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College Decision Time: Sizing Up Financial Aid
Don't accept an admission offer until you weigh financial aid packages.
 
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Posted 3:44 PM EST August 31, 2009
Smart-Assets SmartMoney Insiders
1 Comments
You need to be discussing this with your daughter included in the conversation. Chances are that she will need to take out loans to complete her degree...it will be more valuable to her if she knows that it is her money that is being spent. You've done 2 years...good for you! Now, how badly does SHE want this education? She may surprise you...talk to her.
Posted 8:04 PM EST April 12, 2009
Scottiemac SmartMoney Insiders
2 Comments
We're stuck between a rock and a hard place: our daughter qualified for a whopping $822 in Pell grants, and $7500 in a combination of subsidized and unsubsidized loans but total cost is another almost $10,000 which we don't have. Yes, we "qualify" for $11K+ in PLUS (parent) loans but I'm unemployed since last October and my spouse's employer is talking layoffs. My daughter's income last year was around $6K. We managed 2 years of community college but her 529 is down to $3500. Where do we and folks like us go next?
Posted 8:39 AM EST April 07, 2009
Posted by: collegeloanconsultant
A couple of things-

For one, you left out a fairly important expense that is required by most colleges, but not included in expenses: health insurance. You will not even be allowed to register without proof of enrollment in a lot of cases.

Also, the estimated expenses that are listed can be drastically reduced by shopping around for good deals. You can <a href="http://www.collegeloanconsultant.com/student-loans-for-college.html">reduce your student loans for college</a>.

Lastly, university loans should not be lumped in with other "private loans" as something to beware of. This is money that mainly comes from alumni funds and is used to provide low interest loans by the college to their students. These are generally better deals than federal loans and are usually only included in a financial aid award letter if the student qualifies for need-based help. If students have tuition gaps, they'd better get over to their financial aid office and st...(Read more of this comment)
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