<p>The above can also happen at schools that GAP…but I do understand that this can happen when families need to take loans out to meet their EFC. BUT the EFC is not the part of the NEED that the college meets. That is my point.</p>
<p>I think we are all agreeing, but we are looking at this from different angles.</p>
<p>Thumper, agreed, that’s how I was looking at it too. But I bet the average indebtedness number for grads does include debt they borrowed to meet EFC. I don’t find that average to be a very useful statistic anyway compared to the ave. percent need met (without loans). It seems very dependent on the family savings/debt philosophy!</p>
<p>Exactly…</p>
<p>When we looked at the costs for our son at each of his choices, we looked at the bottom line cost BEFORE loans. So did my friend whose son got financial aid in his packages. It is amazing how the costs vary, and if you don’t use a common denominator to compare, you really do not get the true picture of the costs. Loans are just delaying the payments; they are a payment plan rather than aid. We could have gotten pretty much the same bottom line at all schools if we included loans to meet the costs. Heck, we could have borrowed the whole dang thing.</p>
<p>My suggestion is always to pull out the fixed costs (tuition, fees, room & board). Add those up. Then add up all grants & scholarships. Fixed costs- total grants/scholarships gives you the right number to use in comparing one college to another.</p>
<p>When you get to the bottom line in the method that Kelsmom suggests, you can then see what you have to find in terms of money. At that point, the loans are relevant if you need them to make your EFC and the terms and availability differ from school to school. However, do keep in mind that you do have to pay those back. </p>
<p>I am concerned at how so many kids look at loans as free money. They just do not want to think about paying them back. As one who had to pay back student loans far lower in amount than what kids are taking these days, I want to tell you that it is a very painful process, especially if you are on a tight budget anyways.</p>