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<p>This, to me, is blaming the victim.</p>
<p>The real question is, what responsibility do colleges such as NYU have for this sort of insanity, for offering absurd debt loads to vulnerable teenagers making decisions that will literally affect the rest of their lives?</p>
<p>No 18-year-old high school senior could get a credit card with a $200,000 credit limit. Why does anyone let them sign up for $200,000 in college loans?</p>
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<p>My guess is very little…NYU is not making these loans, other than the Stafford which they’re awarding per federal statute. Banks are most likely the source of the rest. I can’t figure out how/why they’re willing to lend so much, unsecured, even if parents with sufficient income are willing to cosign. Clearly, if they haven’t been able to save money and aren’t paying a significant portion from current income, there’s going to be a risk that neither borrower or cosigner will be able to afford repayment! Perhaps they’re hoping for a default in order to tack on massive fees and interest charges?! </p>
<p>Anyway, NYU defended their actions, in print, about a year ago, in effect saying that they were not in the position or business to judge student’s ability to acquire/repay loans vs securing funding from other sources. Which is true…their students/families are not “victims” as they clearly have made the choice to be in this position and many schools leave large gaps in FA packages. It’s simply glaring with NYU because the COA is higher than most.</p>
<p>Polarscribe…I’m not blaming the victim (young students)…I’m blaming the adults in these kids’ lives. These kids wouldn’t even be getting these loans without idiot adults co-signing them or helping them get these loans. I’m not blaming the naive 18 year olds…I’m blaming their 35+ year old parents.</p>
<p>Your post sounds like these kids can get this debt by themselves…they can’t…they need a willing idiot adult to help them.</p>
<p>If this student is already a freshman at NYU, then there’s still time to stop this train wreck before it gets any worse. Withdraw. don’t go back there. Obviously this school didn’t give you any aid so you’re not giving up anything by leaving there.</p>
<p>Shame on NYU. Honesty, for being such a highly ranked school, it’s pathetic that it gives such lousy aid. Why can’t the brainies at Stern figure out how to give these students decent aid and scholarships???</p>
<p>“All of my friends are going to state schools and community colleges…”</p>
<p>Because nowadays, unless you’re filthy-rich, that’s the only way to go.</p>
<p>I regret that DS even applied to any private universities. He could have saved a lot of time and sweat by just applying to publics – because it is increasingly clear to us that publics are his only viable option.</p>
<p>I second what everyone else is saying. Do not take on that much debt, please!!</p>
<p>Sorry for taking so long to reply to my own post. Yes, I am already in NYU as a freshmen. I am in LSP, which is a two year program that tracks into a 4 year degree…I will already be about $50,000 in debt from this year and will most likely stay for the 2 years, I am just not sure if I should do all 4. Im thinking getting out with an associates is better than nothing, and although I got straight A’s and am in love with NYU, I realize I may have to leave. I just dont know how that will look, having gone to a private university for two years and then a state school for my final two years.</p>
<p>Also, I dont know if it makes much of a difference, but all of my loans are federal loans, I didnt have to take out any private loans.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if they are federal loans…makes no difference. </p>
<p>The amount is waaaaaaay too much.</p>
<p>And it won’t matter that you went to a private first and then a public. No one will care about that. I think you need to leave NOW…before you take on any more big debt.</p>
<p>Getting an associate degree and then leaving serves no purpose. Leave now, go to a CC or a state school and then finish.</p>
<p>SnappleSpice, let me reassure you that no employer will care that you transferred from a private university to a state university. Many, many, many students do the same, for any number of reasons - from fit to pricetag to changing interests. I daresay you’re not alone among students in realizing that their “dream” school is really a financial nightmare.</p>
<p>To be brutally frank, you will have $100,000 in debt for a liberal studies associate’s degree that could have been earned at a community college for a tiny fraction of the cost.</p>
<p>I know you’re in love with NYU, but you will hate the bill when it starts coming due - and that will be much, much sooner than you think.</p>
<p>Fifty THOUSAND dollars a year for an A.A.S.?! :eek: :eek: Have you read the stories on the Project on Student Debt website yet? Perhaps you and anderson88 should have a conversation:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1064987-70k-student-loans-half-them-private-2-7-gpa-general-studie-degree-no-resume.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1064987-70k-student-loans-half-them-private-2-7-gpa-general-studie-degree-no-resume.html</a></p>
<p>You really need to get a better concept of money before you go back…that $25K you borrow for the next 4 months may be more than your entire year’s salary with an associate’s degree…and there will be interest added on top of that! You would be better off taking that money and travelling the world for a year…at least that would be a valuable educational experience!</p>
<p>My D will graduate with a Master’s from SUNY Buffalo after 5 years and will not have accumulated $50K in debt…we’re hoping she can repay her loans without too much difficulty on a salary of around $50K/year, but there’s certainly no guarantee that she won’t struggle! How in the world are you going to live and repay your debt? Please, take a leave of absence and find a new school to love before it’s too late!</p>
<p>All the loans are federal loans? The maximum annual and aggregate federal student loans are waaaay below the amounts you are talking about. In fact the Stafford loan maximum aggregate for a dependent student is less than the amount you have for a year. Are most of these loans in your parents’ names (PLUS loans)? If so, they are the ones responsible for the debt, not you.</p>
<p>There really needs to be a law capping total undergraduate student debt at $50,000. Period. No student should be allowed to borrow more than that to finance a bachelor’s degree. Anything more is asking for financial ruin.</p>
<p>This is just like the mortgage bubble - kids and parents are being suckered in by ludicrously expensive colleges promising the world now, pay later. Only difference is, you could get out of a mortgage by dumping the house. There’s no way out of student loans.</p>
<p>Yes, it is mainly the large PLUS loan…but I have no intention of having my parents pay for my education, I have two younger siblings they still have to raise.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, you can’t pay a $1,000-per-month student loan bill with good intentions.</p>
<p>“This is just like the mortgage bubble.”</p>
<p>As Jeeves would say, thou hast touched it with a needle.</p>
<p>Good intentions are great, but if you are unable to help pay the loan (which is highly likely for quite a while) they are the ones legally responsible for paying it, and they are the ones whose credit record will show the loans. But they are adults, so presumably were aware of all of this. </p>
<p>I know you are an adult as well - but most recent HS grads don’t understand about debt and its consequences. Based on your posts you have rapidly come to an understanding of the fact that this is too much debt. I know when my daughter graduated HS she did not have any understanding of debt, but we would never have let her take on a huge debt for college. She thinks she is graduating with a “butt load of debt” and her total will probably be less than $20,000.</p>
<p>I am glad that all this huge debt is not in your name. Your parents presumably understood what they were taking on.</p>
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If you can it is best to transfer after your freshmen year, but if not an option then transfering after sophmore year is the way to go. In your situation, you seem to already have a clear plan to transfer in 2 years, but after taking on a 100k debt. I would suggest that you transfer after this year is complete as soon as possible.
I think NYU is a great school, but to many they may not care that you attended NYU on a 100k debt and then transferred two years later as compared to attending NYU on a 50k debt and then transferred. The school you transferred to, where you completed your degree will weigh more heavily. If anyone wants to attend NYU for just two years best case is junior and senior year not freshmen and sophmore.
Goodluck.</p>
<p>Reminds me of a student who turned down a nice scholarship to an excellent state school last summer to attend NYU. Probably in debt now for up to $25,000 after a first semester schedule (he posted his class schedule on a blog) that included two weirdly titled “culture” classes, a career class, and micro- and macro- economics. Probably credit for only the last two classes can even be transferred to other schools. Just this semester, he will probably have paid up to $25,000 for six credits worth of intro econ classes that would have cost $104 per credit hour at a cc in his home state and would be accepted for transfer credit at ninety percent of the colleges in the country.</p>
<p>Run. Run now - for all the reasons posters above have listed. I don’t think total undergrad debt should exceed the average cost of a new car - because if things go sour you can find a way to live without a car and channel that savings into paying off your student loands ASAP. You and your parents are not millionaires, you have no business buying a $200,000.00 car.</p>
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<p>Mystifying…it sounds as if you all are borrowing almost the full cost of your education which means they were unable to save for your education during the preceeding 18 or so years. Are they currently making payments on those Plus loans or did they defer them until you graduate? If not, it may mean they can’t afford to take it out of their current income either! Did any of you consider that they may not be approved for another $50K of loans…or another $100K after that? </p>
<p>What will happen when/if you want to transfer to a public school (I’m assuming this will be your only option due to your high spending freshman/sophomore years)? Even the CUNY/SUNYs are around 18K/year if you don’t qualify for any aid. The SUNYs have well-defined pre-reqs for their majors, so you’re going to have to plan your coursework carefully in order to graduate in 2 years…I think you’re going to find it takes longer if you wait to transfer as a junior. </p>
<p>Please think carefully about this and have a candid discussion with your parents about finances. Borrowing heavily against future earnings is never a good idea when there is no track record of income being available!</p>
<p>Why would parents be so nutty as to agree to such Plus loans? The student mentionings having younger siblings, so that means these loans will be outstanding while THEY need to go to college. So, what’s to happen then? The parents will tell younger siblings…sorry, we can’t help you at all because we still have these huge outstanding Plus loans from when your older sibling went to school. Absolutely crazy.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if the student “promised” to pay these loans back. If the student cannot earn enough to support him/herself after graduation AND pay these loans, it’s going to be on the parents’ heads (which frankly they deserve for going along with this (fill in the blank) idea.</p>
<p>Do NOT go back to NYU this next semester. Go home and enroll at your local CC. Get your AA there and then commute to your local state school. If you stop this train wreck now, you might manage to graduate without life-crippling debt.</p>
<p>I do agree that there should be restrictions on borrowing, but nothing can prevent (fill in the blank) parents from helping their children ruin their lives.</p>