<p>When I graduated from college 25 years ago, my salary was $2000 per month. I made more than any of my friends. $2000 is a LOT of money. I don’t care how much a kid thinks he’s going to make. $2000 a month is a ridiculous amount of money to be stuck paying every single month for at least 10 years.</p>
<p>SWM–again, I understand that the suggested necessary income to pay back the loans according to that caculator posits that one needs to live at a higher standard of living if one has high loans, than one would need if one has lower loans, and I disagree with that premise.</p>
<p>Again, I’m not arguing that the high loans are a good idea. Far from it. I’m arguing that sticking to a false premise which a student reading here might not buy into is a counter-argument to dissuading him/her from taking out the loans. i understand that the premise is based on fin.aid’s calculator, but if it’s producing an unsupportable result at a high loans levels, it becomes less useful.</p>
<p>However it’s presented, 2000/month is a ridiculous amount to come out of school owing. I think we can all agree on that!</p>
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<p>Ah…but remember that if your SALARY is $70K per year, your take home pay will be MUCH less than that…FIT, SIT, FICA, health insurance cost share, etc. will all be deducted from that $70K salary.</p>
<p>Yes, of course. But since most people in this country live on less than 70K pretax, then that amount (an arbitrary example, plus the 35k or so necessary to cover the loan, is certainly live-on-able, and about half 233k.</p>
<p>haha paying $2000 a month back every month i mean c’mon who could possibly do that. a neurosurgon maybe with no kids, no wife, no social life who uses public transportation and still lives home with his parents. heheh</p>
<p>Im quite shocked about the college prices in the U.S. though as many foreigners are Im sure, Im german but got my bachelors degree in the U.K and it didnt cost me anything. In Germany its free as well, as a matter of fact in many european countries you get a monthly amount of money for studying (up to 600 Euros in germany) and dont even have to pay it back. but seriously have u considered maybe getting ur degree in Britain? Even when paying the international fees id be a lot cheaper than a lot of American Unis i think. And dont start being ignorant and saying but european Universities arent good…cause they are…there are great and not so great ones around just like in the U.S or anywhere else I suppose.</p>
<p>Can I get an “Amen!?”
(to ebeeeee’s post on page 1)</p>
<p>This is a thread bumped from over a year ago… but in response to Angie’s post, it doesn’t work like that. Most European universities are not free to Americans.</p>
<p>You wake up and enroll at the closest CC for a couple of years. Then you study hard and fill out every financial aid and merit scholarship form available before you transfer.</p>
<p>Not sure when Angie went to uni but universities in Britain are not free anymore even to Brits. They are not as expensive as the US, but they are not free. </p>
<p>And I believe they charge US students a fairly hefty sum.</p>
<p>You should definately consider other schools considering that you have a efc of 0… even 100k in debt is a lot for undergraduate. </p>
<p>Edit: Oh, I didn’t know the thread was over a year old, maybe 2 by next week.</p>
<p>*You wake up and enroll at the closest CC for a couple of years. Then you study hard and fill out every financial aid and merit scholarship form available before you transfer. *</p>
<p>Since transfer students generally cannot get big merit scholarships no matter how high their stats are, it’s better to study hard and do well in high school because many colleges offer the big merit scholarships to incoming freshmen only.</p>
<p>Wow - thanks for the info mom2 - I will continue to study hard at my CC even though I was hoping for some merit money… (sigh).</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I know it’s frustrating. There are a few schools that cost about $50k per year that will give a $5k or $10k discount, but many CC kids don’t have the means to come up with the other $40-45k.</p>
<p>So, your best bet is to do as well as you can, and see if your in-state public will give you a transfer discount for high grades. Some will take a thousand or so off tuition.</p>
<p>Do you have any 4 year publics near you?</p>
<p>Yes, fortunately I do live near two 4 year publics, although they are also expensive (and impacted - California…) but that’s my goal. </p>
<p>I know college education is an investment but I just cannot imagine “investing” $220,000. I guess it’s all relative so my hats off to those who can.</p>
<p>It’s one thing if $220k can easily be paid. It’s another if it requires big loans. :(</p>
<p>No undergrad should take out big student loans. Too overwhelming when it’s time to pay them back :(</p>
<p>I’m guessing that you live near a UC and a Cal State? The Cal State should be rather reasonable in price (as schools go.).</p>
<p>If you’re low income, you can use Pell and Cal Grants to pay for your tuition. Do you qualify? UC tuition is supposed to be free for those whose families earn less than $60k (just tuition, not the rest),</p>
<p>I graduated from Uni in Scotland last year and it was free but yeah my best friend is american and she had to pay, but ‘only’ about 9k a year so that seemed a lot cheaper to me than the unis he suggested. In Germany its free and a lot of courses are taught in english but I can see that a lot of people might not want to move there. what about canada then, I read its a lot cheaper there. Generally I think if someone is flexible about where they want to go study they can save a lot of money. I was offered really generous scholarships from Unis in less popular areas I guess such as Alabama or Missouri. South Africa is really cheap too. Id much prefer to move somewhere like that than paying 100k and being in debt for half my life. Also I think if you have an MBA you have an MBA and personally I wouldnt really mind what Uni its from as long as its accredited. best of luck to u anyway</p>