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they won’t give the 30k loan to student correct? I would have to cosign or take it out myself?
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Right. Thankfully, lenders know that 17/18 year olds are often clueless about money/loans, so if given a chance, they’d sign for any crazy amount just to get what they want. lol
This is what the student can borrow by himself
5500 frosh
6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr
Even with the above loan amounts, a youngish grad will have a somewhat painful time paying them back.
some schools MIGHT give him some Perkins loans…maybe $1000 per year. However, a future teacher should NOT be borrowing a bunch of money.
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Do any of you know if I have divorce papers that say dad had to pay 50%, how does that get enforced?
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Likely, you would know if you did. this would have been discussed by you and your atty and likely your ex would have either refused to include or would have insisted that there be some limits…like only half of an instate public.
Your ex paid very little child support, $500 a month, so either he doesn’t earn a lot, or he got off too easy.
Your son will be able to borrow $5500 from Direct Loans himself. Up to $3500 of it could be subsidized in that it would not accrue interest while he is a full time student for the most part. But a lot of times, schools will include that loan as part of their financial aid package. He might also be awarded a Perkins loan which is a subsidized loan as part of his aid package, and on rare occasions, a school might have other loan options.
You will be permitted to apply for a Parent Direct Loan (PLUS) but will have to qualify with no very late payments on your credit report. Your son’s father can also apply for PLUS. If either of you are denied, your son would be permitted to borrow $4K more through Direct Student Loans.
The cosigned loans tend to be more draconian in terms unless you have a relationship with a credit union or bank, and the loans tend to be put on BOTH credit reports, yours and your sons, and if anything happens to either of you, the other is often stuck with the loan, whereas with PLUS, if either parent or student dies, the loan is forgiven There is usually also more flexibility in PLUS terms of repayment.
Frankly, if your son gets Direct Student Loans at the max amount and some Perkins loans, he’ll be owing over $50K by the time he graduates, with the meter ticking on every bit of that for him to repay. That’s a big debt for a 22 year old to shoulder coming out of school with uncertain job prospects, and without parents who can afford to help repay it. Maybe for his one dream school it would be worth it, but what an 18 year old wants now is going to likely be still owed when the kid is well into his 30s and 40s with other more pressing wants, including things for future children of his own.
I’ve seen Perkins as high as $2K on top of full Staffords. And NEU included something in D’s offer called a “Health Career loan” for $2K (it’s a 6 year BS/pharmD program).
So theoretically a student can borrow more, up to maybe $9K as a frosh.
A student whose parent is turned down by PLUS can borrow up to $9500 as a freshman right off the bat. The Perkisn max is $5K or so, but I’ve never seen anyone get that full amount. Some schools do have some loan funds of their own that they offer to students, but again that is rare. But theoretically even without private loans, cosigned loans, and school owned loans, a student can end up about in over $75K in debt, especially if it takes longer than 4 years to graduate.
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that is for a particular situation and this mom should not expect that…nor should they want it because a teacher would end up with too much debt. It sounds like NEU is underwriting that extra debt for a future PharmD…which is less risky
The schools will not enforce or attempt to collect any award made in your divorce decree - it would be up to you to try to get the payments from an exspouse.
If your son doesn’t get one of the Evans scholarships for your region, is he eligible to go to another region? I tried (and tried) to get my kids interested because Colorado often has scholarships that go unawared. The Evans scholars house is right across from the union, and is usually included in the fraternity social stuff that goes on. It is such a great deal, and even though there are 15 available every year, sometimes only 10 are awarded. If your son is eligible and just isn’t picked for your region, see if there are other schools where he could go and get the scholarship.
I think you should stop feeling guilty right now. Your son will go to college, and it will be fine. You’ve really done more than most parents can by saving a little for him. He needs to take the full scholarship even if it isn’t at the perfect school (which might BE the perfect school once he gets there). No guilt.
Not just on here on CC, but also on a college parents’ Facebook group, I am seeing too many parents falling into the guilt-trip over college choices for their kids. Single moms seem to be often the most vulnerable (although married parents fall into this, too).
I don’t know if it’s the guilt from thinking that “other kids are getting to go where they want, so it’s not fair that my kid can’t just because his parents divorced”, or what. Yes, they ALL say, “but he/she worked so hard.” Yes, they worked hard. That’s their job. lol.
I sadly see parents taking out crazy loans. I strongly suspect that many of these kids will have to leave their schools after a year or two because “mom” wont be able to qualify for additional loans, or somebody has finally “done the math” and sees that the future loan payments will be too big or the return on the investment just won’t be there.
The tears shed last night are just part of the grieving/acceptance process. Now, you’ll be able to put that behind you. If you want, we can help you find schools that will STILL AWARD big merit for stats. Your son may resist, but you can’t wait til the FA pkgs come and then look for alternatives…that would be too late.
His father has ni credit so he would be denied. I have a++ credit. But u just bought first home in 2013 and took 401k loan of 23k for deposit. I owe 143k still on house. Owe less than 4k on car. Other than that don’t have much debt, but regular monthly bills all add up…plus the underestimated property taxes so my savings was wiped out in October.
The Evans would be like winning the lottery for me. His caddymaster thinks he has really good shot and he received some wonderful letters of recommendation, but who knows. A wealthy family I know that owns own business and has 500k plus home had both kids get the scholarship so I’m wondering if politics are at play.
Dad’s acct has about $11k
Mom’s acct has about $5k
So…
$4k per year from college fund
$5k Student can borrow (that’s really the most that a teacher should borrow for undergrad)
$1500ish Pell grant.
$2k student summer earnings/savings
$2k ? mom’s contribution? ( I know that she mentioned that she is living about paycheck to paycheck but with son gone, she might be able to come up with $200 a month to put towards college costs.
$2500 Mom should be able to count on about $2500 from tuition tax credit (is that correct)?..but won't be til next year.
Looks like the family can cobble together about $14k for the first year…and maybe about $16k for years 2,3, 4 once the tax credit kicks in.
If these numbers look correct…AND the student can get $10k-20k in merit and any other non-Pell grants from somewhere, then that would mean that he could attend a school that is abut $25k - $35k per year (depending on how much that merit/other grant is)
Do these numbers sound correct?
You don’t want to have the budget too tight because as you have found out, there are always unexpected expenses…and every household has a few EVERY year…car repair, dental work, home repair…something!
And…every year, schools increase costs.
And…the student will likely have to borrow for that credential year or masters year.
You might want to look for any free or low cost legal services to get you started in the process of collecting on the college money from your ex. You need some advice. First consults are often free. I’ve done 3-4 “First” consults with various attorneys to get a good picture of options as I have more questions from each. There might be contingency options or maybe the court will simply take care of it as they do child support But you need to find out what the language in the decree translates to in dollar amounts.
I do have papers that say he has to pay 50%. I don't have any savings to pay retainer for lawyer.
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Very likely, the assumption is for a state school, not a private’s cost unless with aid it is similar to the state school.
Plus, as you know, you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip…and unless his wages were garnished…you likely wouldn’t see the money when needed.
Also…realize that you would be held to the SAME standard, and it doesn’t appear that you can pay half, either. So, if Marquette or similar was $30,000 after all aid (grants, ,merit, student loans), then YOU would have to pay $15k per year and so would your ex (and each year, this would rise).
Likely that wouldn’t work out well for EITHER of you. You would end up with $50-60k in debt
And…since your ex got off too easily with child support (only $500 a month), suddenly having to pay over $1250 per month towards college would NOT likely work out.
Hi
I emailed his counselor in a panic the other day and she said i shouldn’t panic yet as we need to get the packages from the schools…maybe she knows something I don’t know?? She was the former admission dean at Marquette…maybe she knows something?? She did however tell me not to take parent plus… But without PP how would he pay. I am so confused. I need some time to read all of the above replies.
Write her back and ask her if “she knows something”. I doubt she does. Admissions and FA people aren’t the same, and she’s been away from the job for a bit anyway.
Ask her why she says what she does about Plus.
What does the NPC indicate??
You can’t wait til you get the FA pkg to come up with good back ups…you need a Plan B and Plan C now!
What, exactly, does the divorce decree say about paying for college? Please relate the entire paragraph, verbatim (with names and any other identifying or personal information redacted, of course). Is it a contract/agreement that is incorporated into the decree? Is it completely separate? Are there any loopholes or “outs” in the way it is written?
If you do have actionable language, you would have to bring the suit against Dad to enforce the terms. The state will not do that (or pay for that) for you. His son was not party to any litigation, and is an adult now (or will be when he starts college), so there is no question of Child Support to be resolved, either.
Assume your attorney will charge between 1/4 and 1/2 of whatever is recovered, for representing you. If Dad just doesn’t want to pay any more, he’ll be looking at settlement; but if he just can’t pay what it says, you might not recover anything in the end.
As a rule, litigation is going to make everything worse, not better, over both the short and long runs, unless you have ironclad language, Dad has a lot of money, and he doesn’t hire anyone to defend himself. If he has any defense at all, you will both come out of it poorer and only the lawyers will win.
I urge you to explore any and every other possible option, without litigating; for example, can S make a deal with Dad so that Dad helps him repay student loan debt after graduation, if he gets good grades? Be creative in your ideas. Getting Dad on board as raising and supporting his own child is still your most likely path to an outcome that everyone finds acceptable.
@batmom96 - I know lots of focus has been on the paying portion of the situation right now, but your post about your son wanting to do campus ministry and that he had applied at NIU sort of struck a cord with me. I am a proud Huskie grad and I can tell you without hesitation that NIU has one of the largest, proudest and most active Newman center ministries I’ve seen on a public campus. I know several of the priests that have been pastors there and the students there are very engaged in their faith, within Newman and on campus. The Rockford Diocese is a great supporter of the church on campus and I’m certain your son would find his people there and be as active as he wants/needs to be. Trust me, you do not need to be on a Catholic/Jesuit campus to continue engaging, exploring and living your faith. Good luck to you and your son on your journey to find the best fit!
Well my son applied to Illinois State U today. He also just received acceptances from University of Dayton and Miami of Ohio. He applied to the latter as it is an Evans scholar school. We still have heard nothing regarding the Evans scholar. I think with NIU and hopefully ISU he will have some lower cost options. I haven’t been able to give up the Marquette dream. He is going later this month for a scholarship competition.