Off Campus Housing Loans

thataaronkid · 09-28-2012, 09:04 PM

Anyone familiar with the process of getting an off-campus housing loan? I've called a few private school loan companies and they both said they only cover what the school says in their budget..

Do you guys recommend any loan companies I should look into? My apartment will cost about $950/month (includes water, sewer, trash, gas, and cable) electric is all I have to cover.

I don't know if it matters regarding which loans, but im going to a college in Arizona..

Thanks

kelsmom · 09-28-2012, 10:21 PM

You cannot borrow an education loan - federal or private - unless your total aid is less than the cost of attendance at your school. Have you talked to your school? What is the cost of attendance, and what is your current aid package?

Some CC's do not allow living expenses in the cost of attendance. Do you attend a local CC?

thataaronkid · 09-29-2012, 02:13 AM

Im going to Northern Arizona University this spring. I believe the total cost of attendance per semester is around $13k. Financial aid only awarded me $335... So im going to have to be depending on student loans.

thataaronkid · 09-29-2012, 09:33 PM

Do the people who live off campus in apartments all pay for there rent out of pocket with no loans or something? When I called those two loan companies they made it sound like they've never heard of a student loan being able to use towards an apartment..

mom2collegekids · 09-29-2012, 10:04 PM

My apartment will cost about $950/month

If you have to borrow that much, then this school is unaffordable. That's $12k per year....plus any student loans you have in your FA pkg that is covering tuition.

Anyway...you'd need qualified co-signers to borrow that much.

How are you paying for the $26k per year to attend this school? this school sounds unaffordable and is certainly not worth this level of debt.

Yes, it is unusual to be borrowing for the entire apt cost because that's too much debt.

Do you realize how much debt you'll have when you graduate? how will you pay it all pack? How much do you think you'll be earning upon graduation?

Is this for THIS current school year? Are you already enrolled?

Are you instate or is this the WUE rate?

thataaronkid · 09-29-2012, 10:54 PM

This is for the Spring 13 school year. My initial tuition cost of $13k was wrong, Tuition is only about $6500 I was including the $5k for on campus housing.

Im not instate and I did qualify for the WUE rate.

I do plan on working while up there to help cover expenses, but not enough to cover the tuition and apartment...

mom2collegekids · 09-29-2012, 11:08 PM

So, your tuition is $6500 per semester? about $13k per year?

How are you going to pay for:

$13k tuition per year?
$1k per year for books?
plus any misc fees or course fees.

How are you paying for the above costs (that don't include room and board)???

I realize that you're going to work part-time, but how much can you likely earn each month? $400-500 a month?

.....and then how are you ALSO going to pay for housing of $12k per year??? (you'll likely be signing a 12 month lease...so you'll be paying for the summer months even if you're not there)

It doesn't sound like this school is affordable. $6500 tuition per semester may seem lowish, but if you don't have the money, then.....

What is your home state? What are your instate public options? how much do they cost? Can you commute to a local public from home?

thataaronkid · 09-30-2012, 02:54 AM

So what your saying is that its unaffordable/unrealistic to go to this school because I don't have the money up front without having to borrow?

I understand 24k a year is a lot, but what your saying doesn't make sense to me seeing as the school has over 25% out of state students.. I assume not everyone of them has the money up front to pay for tuition, books, rent and other personal things; which is where student loans would come in, right?

Again I understand that is a lot to borrow and Im not totally dependent on paying for this entirely myself. The point of this thread was to find information from other people who have used student loans to HELP cover the cost of an off-campus apartment...

Sorry if I didn't make it clear, im not going to take out a loan for the entire thing... The second poster said "cannot borrow an education loan - federal or private - unless your total aid is less than the cost of attendance at your school." which is where the cost of tuition and what not was posted...

TitoMorito · 09-30-2012, 04:12 AM

That's great that there are OOS students willing to pay that much a year, but think about it this way: is your undergraduate degree worth 60-80k+ to you (I'm not sure if it's $6,500/semester or /year), bearing in mind that a lot of that is debt which will accrue interest (once you graduate) until you pay it off? It's not free money, and you'll have to pay it off at some point, as it can't be discharged through bankruptcy. We think you should look at cheaper options so you won't be paying off that debt for many years to come, though some debt is to be expected (~25k across 4 years is the norm, I believe).

mom2collegekids · 09-30-2012, 10:44 AM

I understand 24k a year is a lot, but what your saying doesn't make sense to me seeing as the school has over 25% out of state students.. I assume not everyone of them has the money up front to pay for tuition, books, rent and other personal things; which is where student loans would come in, right?

Those 25% of OOS kids have various situations...some may be...

athletes whose costs are covered with athletic scholarships

students who received nice scholarships as incoming frosh

students whose parents are paying for all costs

students who are splitting some of the costs with their parents, so the student only borrows a Stafford loan.

students who have recently moved to the area, are considered OOS, but are commuting from home.

Intl students who think that price is very economical.

You seem to think that since these kids can do it, so can you. They don't likely have YOUR situation.

The bottom line is that students in YOUR situation who do not have parental financial support, who only got a tiny bit of aid (sounds like you got a little bit of a Pell Grant), will not likely be able to afford this school.

YOU can't borrow that much without qualified co-signers. Who would cosign for you???