Is this a reasonable plan for paying?

ipepper94
Mon, 01 Aug 2011 09:02:29 +0000

So way back earlier in July I posted a thread asking how viable private student loans were, and I now know that frankly, with the state of the economy they’re a huge risk and an unwise choice. After much talking with the parents, I did find out that they’d be willing and able to contribute 25k a year, since my top choice is Vanderbilt and they guarantee to meet all of your need. However, our EFC came out to be $30,000 on College Board’s IM calculator, which I’ve heard is a pretty good approximation for what Vandy and other private schools would calculate. Since they have around 160k saved in mutual funds and such (Franklin Templeton is the specific name), would they be able to draw from these funds and contribute some to paying? Seems like it would be better than using solely earned money from their salary. Also, is it a good idea to get a Stafford unsubsidized loan to cover the gap between what they can pay and what the EFC is at? PS: This is assuming that I don’t get any merit aid from Vanderbilt. I know there’s always the chance of that, but I want to make sure that I have a viable plan in case I don’t.