My younger brother was accepted to Tisch drama (acting major) as a transfer student. A few things - he is transferring from a community college so staying in the program he’s in is not an option, NYU has said that due to the credits he’s coming in with that he can finish in three years instead of four, the EFC is 0, and the only federal aid is a $7K pell grant.
NYU is his top choice for obvious reasons, but we didn’t know when he applied that NYU has a policy of not providing aid (merit or need based). He is willing to live off-campus, but we really need to close the gap on the tuition. Tuition is just over $60K, and he’s not willing to take more than $20K each year in loans (though would prefer less of course). Does anyone have any advice on how to afford it?
Note: he has also been accepted to Emerson (no scholarship, but still waiting to hear about the need based aid), Mason Gross ($20K in aid for in state tuition, so about $15K in loans per year needed), Montclair (no aid information yet), Pace BA program (received aid, but left a $30K gap for loans), and UConn (received aid, left a $30K gap for loans - declined offer). Still waiting to hear from BU and Syracuse.
If I am understanding your post, attending NYU for three years is likely to require more than $200,000 in loans. There are two BIG problems here. One is that is a huge debt that would be an economic disaster that could haunt at least your brother and probably your family for decades. The other problem is that it seems unlikely that anyone or any organization would be willing to lend your family that much. A student cannot borrow this much without a cosigner, and if your EFC is zero then it may be unlikely that your parents could borrow this much.
It is possible to get part way through a degree, run up a large debt, and then discover that you are no longer able to borrow enough money to complete the degree. This can leave a student or a family with a lot of debt, but no degree.
And drama is not a bachelor’s degree that pays well for the vast majority of graduates.
Unless I am missing something your brother is going to need to choose one of his other options. Hopefully somewhere else will come in with sufficient aid to make it affordable.
Congratulations to your brother for his acceptance. Unfortunately, it sounds like he cannot afford NYU. Aside from your parents taking out private loans, there will not be a way to close that much of a funding gap. He cannot take out $20,000 a year himself.
Hopefully, he can make one of his other options work for him.
I understand that huge debt is not an option. That is why in the post I even said exactly how much in loans he is willing to take out ($20k/year max). My question is really more along the lines of trying to see if there are any other avenues of funding that anyone is familiar with. Maybe that someone has gone through a similar experience and found a way. The gap for each year assuming $20K in loans and including his pell grant is just over $30K. So if anyone knows of lesser known third party scholarships or grants - or of loopholes with NYU’s policy
He actually can take $20K in student loans himself through federal loans, the problem is the gap that would still exist. My question is really more along the lines of trying to see if there are any other avenues of funding that anyone is familiar with. Maybe that someone has gone through a similar experience and found a way. The gap for each year assuming $20K in loans and including his pell grant is just over $30K. So if anyone knows of lesser known third party scholarships or grants - or of loopholes with NYU’s policy
My question is really more along the lines of trying to see if there are any other avenues of funding that anyone is familiar with. Maybe that someone has gone through a similar experience and found a way. The gap for each year assuming $20K in loans and including his pell grant is just over $30K. So if anyone knows of lesser known third party scholarships or grants - or of loopholes with NYU’s policy
OP- your concern for your brother is amazing. Congrats to you for being such a supportive sibling.
Despite what you think, your brother cannot borrow 20K per year. He CAN borrow up to the federal maximum which will cap his ENTIRE debt at under 30K. That’s reality. Banks don’t stay in business if they lend money to people who won’t be able to pay them back.
Time to mourn NYU and move on. It’s great you are looking for extra “free money” but there is no financial aid fairy. Fingers crossed one of his other acceptances turns into something affordable with his Pell and the federal loan plus work study for incidentals…
No, there are none that I have ever been able to find (and I have really looked!) What exists is limited to the following:
Pell grants (small)
Federal subsidized loans in the student’s name (limited to ~$27,000 total over 4 years)
Unsubsidized loans, like Parent Plus Loans, that parents have to sign for that have bad rates, and can be hard or impossible to get anyway.
whatever merit awards the schools themselves give (NYU is super stingy)
a VERY FEW big name competitive national scholarships, but these are typically restricted to students who are just graduating high school, and they often have done research or won some sort of national competition. And there are VERY FEW.
So basically, nothing, sadly.
That said, if your sibling can get into all these schools they should be proud! Talent is 100X more important than school name when it comes to acting. Also know that both Mason Gross and Montclair are super well respected for theater. (Montclair is sometimes thought of as an uncompetitive “commuter school”, but that is NOT the case for theater. With theater it is super competitive and not a suitcase school.)
I assume this means that NYU doesn’t award institutional aid to transfer students? Edit: I looked it up - no transfer aid for that program. Is this the case with the other schools that didn’t award anything but loans? I hope that the schools you haven’t heard from yet provide need based aid to transfer students & you just don’t have the information yet (due to the issues related to the FAFSA this year). A 0 SAI should net need based aid at schools that provide decent aid. The state university where I worked provided grants to 0 SAI students, even if they were transfer students.
Even $20k a year is financial suicide, and theater is not exactly known for bright job prospects. To keep from having to work at Chick-Fil-A to pay back $60k in student loans (tragic waste of money), is there a plan for a double major in something employable? College is NOT…repeat…NOT a place to “fulfill dreams.” It’s a place to gain marketable job skills.
He wants to be an actor so a BFA is learning marketable skills. It also leaves the path to teach theatre later in life if he so chooses. I also took out $60k in federal student loans when I got my undergraduate degree and it was not suicide. The monthly payments have never harmed my ability to live, and gave me my career. A reasonable amount of loans is okay - but taking out as much as he would currently need for NYU is not
It’s only marketable if there’s a reasonable expectation of finding a job out of college because of reasonable demand. Otherwise, it’s a setup for failure and it’s much better to be a dental hygienist. I say this as a parent. I would NEVER pay that kind of money for a theater arts degree. Pursuing acting can be done on their own time, but I expect my kids to be self reliant adults.