<p>I am trying to decide between a 34,0000/year school and a 16,000/year school… so for parents that currently are paying hefty loans for schools, how has it effected your life? Has it made a huge impact at all?</p>
<p>Since most of our financial situtations are not your parents, I think you need to run the # though a few loan calculators as it is not 34,000 but $136,000 over the cost of 4 years (not counting tuition increases) pkus interest, then ask your parent, how repaying this money, in monthly payments which will be due almost from the moment they borrow it, will affect their life style/ quality of life.</p>
<p>Are there more children coming along who they also have to consider college for?</p>
<p>I see. I will have to ask my parents. </p>
<p>An older sibling just graduated in June and is currently repaying her own loan.</p>
<p>Carebear98, consider going to Maryland. Most schools have agreements with other schools where you can study a semester or more at a different school. (Student exchange programs). You may be able to study for a semester or 2 at UCLA, or some other school.</p>
<p>You can also study abroad for a year. </p>
<p>Why don’t you find out what Maryland offers along these lines?</p>
<p>Debt at a young age is going to limit your future options (or your parents future options). It is not necessary to take on debt to have a fulfilling college experience.</p>
<p>CareBear
I have a friend that is in his late 40s…he took out a lot of student loans and now has his doctorate. Teaches at a community college. Makes good money and loves his job. </p>
<p>BUT, he is still paying off college loans. They don’t have enough money saved to make a down payment on a house (they rent). Up until recently they only had one car (family of five). The oldest will be college aged in a few years.</p>
<p>You need to run the numbers, like Sybbie said.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I agree with dstark as far as seeing what kind of exchage programs the school offers.</p>
<p>sometimes you have to choose your battles and other times you just have to live to fight another day. </p>
<p>I think that you are very fortunate because overall, MD goes have a good state school (especially if you are attending college park). while you probably feel the need to leave Md and be someplace different, with the cost difference between MD and UCLA, you can get your parents to fund a summer program at UCLA or even help you to attend grad school there. You may even be able to get them to float you while you look at an summer journalism course somewhere else.</p>
<p>from looking over their website, maryland has so really interesting exchange program that will alow you to study abroad. You can do this for a semester or year long just to get away from it all.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.international.umd.edu/sparkplug/sites/studyabroad/?id=182[/url]”>http://www.international.umd.edu/sparkplug/sites/studyabroad/?id=182</a></p>
<p>can you pay off federal loands early to avoid the interest?</p>
<p>Federal loans are often a small part of a larger loan package, fyi.</p>
<p>As a student with a huge amount of debt, I would strongly advise you against it. I do NOT have any undergrad debt (some parents here think that I do and simply do not understand that it’s all from law school); law school debt alone is pretty intense. I have a friend with pre-law school debt, and it’s really limited his ability to go through with law school - he just cannot justify taking on all the extra expense, so he left.</p>
<p>If you are at all considering grad school, do not look at college as the first and last four years of higher education. Consider it as four out of six, seven, or eight years that needs to be financed. </p>
<p>Quick numbers:
10-year repayment term, monthly payments
$25,000 loan
5% interest = $265
6% interest = $278
7% interest = $290
8% interest = $303
9% interest = $317</p>
<p>Let’s say you borrow $50,000 for the extra cost of your college. If you pay 8% interest (not unheard of, considering that interest rates are going up), you’ll be paying $600/month for 10 years. That’s like paying double rent. Remember being 8? That time until now is the timeline for loan repayment.</p>
<p>Can you even do that on a normal college grad’s salary? If you go to grad school, how will that play out? Will you be able to afford it? Even if it’s paid for, your loans will accrue interest when you’re in school (except for some subsidized federal loans, which are capped in value). </p>
<p>Not saying you shouldn’t go - my undergrad experience was fantastic and I can’t imagine having gone anywhere else - but do consider that you’ll be paying off those debts for a while. </p>
<p>I know that a lot of people will say something completely stupid about how you can spread your loans out over 20 or 30 years. It’s insanity. A 5% loan, over 10 years, will result in paying about 30% of the value of the loan in interest. If you spread this out over about 20 years, you’ll pay about the value of the loan in interest. Also consider that you probably don’t want to be paying off this loan at age 40.</p>
<p>My two cents.</p>
<p>CareaABear:
I suggest you read through this entire thread. You might find it enlightening.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=171568[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=171568</a></p>
<p>I’m not a parent but what the heck, this was the same question I had to ask myself. My choices were UCI, UCD, UCSD and CSULB. All are state schools but the first three are more prestigious.</p>
<p>Financially speaking, CSULB is cheaper than UCI (the two gave me the best financial aid packages). The aid package for CSULB gave me significant need based aid while UCI left a significant portion to loans. My dad said he would pay the loans but I couldn’t find it in my heart to have him pay for my education. My dad earns $1400 a month and he tries to afford us the same amenities as my friends (a good number of my friends live in an affluent suburb) but it’s hard for him. He’s 55 years old and works as a cook, a hard and thankless job. He wants us to have a better life than him so he spends money on us. If we ever wanted anything as children, he’d do his best to get it for us. When I was young I was pretty spoiled, but I learned my lesson hard and fast when my dad was unemployed for awhile. My dad has little to no money saved up for retirement, our education, vacations etc; how can he, earning $1400 supporting two kids. </p>
<p>My brother and I are first generation Americans, first to attend college etc. My brother made the same choice I did so that partially influenced my decision. He chose going to a JuCo and is now training to become a paramedic rather than a full blown four year school. </p>
<p>We help my dad out by working part-time jobs and helping with the bills etc. But it’s still hard. (I live in California which means the cost of living is insanely high.) He never asked us to get jobs to help him out with our expenses; he’d rather us spend time studying or with friends.</p>
<p>There was no way I was going to ask him to take on debt on my behalf. We are already severely indebt because of my mother’s hospitialization, chemotherapy, funeral costs etc.</p>
<p>Some might say I can take out the loans myself, but I’m going to become an English teacher, not exactly the highest paying job in the world. My brother and I plan on giving my dad a comfortable living and helping him pay off debts as soon as we finish our educations. He’s worked hard enough supporting us. </p>
<p>I made my choice based on what I wanted to do for my family. I’m not preaching that it’s the right decision or the best decision but it was the best decision in my mind. Most importantly, imo, is that it was my decision.</p>
<p>So really the question comes down to your family’s ability to take on a debt and your willingness to allow them to take on that debt.</p>
<p>aries</p>
<p>Great post – </p>
<p>The info from your post should be repeated everytime we get someone wondering about whether to take out loans to attend a “dream school”</p>
<p>Jeebs, I bet your dad is very proud of you. Good luck to you. I know you are going to do very well in life.</p>