Grad school loans

[ez]

I was wondering who has experience with this. My daughter is going into a fully funded program with a stipend so I guess you would say she doesnt "need" to borrow money, but with buying furniture for her apt, making a car payment and insurance and flying back home on breaks, it would be nice to start off with a small cushion. Can she still get a grad school loan if she is getting free tuition and a stipend. Also, would she be able to get it before school actually starts to help her get settled in? Thanks for your help!!

 

[HM]

When DH and I first started out the only furniture we had were a bed, a set of dresser drawers, and a ficus tree. Your DD can live without a whole set of furnishing for her apartment, if it means taking out loans.

We used large pillows for sitting around our living room, a box to hold our TV, ate at our kitchen counter until we found a table and chairs for cheap. I'd suggest not buying anything new. Give her a few pieces from your house if you can do without.

 

[Happy Snowman]

I wouldn't take our a loan to cover wants in life either. Just about every college campus has a place to get furniture for cheep or free at the end of the school year--for those moving out and not wanting to take their couches, etc. She can find other items at Goodwill, etc. if needed. Flying home for breaks, well, that is a want too and if she has the funds, great, if not, welcome to adulthood.

 

[mickeyboat]

I don't know the answer to your question, but I agree with HM. If I were her I would avoid them as much as I could. It sounds like she is using loans to live beyond her means, which isn't a great way to start life on her own.

DH and I had just gotten married when I started law school. I had to take out loans for tuition, fees and books. We bought a used bed for $75, we got a very cheap dining room set, and DH built our bedroom and living room furniture. We could not afford a couch, so we laid on the floor of our apartment on a flip chair to watch tv (which was a wedding gift). We bought a used couch from a friend the next summer. There was no cushion, and when DH's truck needed to be fixed, we put the repair on our credit card. Those were some of the best times in our lives.

Good luck to your daughter!

 

[Gracie09]

She should contact her school's financial aid department but loans can be used for things besides tuition, fees etc. I wouldn't advise it as it is not a cheap way of getting these items.

 

[NewRVLady]

car payment- is this an ongoing car loan? How does she pay these costs now?
If not keep the old car!

 

[tasha99]

Regardless of whether she should do that or not, the school will give her a budget. If her grants cover the budget, she can't borrow more from regular federal programs. I was able to borrow in grad school despite having my tuition paid through grants due to a high cost of attendance. The university estimated my costs as very high since I was a single parent.

 

[Sadie22]

I cannot imagine being allowed to take out an education loan when it is not needed. Your daughter needs to manage on her savings and her stipend. We assisted ours in finding a good used car. Used furniture can be found inexpensively. Try Goodwill or asking around on campus - often unwanted items of out-of-state students will be offered free. She might look into tutoring high school students in her subject area as a means to make extra money. She should ask whether she can tutor undergrads at her institution for a fee as that may be considered part of her job for which she is receiving the stipend.

 

[ez]

Thanks for your replies. She is fortunate to be finishing up her undergrad in three years with almost no debt so far so yay. She doesnt have any car right now so its not a matter of keeping the one she has, and my daughter is extremely frugal, she buys almost all her clothes second hand, but as far as furniture goes allergies are an issue with her so she would need new bed and couch because some allergens from pets and stuff or mold can be hard to get rid of. She will be going from a walking campus with good weather to a non walking campus in the cold north. We are a family that has pretty much never lived above our means so its really not a matter of that (we have only bought one new car in thirty years of marriage lol), its more a matter of if she could borrow a few thousand dollars on a grad school loan and not have to pay it back until graduation that seemed to be worth looking into. Alternative to that we will be borrowing from our home equity line for car or whatever she will need and she will have to be paying us.

 

[Praying Colonel]

In addition to the comments above, I'd also ask: What is she studying? What will be her job when she graduates? How much money will she make? How much does she contemplate borrowing? Will she be able to pay the loans off with what she'll be making?

 

[HM]

A new bed would be essential.
As I mentioned (and another poster did), there is no real need for a couch. They are not cheap items and we found a grouping of large cushions/pillows worked well for a place to lounge in the living area. Plus, they are easily transported if she needs to move at some point.

 

[ez]

Its a 5 year phd program at a high ranking university, so I guess the hope would be a college professor at a research institution, and maybe borrowing 5 thousand total is what I was thinking. I really have no clue how these things work so just trying to gather information and figure out her options. I am prepared to borrow from my home equity line for some start up costs for her if thats what we had to do, I just really have no clue of whats available and I appreciate everyones imput, thanks. She just turned 21 on Sunday so hasnt established credit of her own yet.

 

[Happy Snowman]

If you are set on borrowing, check interest rates. It might be a better option to take out an undergrad student loan now because the rate might be lower. DO NOT take an equity loan or a private loan. Only take a loan through the federal government.

 

[piccolopat]

Instead of a bed and a couch, how about a single day bed that doubles as both until she can save up enough money for something else? She might also be able to qualify on her own for a small credit line at a local furniture store for the bed and start to build her own credit.

 

[barkley]

with any type of student loans you have to watch out b/c the school has a cost of attendance, and if they see that she's getting monies from another source (student loan, scholarship/tuition waiver) they can skim that amount off of the package they've offered. I would have her check w/the school to see if there would be negative implications before securing any funds. as for a non walking campus-not sure what you mean by this (it's not w/in walking distance to her new place?)-if that's the case make sure to look at what it will cost in addition to the traditional car ownership expenses when making a budget-our dd's university has pretty fair parking permit prices (about $110 per quarter) but I know some other schools that charge around $330 per semester (dd opts to save money by driving to the park and ride bus terminal that has free parking since they have a direct route to the university, and tuition at her university includes unlimited public bus transportation).

furniture? if she has to get some (and it's too expensive to transport stuff from home) have her start calling some of the stores in close proximity to the university to see when their mattress sales hit. we've got a couple right near one of our universities that offer great deals right before the start of school (and an inexpensive bed frame can be gotten for less than $40 at sears and other retailers). as for a couch-an inexpensive option is a futon couch (and it serves as a spare bed if someone visits). walmart has them starting at less than $125.

one other thing (and if she's lived on her own already you may have already looked into this)-renter's insurance can be a tremendous value. we got dd coverage that includes loss of use (in case her apartment has an issue that requires her to leave while repairs or exterminating is being done) for less than $200 per year w/a $250.00 deductible. she would have continued in her apartment (since our insurance views our home as her permanent residence) to have coverage for her apartment and car contents under our homeowner's policy, but as our agent pointed out-we have a HIGH deductible and try to avoid claims at any cost so her having a renter's policy would in the event of a claim provide low deductible coverage and prevent a ding on our homeowner's policy (and those textbooks and electronics are prime items to be stolen and $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to replace).

 

[NewRVLady]

OP- my son moved up north for work....so no hand me down furniture from us
He bought most things from IKEA- and many stuffed in his car or paid for them to deliver
Started with single bed and a nice chair -a couple side tables- all had to be assembled- from IKEA , that's it
Added pieces as he made more $

 

[weeniecat2442]

as someone who took out a "cost of living" loan I highly recommend NOT doing it. I 100% regret doing it.
as far as a couch goes...check out plans for "wood pallet" couches on pinterest etc. I made one (with my crafty aunts help) and I love it. the whole thing cost under $150 (free pallets, sanding and paint supplies, cushions and fabric). theres lots of different ways to do ita nd its a fun project.

 

[mjkacmom]

Does she work? Dd18 is away at college, but she knows she has to work during school breaks in order to have spending money throughout the year (same with ds17, but he's just a junior in high school). I did the same in college.

 

[leebee]

Hmmm… I'm not sure that your DD would actually be given the opportunity for a federal ed loan; usually universities make grad funding offers based on what it should minimally cost students to attend school and live, as most offers also come with a prohibition about outside employment. Grad school was quite awhile ago, but when DH and I were grad students (not married), we both had assistantships that provided a tuition waiver and a small stipend in exchange for working for the University (as either a teaching assistant or research assistant, depending on departmental needs). Because this is considered financial aid, the University financial aid department established an "anticipated need" for the cost of education, just as they did for us as undergrads. The cash value of our funding was deducted from the projected cost of education, and we were allowed to make up any difference between "need" and "resources" however we wished- if there was a shortage. Usually it was determined that the funding was more than sufficient and we actually received a small paycheck each month from the money left over on the stipend. I don't remember ever being offered a federal loan to help make ends meet. Technically, if there was enough money left for a paycheck, ends were met! (I lived on campus in grad housing, so my stipend covered room, board, and fees with maybe an additional $100 a month for spending money. Tuition was covered by the waiver).

 

[Feralpeg]

DD took out loans for grad school. Unlike undergraduate loans, grad school loans start accruing interest immediately and the interest rates are higher than those for undergraduate loans.