No liquid cash

happymomof1
Wed, 24 Jan 2018 16:28:56 +0000

If your daughter is a US citizen, legal permanent resident alien (green card) or falls into one of the other categories that qualifies her to file the FAFSA, she is eligible to borrow the federal student loans. These come to:
$5,500 freshman year
$6,500 sophomore year
$7,500 junior year
$7,500 senior year

Any debt beyond that will need to be a Parent Plus Loan that you borrow, or a loan that you co-sign for. You will be responsible for those PP loans, not her. You will be responsible for any co-signed loans if she can’t/won’t pay them back.

What can you afford out of pocket? Something? Nothing? If you can’t afford anything out of pocket now, what makes you think that you and your daughter will be able to pay back upwards of $120,000 in loans (assuming you do manage to borrow your full EFC for all four years)?

Can you cash out any of your non-liquid assets?

Have you given your daughter a figure that your family can actually afford to pay each year? Did you include an expected increase in costs of about 5-7% each year she is in college?