Student loans

[Mom2one]

Hi . I am currently in a chapter 13 with a little over a year to go. My son is just starting his senior year of high school. He already got accepted to the college he wanted. we are so lucky to live 10 minutes from such a great school. Since he will be living home his tuition is about 16.5 k per year. He already got a scholarship from them for 2500 per year. I will be applying for fafsa in January. I have been trying to read up on all I could for other loans as we have no way to help him out financially. I know that are other loans as well. But my concern is , all that I have read about private school loans is you need a cosigner. Unfortunatley we have noone... Does he have a prayer of going to this school???

Thanks
Chrissy aka mom2one

[HHM]

It takes a co-signer. That is pretty much it.

A few weeks ago, I actually spoke to someone in the industry...it is actually tough. Most lenders have left the market place, there are only 5 or so lenders willing to make loans and they all pretty much require cosigners.

So, what you are saying is that someone needs to come up with $14,000. Since it doesn't sound like you have completed the FAFSA process yet, you still don't know what sort of grant money your son might get. The max is $5,550. If your son can get the max, that brings it down to $8,450.

That breaks down to $938.88 per month for the school year.

I think many families, and the nation as a whole, needs to reset expectations about how and "when" to go to college. Student loans are a financial DEATH SENTENCE, especially for parents. For many students, it is actually BETTER to not go to college until the college can be paid for with minimal loan amounts (e.g. less than $15,000 for the entire 4 years).

Basically, your son, or someone, needs to get a job offering about 25 hours a week at $10+ per hour to make up the difference. That is reality. The other thing to seriously consider is to delay going to college. The key to maximizing need based aid in the FAFSA process is for the student to be able to check "yes" to one of the questions on Step Three and take his parent's financial circumstances out of the picture. The main one is the age cut off, which is 22-23 y/o. If the student can answer yes to one of those questions, then parent information is NOT required. Maybe your son should seriously consider joining the military for a 4 year stint to get GI Bill Benefits, maximize need based aid, a token scholarship, and his college is PAID FOR without any loans, or "minimal" loans.

As a nation, we need to break the mind set that if you want something and can't afford it, it is okay to borrow. That mind set is crippling our country, and creating financial devastation in the middle class.

[royalking]

Hope for the best. You can get student loan on easy terms.

[gml120]

It seems to me the smart idea (at least for right now) is avoiding a traditional BS, 4 year degree at all costs. It seems like a 2 year technical trade is MUCH more viable. I have a few friends who went for a 2 year certification - one in CAD design and the other in html web program coding that also included flash/shockwave programing. These people had a job within a year of graduating paying a not terrible salary with minimal loans also avoiding the gigantic amount of bullcrap classes you are required to complete at a typical 4 year college.

I'm not sure about other fields but it seems that the old idea of "well you have a BS, we can hire you outside your field of study" is just DEAD. Employers want specific relevant schooling AND experience for a "entry level" new hire position.