Early Decision?

sainclaire · 05-27-2008, 08:14 PM

Northwestern is definitely my first choice school so naturally, I seriously thought about applying early decision. Nonetheless, I come from a relatively low income household and tuition is always an issue.

I've heard though that starting Fall this year, loans will be capped at 20 grand. Does that apply to all students? Would that mean I won't have to worry about a potential debt of more than 20,000?

hktk · 05-27-2008, 08:32 PM

As I understand it, Perkins and Stafford loans are capped at a total of $20,000.00. If your family needs to borrow money to meet its Expected Family Contribution, then you may end up borrowing more than $20,000.

Here is a site to get an estimate of your EFC:

FinAid | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid

Then, you can figure out how realistic it is that your family could pay it.