Your son has all the loans he can take out in his name. People who are cosigning loans and telling you they’re the kids’ loans and not theirs are mistaken. If they signed, the loans are the parents’ loans too.
Your net cost is the COA - grants. If PHEAA is a grant, then your net is $28.5k minus $6039 ($2725 grants + $3314 PHEAA) = $22.5k/year. Over 4 years, that’s $90k total. Because your son is borrowing ~$6500/year, you only need to come up with ~$16k/year or $64k total over 4 years. Can you afford that? If not, why do you think your son can afford nearly 1.5 times that? I think your son needs to find a more affordable school.
If you send him to any school this fall, he’ll lose the opportunity for freshmen grants. So his budget will be the $5k (or whatever you can give him), + $5500 federal student loan, + ~$2k+/- Pell, + ~$3k +/- if he has a summer job (so ~$15k/year). Is there a state school he can attend for $15k/year? If not, have him take a gap year and find a school where he can get some merit and/or need based aid.
I honestly would MUCH rather delay admission for my son than have him start a tough college after a huge breakup, or even defer a full year.
The only issue with that is that if you would get a FA benefit from both in college, delaying your son a year would mean less overlap = more money outlay total.
I don’t see how Geneva is affordable either. The net at Pitt is $22.5k ($16k after the student loan). If Geneva is $7k less, then the family still needs to come up with $9k/year, which OP said they can’t do.
I'm confused, are they both in college at the same time or is one out of college already?
1… This is 2nd son’s 1st Year - YES. (1st son is out of college - he has a degree & reasonable loans, he went to the lowest cost school basically in the state )…
3rd son will graduate 2016 & then I will have (2) in College.. I am worried about how this will play out NEXT YEAR . We can afford this year .. but not (2) in Colleges with this sort of GAP between what Financial aid/ grants, loans will cover and what WE can afford on a blue collar income ......
BrownParent… you EXPLAINED the situation FLAWLESS… Yes. everything you said… that’s it - that’s the concerns… I did call Geneva and he CAN get back in… up until Sept 2nd… with the same aid he was going to get… all of it… I even had a Deposit paid there , then got it back… I think because of the emotional crap we’re dealing with here… 2nd son has been VERY ANGRY WITH ME for even suggesting he change back to Geneva…
Plus I just paid the $4,880 days ago… feeling this was resolved… Oh I can still get it back… he met this Roommate at Pitt and just is RESOLVED to go here…
@Overrunmama, If you can’t afford it all 4 years, you can’t afford it. We couldn’t either. Did you check the thread for guaranteed merit aid to see if your son qualifies for any? Start your list with the state school as a safety and build from there.
Well (5) in all… … and (1) daughter … so yeah… we’ve bit off more than we can chew -in relation to paying for college educations… haven’t we… I expect some here to chastise me for this… I hate the way it is today… even those who go can’t get decent jobs… I know we live in a depressed area…I must be concerned if I co-sign these big loans… with all these kids…
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3rd son will graduate 2016 & then I will have (2) in College… I am worried about how this will play out NEXT YEAR . We can afford this year … but not (2) in Colleges with this sort of GAP between what Financial aid/ grants, loans will cover and what WE can afford on a blue collar income …
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What are the 3rd son’s stats? He may need to go somewhere that will give him large merit for stats. Then, with his Pell Grant and a small loan, costs can be covered.
What are the 3rd son’s stats? Test scores (breakdown) and GPA?
Is there a state school he can attend for $15k/year? If not, have him take a gap year and find a school where he can get some merit and/or need based aid.
he wants to do Chemical Engineering … the State colleges that offer this (Penn State ) are the SAME cost as Pitt…same GAP… he applied there also…and we seen the financial aid package… it was even a little more. .
Slippery ROck offers a program that will require (5) years of college… and only starting out there…
It’s not like I want to tell him- you CAN’T take this change your major …Lower it… I just don’t know what to do.
Question: if he has a summer job (so ~$15k/year). Is there a state school he can attend for $15k/year? If not, have him take a gap year and find a school where he can get some merit and/or need based aid.
Another concern… when you sign up for these loans… it says that if you are off college for more than 6 months… you are due to start repaying… so taking time off (once you start) not a good idea at all…
Rhandco said: "The only issue with that is that if you would get a FA benefit from both in college, delaying your son a year would mean less overlap = more money outlay total.
annoyingdad said: "No, from my reading the 2nd and 3rd sons would have a longer overlap if son 2 took a gap year. They’d be in the same years during college.
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I do not know what FA is…(hate abbreviations)… I do not understand what any of this means or what you are trying to say?? Can someone explain this better… what I should do… and why it is beneficial ?
austinmshauri said: I don’t see how Geneva is affordable either. The net at Pitt is $22.5k ($16k after the student loan). If Geneva is $7k less, then the family still needs to come up with $9k/year, which OP said they can’t do.
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Well Geneva (a private christian school) was throwing AID at him … $10,000 scholarship for his 3.8 GPA (they do not require as high of SAT scores there compared to Pitt )… and 2 other scholarships… but that begs another question… if these PRIVATE schools throw all that money at you the 1st year… so you are kinda “stuck” going there for the last 3 yrs… at the mercy of the higher sticker price …as he may NOT get those scholarships …I’ve heard THIS happens alot too.
How willing is your son to work? Next summer, he could get an internship or co-op and work until he has made enough money to pay for the next year or next semester if he has to work June - Dec. If he’s in engineering, he can do it if he sets his mind to it. His Pell may go up with a sibling in school, and sometimes even the other grants like SEOG. He needs to be on a tight budget, even this year when his costs are covered.
austinmshauri said: If you can’t afford it all 4 years, you can’t afford it. We couldn’t either. Did you check the thread for guaranteed merit aid to see if your son qualifies for any? Start your list with the state school as a safety and build from there.
No I have not done this … becuase I didn’t know such schools even existed or why they would do that… I still find it hard to believe… and anyway… I never wanted to apply to schools where they ask about the value of our house /property because we own land … not that you mentioned this…
… it’s just that our INCOME is on the lower end for a large family… I have wondered if they took our ASSET value into consideration, this would work against us… again, we have zero debt.
Mom2collegekids said: What are the 3rd son’s stats? He may need to go somewhere that will give him large merit for stats. Then, with his Pell Grant and a small loan, costs can be covered.
What are the 3rd son’s stats? Test scores (breakdown) and GPA?
3rd son (17 - going to be senior this yr) got results of his SAT weeks ago… “average” GPA listed as 3.41 and then it says Your GPA = 3.67 (why do they do this?) confusing…
Blossom: BUT (big but here)- allowing your son to do Freshman year at a college you can’t afford really isn’t doing him a favor in the long run.
Thank you Blossom for your kind words… I deleted my thread on another forum due to a few posters telling me I was a horrible mom because I was concerned he couldn’t make it at this Higher priced competitive school …I tend to be more of a Realist over too optimistic …(for the record 3rd sons scores are HIGHER than 2nd sons scores were - but he still got into Pitt … not main campus but Greensburg… if he can’t keep his grades to at least a 3.0 this 1st year …he will not be able to move on and finish this degree at the main campus… in Oakland, Pittsburgh…
SHOULD I just put my foot down and say "NO !! I’m sorry…I made a mistake here… I am taking you out… deal with it… I am very capable of doing this… but SHOULD I ???