Article on College Debt- so true it makes me cry

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I'm sorry but I just find it extremely irritating and insulting to imply I shouldn't complain about the cost of living and the burden of paying my loans because I, like so many others, attended school where it was cheaper for me to go to school and got a job in this area as well.

Actually my comments were directed at those in the article who chose where they lived, not you personally.

I can see saying that people who move to a high cost of living state where they have no ties and are not receiving a significant pay increase or a potential for that increase are making a poor decision but in reality few people make that decision.

The two of the subjects of the article--WHOM I was speaking about--CHOSE to live in high COL...probably not very wisely given their debt troubles.

High cost areas and how people who grew up there are having a hard time coming back after school is a separate subject entirely.

That is something to think about in general for college graduates.

(Not all of Florida is exensive btw.)

 

[Free4Life11]

Ok I was wrong. For a parents to claim a child as a dependent (on their taxes) the child CANNOT provide more than 50% of their own support. But the whole dependent/independent thing seem to have different meanings for the IRS and FAFSA.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Ok I was wrong. For a parents to claim a child as a dependent (on their taxes) the child CANNOT provide more than 50% of their own support. But the whole dependent/independent thing seem to have different meanings for the IRS and FAFSA.

That's the problem with student aid. When your entire Financial aid package is considered--For about 30 weeks out of the year...you are set. Mom and dad only need to support you for the other 22. So theoretically....


Now when my mom claimed me for the last time though I had a full time job and paid myself...I wanted to smack her!

 

[Spoodleink]

Being a dependant to the IRS and FASFA are 2 entirely differant things. If your parents do claim you as a dependant and are not providing 50% of your supoort you can always take your deduction for your self and tell your parent and let them choose to take it or not, If they do and are not providing support the IRS will side with you and make them pay the back taxes and ***** them a fine. I really cant see any college age kids doing this but it is a option.

FAFSA is very confusing and changes all the time and not all schools use FAFSA to calculate financial aid. There are lots of ways to get $$ for college besides FAFSA a lot of people depend only on FAFSA and private loans. Its alot of work and reseach but most people would be surprised what is out there. My company give a 50K scholarship every year it required a year long project and is highly competitive but that could cover 4 years living on campus at the school I attended. Also schools are providing more a more merit based aid and less need based so GPA and tests scores paly a big role in what you get from your school.

 

[FlyingBelle]

Well - I just graduated with my MBA, over 10 years since finishing my BS. I had to go through FAFSA for student loans for graduate school since my employer doesn't provide tuition reimbursement.

I figured, as long as I could get a promotion/raise of at least $X/year it would be worth the personal costs. And that's exactly what I've done.

I got married in the middle of getting my MBA. Not easy - emotionally or financially, but we did it. I also had knee surgery while in grad school.

I've been done since February - I'm newly pregnant, and my student loans will start coming due in September.

Will it be a struggle? Of course. But we budget accordingly and will have our 2 vacations (and have them paid off) before the school bills start coming due. In fact, besides our modest mortagage and a small car payment - my student loans are our only debt.

IMO - You just do what you have to do - life's too short to be stressed by living beyond your means financially or to postpone important life events.

 

[Barbers2005]

If you are dependent and cannot produce your parents tax returns or their signature...you are pretty much screwed as you cannot complete your FAFSA which would provide the information necessary to qualify for the loan.

There is a way to be declared financially independent for fafsa that isn't included on the standard list of requirements. It's given for an involuntary dissolution of your family. Basically, if your parents refuse to give any support (monetary, room and board, tax forms) you can claim yourself to be financially independent. You need three notarized statements one from yourself, one from another person familiar with the situation that ended in the dissolution of your family and one from a counselor or member of the clergy. In my situation, my father would not provide any support to myself or my brother after we turned 18. My mom moved out of state, so she was too far away to provide me with a place to stay when I wasn't in college, and she decided that it was unfair for her to pay anything towards my support if my dad wasn't paying. So, I wrote a notarized statement explaining that my parents wouldn't provide me with any support. My brother wrote another statement since he was well acquainted with the situation. I'd never seen a counselor and didn't have a clergyman for the last statement, but luckily I was a psych major, so I did know some clinical psychologists. I explained my situation to one of my profs and asked her to write a statement for me. She wrote a statement explaining that I was a good student and needed to be declared financially independent in order to obtain financial aid and continue my education. So, long story short, I was financially independent with no children, no military record, both my parents still alive and only 19 years old.

 

[CarolA]

I had to drege this up from the dead... No I haven't read it all, but...

Here's one way to get yourself in debt and have nothing to show for it.

On another board I occasionally go to a poster just asked how others afford to stay at Disney Deluxe resorts. She/he then went on to post that he/she used $5000 in college loan funds to stay at the GF because since she/he never NEVER stayed at any kind of Disney resort they were due for the luxury. I hope he/she still feels that way 10 years from now. He/she then states it was a "once in a lifetime" trip. It took EVERY ounce of my willpower not to point out that he/she was helping make sure it was a once in a lifetime by doing that.....

 

[mking624]

I understand what you're saying Carol, but perhaps even with the college loan paid off, this really is a once in a lifetime thing for them. Some people really just want to live it up only once and that's fine for them. It's not our place to critique that at all.

 

[CarolA]

I understand what you're saying Carol, but perhaps even with the college loan paid off, this really is a once in a lifetime thing for them. Some people really just want to live it up only once and that's fine for them. It's not our place to critique that at all.

Well I left out the part where what she/he was really posting was "how can all of you afford to go to Disney and stay deluxe, because now that I have done this I want to do it again" She/he has been to Disney, the "once in a lifetime" was the GF and now that is the "every day" expectation. (And if she/he continues to finance it with college loans it will make the next several years of thier life a lot less FUN!) There are also posts about "how much debt I will have when I graduate and that's not fair"

I am sorry, but Disney is not a "right" Everyone doesn't automatically get a "Deluxe" Disney vacation.

When I first went to Disney as an adult I made very very little. I stayed off site and ate cheap. Now I make a decent living. I have a DVC membership. (Personally I think the GF is the biggest waste of money at Disney, I was very disappointed with what I found there but that's another therad)

 

[dvcgirl]

Well I left out the part where what she/he was really posting was "how can all of you afford to go to Disney and stay deluxe, because now that I have done this I want to do it again" She/he has been to Disney, the "once in a lifetime" was the GF and now that is the "every day" expectation. (And if she/he continues to finance it with college loans it will make the next several years of thier life a lot less FUN!) There are also posts about "how much debt I will have when I graduate and that's not fair"

I am sorry, but Disney is not a "right" Everyone doesn't automatically get a "Deluxe" Disney vacation.

When I first went to Disney as an adult I made very very little. I stayed off site and ate cheap. Now I make a decent living. I have a DVC membership. (Personally I think the GF is the biggest waste of money at Disney, I was very disappointed with what I found there but that's another therad)

Yeah, I always wonder about those kinds of threads....the "once in a lifetime" threads, or the "one last splurge" before we pay down the credit cards thread. I wonder if they think that the "once in a lifetime/splurge" trip to WDW is going to suck...or that just that one last trip will get it out of their system? Unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. One thing I know about people who visit WDW and really enjoy it....typically they only want one thing....to go as often as possible.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

How did someone go to WDW with "college loan funds"? I"m confused. Was that tuition reimbursement?

 

[MyGoofy26]

How did someone go to WDW with "college loan funds"? I"m confused. Was that tuition reimbursement?

"Living expenses" factored in to cost of college. . . I know at my University, the higher your level the more you can take, and someone could easily max out their loans for $5000 or more. They don't check how you spend it. They take their portion (tuition, fees, bookstore charges if you get your books through the school) and send a nice fat check for the rest. Not a SMART thing to do. . . but can be done nonetheless.

 

[Barbers2005]

Yeah, especially if you live off campus. The college expects that you'll need a certain amount of money to cover rent, utilities, food and transportation. For students who live on campus, almost all of that money is paid directly to the college to cover meals and "rent" on the dorm room. People who live off campus can get that money in the form of a check. I graduated from a state college, and I always got enough just in grants to cover tuition, fees, books and have some left over, but I did occasionally need to take out a loan to cover unexpected expenses. Once my car needed major repairs, and another time I needed a new computer when the old one bit the dust. This is the sort of thing that the money is supposed to be used for: living expenses and costs related to getting an education. Not that this is how all students use the money, of course. I wonder how that girl will feel about her "free" Disney trip years from now when she's still paying on it and she realizes how much she wasted in interest.