Looking for a great fit LAC

Wilson98
Wed, 07 Feb 2018 21:55:56 +0000

A while ago, I saw on the StO website that their cost of attendance includes only $1900 ($1000 books, $900 other) above the direct cost of tuition-fees-room-board. (This thread has made everyone an expert on certain midwestern LACs.) This is lower than most colleges, which I suspect is the source of your problem. StO probably assumes your daughter can save or make $3200 in summer/term-time work, and therefore can give them the remaining $1300.

Here is my advice:

1. Figure out if a $1300 Parent Plus loan will take the amount you directly owe StO each semester (after her scholarship, her loan, and this loan) down to $0, and then apply for that amount.

2. If you get rejected, have your D raise her loan from $5500 to $6800. (She could theoretically take it up to $9500 if you are rejected.)

3. Make darn sure she saves $500 by the first day of school. $1000 would be much better, and $1500 would be fantastic.

4. She will have enough for essential books at the start of semester, and at least a couple hundred for the three weeks before she gets a work-study job check. If she has $2000 a year in work study and can't earn more, she'll get by on that (especially if she has a little left from the summer).

5. As there is a lot of talk about shampoo here, I'll suggest you rinse and repeat for the next three years.

As a parent of a freshman, I can tell you that the only really essential thing is that the term bill is paid in August and January so that they can stay in their classes and don’t get kicked out of their dorm and have their dining hall card stop working. If you need to borrow $6000 total yourself over four years to guarantee this, or your D has to borrow $33K total and not $27K, I suggest you do it. If you don’t have to, great.

If you want to start worrying now about whether you’ll have $70 a month when the loan payments begin in five years, or if your D will be able to pay $350 a month and not just $290 then, you could. Or you could try to just not think about it until 2023. That’s pretty much what I’m doing myself.