Is this idea feasible?

Paying for College
1

Hi, a few weeks ago I posted about most likely having to attend community college because of being ineligible for Parent Plus Loans. After researching everything again and reading more in depth about the price of college, I believe I may have found a feasible option so that I can attend a four year university and not drown in debt.
In the fall I applied to a very small college(>10,000 students) that is a side branch of Texas A&M. The total cost for one year with both tuition and a dorm room is a little less than 8,000. The meal plans are 400-1000 but my mom told me she will pay for a meal plan.
So, with the direct loans I have 5,500. I also got a 1,000 scholarship from the school, and have applied to several other major-specific ones from the school that I am waiting to hear back from. I also have a little over 1000 in savings(should be around 3,000 before I go to college) So right now I have enough money on paper.
Instead of charging all the tuition costs at once, the school splits it up and you pay 4 times each semester. I was planning on working through college and paying the remaining amount out of my money earned from working if there was any extra to pay. The school also offers payment plans.

My question is- will this work? It seems like it will on paper, but I am the first in my family to go to college so it’s all a little stressful and new. Thank you for your advice!

2

Are you sure these costs for a full academic year? They seem very low. What school is it?

You as the student may be eligible to borrow an additional $4,000 to $5,000 in federal unsubsidized student loans if your parent(s) are denied for Parent Plus loans. You may not want to borrow even more money, which is understandable, but you should at least be aware that the option exists.

3

@BelknapPoint The school is West Texas A&M. Both my mom and I have talked to people that work in the financial aide department and have done the estimated cost and the cost is 8000 for tuition and cheapest dorm, and around 10,000 with everything for one year. It’s a very small in state school which is why the cost is so low.

My mom doesn’t want to do that because she doesn’t want to even apply for the parent plus loans.

4

It looks like the cheapest meal plan available this year for first year students in campus housing is $1,695 per semester ($3,390 for the full year). You should take this into account in making your budget.

5

This is why I see for cost of attendance for the year:

You could probably reduce “other expenses” but that would still leave about $16,000 a year cost of attendance.

Your direct loan of $5500 plus $1000 is $6500. How much of the remaining cost per year can your family cover?

6

http://news.tamus.edu/texas-am-university-system-to-help-families-cut-college-costs/

Is your family low income? West Texas A&M has the Buff Promise I think for students with family income under $40,000 (free tuition and fees). Do you qualify for Texas state grant and Pell?

7

http://www.wtamu.edu/student-support/buff-promise-faq.aspx

8

@thumper1 That approximate cost uses the most expensive dorm room, the cheapest, which I would be in, is only around 3500. The books and supplies and other expenses i’m not worried about because I work and put all of my earnings in savings and I plan to continue working.

9

@BelknapPoint My mom is planning on paying for the meal plan

10

@mommdc No, my family is not low income

11

<<<
The total cost for one year with both tuition and a dorm room is a little less than 8,000. The meal plans are 400-1000 but my mom told me she will pay for a meal plan.


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Are you looking at the “per semester” costs ? If so, the costs are twice that.

you’ve also neglected to include course fees, university fees and books.

12

TUITION AND EXPENSES
Cost of Attendance In-state: $20,253

Tuition and Fees In-state: $7,515

Room and Board $7,196. (cheapest meal plan available this year for first year students in campus housing is $1,695 per semester ($3,390 for the full year)

Books and Supplies $1,000

Other Expenses $4,542

Looks like you may have misunderstood the costs.

Also…I don’t think the above includes course fees. It also doesn’t include any pocket money or daily expenses. You’ll certainly need some money for doing things with friends.

13

That room and board approximation uses the most expensive dorm, the cheapest one, which I would be using, is only around 3500 the entire year. My mom is paying for the meal plan. On the actual website it says that tuition is 3900 for one year. I may have misunderstood that, but i’m not sure because the estimate that several people who work there have told us in only around 8000. Yes that doesn’t include books and other expenses but I plan on paying for those through the money I have/am saving from working. I put all the money I earn into my savings account for that reason. I also plan on working through college @mom2collegekids

14

@mom2collegekids see post 4. I posted the yearly cost of attendance for this school.

15

Unfortunately you have misread the website in terms of full year tuition costs and they will be in the $7500 range. Also living in a dorm carries with it a minimum meal plan requirement which is $1695 per semester so almost $3400 for the full year. You cannot pick the lowest cost meal plan.

"Meal Plan Requirement

Students residing on campus are required to purchase a meal plan if, prior to the first class day, he/she meets one of the following criteria:

Under the age of 21
Less than 45 credit hours (earned after high school graduation)"

16

^@adgiel is right. If you live on campus, the cheapest meal plan you are allowed to have is $1,695 per semester, which is about $3,390 per year. Then if you add the cost of the cheapest residence hall - $3,540 - the room and board costs alone are $6,920

Based on WTAMU’s net price calculator, I’m also assuming that their guaranteed rates are per semester. The 2016-2017 rate is $4,120 per semester, which would be $8,240 for two semesters.

So your total cost of attendance would actually be somewhere around $15K, excluding miscellaneous expenses. Which is still pretty good, honestly.

So let’s look at what you have.

You’re planning on borrowing $5,500 in Direct loans. That brings the cost left over to $9,500.

Then you have a $1,000 scholarship. Down to $8,500.

If your mom can pay the entire meal plan, then she’d be paying $3,390 a year. That would leave you with about $5,100 left over to pay. But if your mom could only pay the meal plan because she thought it would be $1,000 a year, then you’re down to $7,500 or thereabouts.

If you have $3,000 saved up to pay against costs right at the start of the school year, then that’ll get you down to $2,100-$4,500. (But you won’t have that money in subsequent years, unless you work over the summer and save up that much to pay costs. And then if you are using all your money to pay direct costs, what will you use to pay for books et al.?)

Are any of those major-specific scholarships $2-4.5K? Probably not.

If the school has payment plans that allow you to pay off the amount over the 9 months of the school year, that means worst case scenario (your mom can only pay $1,000 a year) you’d have to earn $500 a month. At minimum wage, you’d have to work about 22 hours a week to make that amount after taxes. And that leaves you with no money left over for books, transportation costs, miscellaneous expenses, fun, etc. Also, in future years, when you don’t have that $3,000 chunk of money to put down at the beginning of the year, you may fall short.

If your mom can pay the whole meal plan, it’s a little more doable. You could probably work 10 hours a week at minimum wage and still have enough to cover the rest, and if you worked 15-20 hours a week you’d make enough for other things.

17

Are there any schools close enough to commute?

18

<<<
On the actual website it says that tuition is 3900 for one year.


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I think you may have been looking at “per semester” costs…not per year.

19

I posted this upstream…but here it is again. The COA for this school now is this:

The OP needed to speak to the financial aid folks at this school to see if he can get sufficient aid to cover his costs.

20

^^^. Right…so if the student thinks that the website was showing tuition, meal plans, and housing to be much, much, much lower, she must have been looking at a per semester cost…even if it was old info on the page she was looking at. Schools often have more than one webpage with cost info and sometimes one of the pages may have some old info, but it’s unlike the page she was looking at was for tuition, room, board for one year.

I doubt that the school’s website shows that an instate student can pay: “The total cost for one year with both tuition and a dorm room is a little less than 8,000. The meal plans are 400-1000 but my mom told me she will pay for a meal plan.”

If she provided the link where she thinks she saw that, either she added wrong or the costs she saw were per semester and maybe included old numbers.