Is this a fair deal?

Paying for College
1

<p>My family has an EFC of 0. With little assets (Not greater than $10,000) and i was wondering if the Financial aid package i got from EMU (eastern mich) is a fair deal? i am also wondering if anyone has any idea how this will stack up against the financial aid package coming from WMU (western mich,my first pick)? Also how would i be able to restructure of find additional loans if the “Federal parent loan” is a plus loan? My parents will most likely not qualify for this loan because of their low credit rating. Any advice or help would be appreciated.</p>

<p>pell grant 4050
fed SEOG 1250
Work study 1600
Perkins loan 2500
Sub Stafford loan 2625
Fed Parent loan (plus loan?) 3903</p>

<p>Grand total 15928</p>

2

<p>You don’t list the fees for EMU, so no one can tell what the unmet need is.</p>

3

<p>They didnt list the fee’s on there so just assume its 100% met.</p>

4

<p>Well if your needs are 100% met, then your better off than a lot of other people.</p>

5

<p>If you remove the plus loans then my need is not 100% met (parents do not qualify for them)</p>

6

<p>Deathsadvocate,</p>

<p>Are you applying in-state?</p>

<p>the cost of attendance for an in-state resident is :$15,144</p>

<p>according to the package you received, the school met 100% of your need (yes, they can use loans to meet your need).</p>

<p><a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=1592&profileId=2[/url]”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=1592&profileId=2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>According to the college board, it only meets, 62%. So actually you are in a good position because they met all of your need.
If your parents are not eligible for a plus loan, you will be eligible for an unsubsidized loan for the 3903. My personal opinion, as a first year student, 9028 is a lot of debt to carry considering that it is only going to increase over the years. However the grant to loan ratio at EMU is 31% grants and 69% loans. your aid package pretty much meets these percentages.</p>

<p>You definitely need some outside scholarships, to knock down some of these loans. You should also be working and saving $$ so you will not have to take on so much debt.</p>

<p>Western Michigan has a lower cost of attendance. (It is going to be considerably more because you are still going to need books and miscellaneous monies when you get there and this is not factored in.</p>

<p><a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3943&profileId=2[/url]”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=3943&profileId=2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Did you apply for at any schools that meet 100% of demonstrated need and largely gives out grant aid?</p>

7

<p>Yes i have applyed in state. I have applyed to schools with higher ratio of aid to loans (none with greater than a 50% ratio, MSU had one of the highest but was not accepted) since i want to go to a school without religous afiliation, so it almost eliminates all 100% need based aid schools that i can get into in the state. if there are any high need based schools in michigan that have degrees in computer science that i have overlooked i would like to know.</p>

<p>This amount of loans (like you said) would be an extream amount of debt for a first year student at a public university. With some luck i should hopefully be able to find a job in networking (almost done obtaining my ccna, i already have a job but a networking job will pay more than current one)</p>

<p>I have been looking and applying for external scholorships. None have come back as of yet though.</p>

<p>What about the Plus loan situation? If i am unable to obtain the ammount needed to cover the cost of that how would i go about obtaining the money to cover that amount of the cost? Could i negotiate with the school and get the loan type changed?</p>

<p>btw
Thank you for your post sybbie719, it gave me alot of useful information.</p>

8

<p>You can call fin aid department at your school and ask them. Colleges have different policies and different loan providers. School gave you max pell grant but still has official room to improve on FSEOG, perkins loan and possible work study.
Also what about some money from your state? Do you need to apply for it separately?</p>

9

<p>It’s sad the the university did not give you any of “thier money” as you would be eligible for pell no matter where you attend college (and seog at pretty much any college that has the funds).</p>

<p>If your parents are not eligible for a PLUS loan you would get a unsubsidized (the interest starts accruing once you take out the money) stafford loan.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloan.phtml[/url]”>http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloan.phtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>do you still have applications out that you are waiting to hear from. </p>

<p>I would check out new college of florida. They have rolling admissions, they take the common app, they meet 96% of your demonstrated need with a 75/25 grant to loan ratio.</p>

<p><a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=621&profileId=2[/url]”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/search/CollegeDetail.jsp?collegeId=621&profileId=2&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.ncf.edu/Admissions/documents/admiss_dates.htm[/url]”>http://www.ncf.edu/Admissions/documents/admiss_dates.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>. In early May, colleges which still have spaces available post through NACAC (I think that’s the website) to let kids know that they’ve got room.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/[/url]”>http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>it might be worth looking into.</p>

<p>Common app schools that I think is still taking rolling applications</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.commonapp.org/search.cfm?pg=1&pageType=SearchEngine[/url]”>http://www.commonapp.org/search.cfm?pg=1&pageType=SearchEngine&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>I know many parents with horrible credit ratings & EFC of zero and they got PLUS loans so watch the PLUS loans . Your parents have to pay them back right away whereas a student loan is after graduation</p>

11

<p>Thank you for the links.</p>