I don’t know if you’re out of touch, but $48,000 per year is actually not even the highest. At some other schools the “total cost of attendance” (tuition, room, board, books, fees, etc.) is $60,000 or more.
I just checked my college and the current cost for 1st year students is just north of $65K.
Yes. Tuition is crazy. My university’s (not liberal arts) cost of attendance is just north of $65K as well, with almost $47K being the tuition itself. ETA: when I entered in 1993 as a freshman, total cost of attendance was around $25K. eTA: I found the numbers online, and tuition back then was 15.8K and about 5K room and board plus books and all that. So it actually was closer to $22-23K total cost.
Just adjusting for inflation, my 1993 tuition is the equivalent of just under $30K today, not the $47K it is. There’s that education bubble.
So, I’m a little confused, in my day a finacial aid package included things like scholarships/workstudy AND loans offers including Stafford and PLUS loans. Did your daughter receive a complete aid package? She needs to speak with the financial aid office.
However, in answer to your other question there is no way to stop them from considering the EPC, barring her becoming legally emancipated and IIRC that can’t happen this year if she was claimed as a dependent on last year’s taxes. It doesn’t matter that you will not be actually providing it.
Don’t (and I mean DO NOT) make any financial decisions until you see your daughter’s entire financial aid package. There are a lot of variables involved in such a package, and there may be additional grant, scholarship, and work-study aid that she may be eligible for, but that you may not know about until you see the entire package. It’s also not uncommon for schools to finish packaging at the last minute because, at that point, they’ll know for sure what they’re looking at in terms of students who will actually be attending, how well their endowment is doing, and so forth.
That said, there is something of a hierarchy for student aid:
[ul]
[li]Grants, scholarships, work-study and other aid that doesn’t have to be paid back;[/li][li]Federal subsidized Stafford loans (the gubmint pays the interest if the loans are in deferment, and in certain other circumstances);[/li][li]Federal unsubsidized Stafford loans (the student is responsible for all of the interest that accrues, whether the loans are in deferment or not);[/li][li]Federal Parent PLUS loans (More options than private loans, but not as many as Staffords. And you’re on the hook for all of it.)[/li][li]Private loans (Only if absolutely necessary. They’re not especially forgiving.)[/li][/ul]
If you have any questions, talk to the school’s financial aid office.
You forgot Perkins (the largest federal loan program) and the HHS loans (which mostly consist of HPSL and Nursing loans, so she would have to be enrolled in those programs to get them).
You’re right, I did forget those loans. I didn’t deal in Perkins loans, so they weren’t on my radar screen.
And if she’s really got her heart set on this particular college, there are programs and ways to help her manage her student loan debt when she graduates. She might, for example, consider a public service career, which would forgive her loans after 10 years. She may also want to take advantage of an income-based program to at least help her manage her monthly payments. These will be discussed when she does her exit counseling.
Finally, she may also be able to finagle additional federal aid by increasing the cost of attendance to cover room and board and other education-related expenses.
Or she could just go to a state university where she’ll get exactly the same education for a third of the cost.
$48k a year is obscene. I just looked up the tuition rates for the state college I (briefly) attended, and $48k will get you all four years. If I had $16K a year in scholarships, South Dakota would be looking pretty good right now.
And I would rather see my child get financial aid from Uncle Sam than go $130k into debt. It’s not for everyone, but I’m a grad student now and I owe exactly $0.
Based on my nephew’s experience in another state, the OP’s daughter will probably not get anything in terms of scholarships or grants. Still, if she attends Cal State Fullerton (which is, I think, the closest state university), the cost of attendance as a commuter student would be $15,506 (about $9,000 more if she lives in a dorm).
Also Marymount Manhattan College is a liberal arts college in Manhattan. Has the OP’s daughter considered a less expensive school, in a less expensive area or studying something more marketable?
The reason I asked - I went to University of Toronto, one of the better universities in Canada. In 1973, a year’s tuition was $680 (including student fees) and residence (if necessary) was $1200 including 5 weekday dinners. When I went back to finish, 1984, tuition was about $2400. Not sure, I believe it’s about $5000 to $6000 now depending on course load.
Sorry for the hijack, but no wonder everyone whines about student loans down there. I paid my first few years tuition by working full time for the summers - at minimum wage.
Kaylasdad99, good luck to her. I hope she gets what she wants for that price.
I work peripherally with the loan collections office (not financial aid, that’s a separate office) here on campus and those (Perkins, Nursing, HPSL (Pharmacy) and Nursing Faculty) are the only programs we work with.
I worked for a federal loan servicing company. Then I rediscovered my humanity. 