<p>I am currently an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University. I married after having entered the college.</p>
<p>I have been communicating with financial aid, and apparently, because I entered as a dependent student, I will be considered a dependent student for the rest of my time at Hopkins. </p>
<p>This has resulted in some complications: while I do not even expect my parents to contribute, it will be more difficult for them to contribute even if they wanted to. Prior to being married, they took out PLUS loans (which I would have been accountable for after graduating) which they will no longer be able to take (because under FAFSA, I am considered an independent student).</p>
<p>This is what I would like to know:
- What are the best student loans available?<br>
- What are the financial aid policies of other colleges?<br>
- What is my best option to take? / Any advice/information you think could help. </p>
<p>Note:
FAFSA will declare you an independent student if one of the following applies:
- Be 24 years of age or older by December 31 of the award year;
- Be an orphan (both parents deceased), ward of the court, or was a ward of the court until the age of 18;
- Be a veteran of the Armed Forces of the United States;
- Be a graduate or professional student;
- Be a married individual;
- Have legal dependents other than a spouse;
- Be a student for whom a financial aid administrator makes a documented determination of independence by reason of other unusual circumstances.</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins is a Profile school. The ONLY thing the FAFSA EFC does for its students is determine eligibility for federally funded need based aid…not institutional aid. Hopkins can (and does ) make it’s own determination on the awarding of institutional money.</p>
<p>I guess I have to ask…how much in Plus loans were your parents taking out? Would they co-signing private loans with you? I’m not advocating this if the amount of loans are high.</p>
<p>Last year, we paid everything through loans: $13,546 in PLUS and $3,500 student subsidized.</p>
<p>We did not take out any private loans beyond PLUS/Stafford.</p>
<p>If your parents cosigned a loan for you for $14K would you be able to pay all of the bills for Hopkins for the upcoming year(s)? Ask your parents if they would be willing to cosign a loan for you.</p>
<p>But be advised…you are taking out $17K per year of loans…for a total of $68K at least for the four years. If you or your wife anticipate going to grad school or professional school, you would want to look at the loans you will be repaying. $68K in loans will be at least $700 a month for about 10 years.</p>
<p>Actually, things will be difficult in that now Hopkins will not only calculate from my parents’ income, but my husband’s (military, enlisted) income. I was given an estimate of 22k to 26k EFC, and I know they consider loans as aid, so really, ~25k to ~29k a year. </p>
<p>I think cosigning for loans is one option I could take, despite the hefty totals.</p>
<p>If we budgeted very well and put all of the disposable income of my household towards college, we could pay off, at most, 20k, but that’s assuming no savings and no unexpected financial obstacles. I need to talk to financial aid more about income/assets protection/allowances though.</p>
<p>Good luck. This is one of the things students thinking about marriage during college should consider…the implications for their financial aid. Yes…your husband’s income/assets are now your FAMILY income/assets. </p>
<p>How many more years of college do you have? If it’s three …you are looking at some VERY significant debt…VERY.</p>
<p>I hate to suggest this…but is there a less expensive college option you could consider?</p>
<p>I only knew how FAFSA dependency would change, and didn’t realize how differently and oddly JHU would take care of things, though I did make some “at the worst” calculations. I will still try to contest how JHU handles my husband’s money in terms of income/asset protections.</p>
<p>For the record, I don’t regret having gotten married. This year has been very difficult and very overwhelming, but it’s worth it and I’ll leave it at that.</p>
<p>I am still exploring all my possible options. </p>
<p>We could scrape by with necessities and a lowered debt.</p>
<p>I cannot transfer out at the moment what with many deadlines having passed, but I could, at best, wait a year before entering another, less expensive school. </p>
<p>I know that if I chose to wait three years, I could get off more easily due to military benefits and JHU’s participating in the yellow ribbon program, so that is a potential option, albeit an unlikely one for me to choose.</p>
<p>Right now, I am trying to get as much information and collect as many resources possible, and analyze all possible options.</p>