So I’m currently in the process of hearing back from colleges I applied to. My father attended three years of college on a full ride and my mother only attended community college for one year, so neither one of them knew much about paying for college. We all thought that you could pay whatever and take out loans and then the rest is debt on the student. However, it turns out that it doesn’t look like that’s the case as they found out something like how you can’t go into debt for this and whatever loans you can take out is it. My parents make roughly $170k a year and they’re only giving me $10k per year. I really want to go out of state for college, but after finding this news out, it might be impossible for me to go to my dream school: CU Boulder, which would be $40,000 a year due to my Presidential Scholarship from them. Is what I’m hearing true and that if my parents won’t be willing to pay off that much, it will be impossible for me to attend that college?
You as the student can only borrow $5500 in federal student loans your freshman year. The rest had to be covered by scholarships, parental support or by private loans (which require a co-signer.) General advice is that you don’t want to borrow more the the federal student loan amount.
Forget CU Boulder.
Is your parents’ budget of 10K sufficient to cover attending your INSTATE flagship?
Have you and your parents run NPCs on the universities you’ve applied to?
If the amount your parents give you isn’t sufficient, what is their plan for you?
Have you applied to your flagship?
Is it still time to apply to other universities instate? Apply to all possible public universities and to some LACs where your stats place you in the top 10% students.
YOU can borrow 5.5K for freshman year.
Everything else is 1° parents’ savings 2° parents’ income 3° earning a merit scholarship (those are MUCH rarer now than 25 years ago as the 2008 crisis and subsequent cuts have devastated university budgets) 4° whatever savings you have from your job.
So, if your parents give you 10K a year, you borrow 5.5K, you can work part time this Spring and full time this summer and earn 3.5K, your total budget is 19K. Does that cover any college you’ve applied to?
Things have changed since your father went to college. Colleges don’t care what your parents are willing to pay, but how much assets they have. That $170K income will shut you out from significant need-based aid. If your COA is $40k/yr., then unfortunately yes, it is unlikely you will be able to attend CU Boulder as an undergrad.
You were given the information about loan limits nearly a year ago when you posted your parents’ income and what they were willing to pay. You were advised then that you can’t borrow that much and you should apply to some MA public colleges and to some schools you knew would be affordable. Did you apply to any financial safeties?
@austinmshauri I do have several financial safeties but they’re all in Massachusetts and I really just don’t want to go to college in Massachusetts because I hate living here so much because I moved here summer after sophomore year from Colorado.
I understand that you would like to go back to CO. If your parents can only afford $10k/year then it’s unlikely to happen for college unless CO has private colleges that give lots of aid.
With the student loan and summer earnings your budget may be as high as $19k/year. Were you able to find any colleges you like that are in that price range?
Why don’t you look for summer internships in Colorado and make getting back to Colorado after graduation your goal and resolve to attend college in Mass because that’s where you will get the best deal for your parents’ and your money?
I had to commute to college 20 minutes from home, by public transit, because my parents refused to pay anything towards my education, so I feel your pain. Believe me, and I am looking back from 40 years of perspective - the college years are relatively few over a lifetime and no matter how badly they stink (and mine did, I hated every day), they are soon over and you are closer to your goals. Don’t take on student loans if you don’t have to…