plus utilities, maybe in a rough area. Maybe that works for you. Yes, you could do food for less than $350/month, if you are careful. But, you have to put these pieces together. Assuming you could spend $350 on food (on other threads, parents quote more for sons,) over 10 months, to beat the cost of school R/B, your budget would be less than $650/mo for rent. Is that feasible? And, as noted, most leases run 12 months. Do kids commonly sublet their spaces over summer? Or, not in NP? See the thinking? And, if one or two apt-mates left, you want a lease that does not hold you and the remaining folks accountable for the full amount.</p>
<p>Now, if you end up staying on campus and your parents continue to take 12k in loans each year, they could end up paying $600/mo, for the balance of the loan.</p>
<p>If Dad’s salary actually allows them to pay more, borrow less, you still have to follow the logic. Maybe you can do it. k? It’s late in the game to be learning about these things, but that’s what’s involved.</p>