Community College vs. Student Loan

happymomof1
Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:30:47 +0000

Is your estimate of $60,000 the total in loan you would require to cover the difference between what your family can afford and the estimated Cost of Attendance for an international student at the universities that you would like to attend?

If so, which universities are on your list? The Cost of Attendance varies greatly from one university to another. If you are willing to change your list, you may be able to find less expensive universities to include.

Most community colleges have guaranteed transfer agreements with at least one of the public universities in the same state. So yes, this can be a good plan, even for an international student. However, you need to find out what the COA for international students is at the community colleges you are considering. If you cannot cover the full COA, you won’t get your student visa. Most CCs have COAs greater than $20,000 each year for international students. Can your family cover that easily? Some CCs do have residence halls and meal plans, but in most cases you would need to live off campus.