60K Debt for Duke?

Emc2Fma
Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:28:49 +0000

Wow thanks for all the responses! I recently talked to Duke and managed to get my financial aid package reviewed. The parent contribution has now dropped to 20K/year.

As a side question, I know that many financial aid packages include “Personal Costs” in their COA. When paying the college for tuition, housing, dining plan, etc. online, do we also have to pay for these “Personal Costs” or is that $$ that my parents give to me?

For example, my parents contribution for my Duke education is 20K right now. I have 2K work study, 2K student contribution, 5K in Perkins Loans, and Duke covers the rest in grants. When Duke is calculating EFC, they estimate personal expenses to be 4K/year. Does this mean my parents will pay 16K (of their 20k parent contribution) online and then Duke estimates I’ll use 4K over the course of the year?



cptofthehouse:

Umm. Where are you getting that additional $7-10K in loans?



Duke is offering me 5,500 in Perkins Loans right now. I’m assuming I could get the Parent Plus Loan (or whatever it’s called). My parents are willing to co-sign and I’m fairly confident I’ll be able to pay off my loans without defaulting it onto them.



4kidsdad:

The majority of the debt will be unsubsidized loans, and if you don’t pay the interest until you finish school, the debt will be a lot higher than 60k.



Duke has offered me the Perkins loan so the government will pay off the debt while I’m in school. However, I’m not sure if this will be the same case for the extra loans that I want to take.



texaspg:

Where would you go if not Duke for a cheaper option?



To be honest, I’m not sure. At this point, Duke is almost cheaper than my state school (UMD). UMD expects about 19K/year from my family. Duke expects 20K from my parents, 2K from me, 5K in loans. So maybe I’ll take a gap year or something. However, my parents have stated that they are willing to pay the 20K/year for Duke. I just want to make life easier for them so I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to take out more loans on my part.

So I think the general consensus seems to be that taking on the debt for Duke isn’t such a bad idea. However, reading about all the post-college life for physics majors really helped. I’m starting to re-think my career now…of course, this is the classic dilemma of “Doing what you love vs. Ensuring a comfortable life”. Regardless, thanks for all the help! If there’s any more advice, please let me know!