@chris55555 20,000 a year is a lot for parents to contribute. I assumed they had saved some already. It is shocking, trust me! Tuition/Fees and housing if on campus have to be paid at specific times so it’s a lump sum rather than monthly in most places. And say it was monthly, that is a big monthly addition to current budget.
Loan limits are a really good thing, but it does limit things. Your federal loan limit as a freshman is 5500.
Parent loans are usually at a high percentage rate…I’m no expert on them, but 80,000 in loans for one of three kids will tap out your parents ability to take loans. I do not want to take parent plus loans…so my son had to make some tough decisions.
My son stayed in state…our state has a tuition program so he has earned free tuition/fees. So, scholarships to cover the housing is much more reasonable. He’s applied to literally every scholarship. He’s had some successes.
Georgia Tech offered my son provost, which is out of state tuition waiver…coa was still 28,000 a year though! I know Florida state offers some out of state tuition waivers. I believe UCF does too.
I learned a lot about private schools too…full need…many set the parent contribution based on their formula. Any outside scholarships lowered the institutional aid and our family contribution remained stable. I had NO idea it worked that way!
I would suggest spending some time really getting a realistic picture of finances. You cannot have the “we will figure it out” mindset! And I personally do not believe that an undergrad debt above 30,000 should ever be considered…as someone who made mistakes of my own way back and am still paying the price.