High EFC, but want loans!

samsmom
Fri, 16 Mar 2007 11:53:22 +0000

Hi,

My daughter does not qualify for work study or subsidized loans. She will be working full time this summer for her spending money which is to last her throughout the school year. She will probably end the school year with most of it as she does not like spending her own money! She probably still has the first $5.00 she ever earned!

We have discussed her getting a loan for each year, up to $3500, which would give her $14,000 worth of debt when she graduates. That is not too bad considering her father and I would be paying almost $180,000 for those same four years. (unless she gets some merit aid) Sounds like a bargain to me!

She is also condering getting a part-time job while at school, but I don’t want her to pursue this until her second semester at the earliest so she can get used to school and the demands that it will entail.

I know when I got out of school I had no money, a crappy job, and student loans. It was a struggle for quite a few years, but I think those struggles helped build character and a good ethics for handling money. It was an important life lesson. That’s why I think making her get some form of loan is still a good idea, without drowning her.