60K Debt for Duke?

cptofthehouse
Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:37:35 +0000

Umm. Where are you getting that additional $7-10K in loans? I don’t see lenders offering that to 18 year olds these days? LIkely, your parents will have to cosign, and that means it 's on their credit record too, and it’s really their loan. The lenders get two suckers for the cost of one when people do that. And if something happens to you, like death, disability, or drop out, your parents still have to pay that loan. The same goes for you, if something happens to them. It’s a bond stronger than marriage where at death do you part.

I’m not sure what you think “fully funded” means. Grad students don’t exactly live a very rich life. Most of them defer their UG loans because the stipends don’t include repayment of school loans when they are budgeted. But the interest still keep on a ticking. And so the loans keep on growing on your credit report as well as your parents’. There might be a bit of a struggle now for the next 4 years to pay that $24K, but you know what? You are supposed to struggle somewhat when you have kids in college. Especially an expensive private college like Duke. You are supposed to struggle a bit, financially and your parents too and they’ll feel so good when ti’s all over in 4 years whereas if they borrow, it’ll be for a lot more and they[ll be paying a lot more too. I 'm sure as an aspiring physics major, you can do the math and figure out how the compound interest does that. You also just don’t know what the future holds as your parents get older. Nice not to have loans over your head. Paying for something when it’s a done deal, like college after the kid has hopefully gradauted is like eating old fish. Doesn’t smell or taste better over time. Not like wine, believe me.

Also, a lot of very talented kids I know who are going to grad school and getting stipends are finding that many of the stipends do not cover everything. Seems like the schools are cutting back somewhat. I have several friends who are helping out their kids in PHD programs who are on stipends and grants. Sometimes ti’s because finding the living quarters is a problem safety reasons, and paying back your own student loan is going to be an issue there too.

So where were you thinking of getting that extra $7-10K in loans this year?