Tell me about student loans.

[daughtersrus]

My DD will be transferring to a university in the fall after graduating with her AA from a local community college.

She had applied for a tuition waiver but unfortunately, her name was not chosen in the drawing.

I know that we should have been more prepared but now we're trying to figure out how she's going to pay for this. We were told that the Federal Student Loan max for her will be $7,500 for the year. Our FAFSA amount is way more than the total (I have no idea how they come up with this figure)

It's too late for her to be an RA for the fall (the applications needed to be in by Feb) and they generally only choose about 20 in the Spring. Those applications won't be available until August.

Any and all information is welcome.

Thanks!

 

[ajk912]

Start with a community college and transfer to a four year school later..community colleges generally only run $100 or so a credit hour so MUCH more affordable. That's what I am doing, and it's working fine so far!!

 

[Christine]

Start with a community college and transfer to a four year school later..community colleges generally only run $100 or so a credit hour so MUCH more affordable. That's what I am doing, and it's working fine so far!!

Read her post, her DD is already in the community college and almost finished.

OP--there's really not a whole lot you can do that I can think of. Take the loans you can and start looking around for little scholarships. There are lists and lists of them in obscure places that can give you $1000 here, $500, there, etc. It adds up. Apply for all you can. It's a shame but a lot of the help for scholarship money and loans is widely available through guidance counselors at the high school level. It's a little harder to find when you are in college already.

I'm sure someone here will have some really great answers.

 

[MrsPete]

Work, work, work, work, work. And save every penny. She has the summer, right? She needs to apply herself and work every hour she can. Sit down and show her how every dollar she has to pay up front will save her many more dollars after graduation.

How about taking off a year in between community college and university, working and saving every penny? Realistically, would that be worthwhile?

I'm thinking about a friend of mine who -- after his sophomore year in college -- became concerned about the two years of student loans he'd borrowed, and he decided that he was simply afraid of building up more. He took the summer and the fall semester, and he worked like no one I've ever seen before. He was a Mormon, and they are very against borrowing when any other option exists; I think that played into his decision. He worked double-shifts delivering bread to grocery stores, and he said that literally all he did for that summer and fall semester was work and sleep . . . but in that time, he paid off 100% of the loans he'd taken out for his first two years . . . and then he made some lifestyle changes that reduced his living expenses. He admitted that he was utterly miserable while he was working all those hours, but he came back to school a happier person.

Is the university close enough that living at home is an option?
If not, is there another university where that might be a choice?
That'll trim loads of money off the bill. Yes, living on campus is a great thing, a unique experience, and it's something I want my girls to do . . . but I don't want them to borrow against their futures to do it.

Look into scholarships. You might get lucky.

If she lives on campus, she doesn't need a car too.

At minimum, look for ways to get books cheaper.

 

[daughtersrus]

Thanks for the replies.

As I said, DD is graduating in May from our local community college with her AA She is transferring to a state university about 1 1/2 hours away for commuting isn't an option. This is the best university in our state for her major (Special Education). Because of this, she doesn't want to attend a local private college. With all of the teaching jobs being cut, she wants her resume to be the best it can be. We've talked to several friends that are principals and all have said that they do take into consideration where the applicant graduated from.

Taking a very off really isn't either as she needs to be a full-time student to stay on our health insurance.

She will need a car on campus as well as she will need a way to get to her classroom observations. Because there are so many education majors, many of them have to travel to schools that are pretty far from campus.

I always buy the books online and resell them on Amazon.

DD will be on campus for 3 semesters. She will come back home and do the semester of Practicum in the suburbs as well as her semester of Student Teaching here. For these 2 semesters, she will only be paying tuition.

She does work through out the year and has a full-time job lined up for the summer. Sadly, that will only put a small dent into the cost.


She has applied for many scholarships but has yet to hear back on them. I honestly wish that she applied for all of them but it's too late now. Applications were due March 31st.

It's a hard lesson learned, I guess. She really thought that she would get the waiver because everyone that she knows that applied for it in the past (including her older sister) got it. Her name just wasn't picked. Once you get the waiver, you don't have to reapply. DD will apply again next year if the state is still offering it but it really is random as to which names are chosen.

I'll be calling the financial aid office later this morning to see if there are any other options. If not, we'll have to take a Parent Plus loan.

 

[Christine]

Taking a very off really isn't either as she needs to be a full-time student to stay on our health insurance.

She does work through out the year and has a full-time job lined up for the summer. Sadly, that will only put a small dent into the cost.


She has applied for many scholarships but has yet to hear back on them. I honestly wish that she applied for all of them but it's too late now. Applications were due March 31st.



I'll be calling the financial aid office later this morning to see if there are any other options. If not, we'll have to take a Parent Plus loan.

Starting in January, health insurance won't be an issue for her. She can do part time (or none) school and stay on your insurance. But, not ideal, I know.

I agree to the above about working as much as she can handle. It will make a big dent.

My DD's university runs me about $16000 per year including food and housing. She can take a big chunk off that with a summer job and a small job during the school year. The rest can easily be done with loans. What is the cost of this university?

 

[daughtersrus]

Starting in January, health insurance won't be an issue for her. She can do part time (or none) school and stay on your insurance. But, not ideal, I know.

I agree to the above about working as much as she can handle. It will make a big dent.

My DD's university runs me about $16000 per year including food and housing. She can take a big chunk off that with a summer job and a small job during the school year. The rest can easily be done with loans. What is the cost of this university?

I've been checking on the insurance issue and can't really get an answer. Our older DD turned 23yo and graduated in Dec so she's no longer on our plan. Our insurance is with the union that DH belongs to. They are "self-insured" and so far, haven't had to follow any of the state laws regarding insurance. I know that they will have to follow the federal laws but we were told that the changes won't go into effect until the policy renews after Sept 10. I've been trying to find out when our policy renews and no one at the union office will tell me. If it renews in Jan, they would be able to get coverage then. If it doesn't renew until Aug, they wouldn't be covered until Aug 11. Does this law even apply to children that choose to take a year off of school?


The cost of the university is about $20,000 for room, meal plan and tuition. Of course they say to add on another $4,500 for books and misc expenses.

I have to admit that I'm a little irritated that DD ignored my suggestion of applying to be an RA. It's too late now to apply for the fall semester. They'll have applications available in August for the spring semester but they lady that I spoke to in housing said that they generally need only about 20 mid year. Those odds aren't so great.

We have always told our daughters that we would pay for community college but they would be responsible for the next 2 1/2 years.

Since our older DD did get the waiver, she was able to pay monthly for the amount that wasn't covered by the Federal Student Loan that she took out.

With DD#2, she will take out the Federal Student Loan as well (I think that the max for a 3rd year student is $7,000-$75000) and we will have to do the Parent Plus. It's not what we wanted to do but I don't see how she would be able to get a loan in her own name. We have a lot of other expenses as well because our youngest DD is severely disabled.

DD is planning on trying to get a job near campus but with it being such a big college town (there's also a large private college nearby), that could be difficult.

Thanks again for the suggestions.

 

[agnes!]

Just a thought... tutors around here can get big bucks. Could your DD set up a business tutoring kids in her best subjects? It wouldn't even have to be advanced subjects in high school. For instance, grade school math is taught to kids differently from the way parents were taught...I think there are a lot of parents out there who would JUMP at the chance for their kid to get some help over the summer.

We had to get a tutor for our hs junior DD in one subject (because the teacher sure isn't teaching the kids what they need to know). Worth every penny.

agnes!

 

[Christine]

I've been checking on the insurance issue and can't really get an answer. Our older DD turned 23yo and graduated in Dec so she's no longer on our plan. Our insurance is with the union that DH belongs to. They are "self-insured" and so far, haven't had to follow any of the state laws regarding insurance. I know that they will have to follow the federal laws but we were told that the changes won't go into effect until the policy renews after Sept 10. I've been trying to find out when our policy renews and no one at the union office will tell me. If it renews in Jan, they would be able to get coverage then. If it doesn't renew until Aug, they wouldn't be covered until Aug 11. Does this law even apply to children that choose to take a year off of school?

The federal law goes into affect in 2011. So whenever the plan renews in 2011, that's when it starts. I work for the government so our kids will be allowed on in Jan 11. My husband is also union and his plan renews beginning of each calendar year so Jan 11 for that plan also.

It will cover your kids, school or not, working or not, up until age 26.

 

[MrsPete]

As I said, DD is graduating in May from our local community college with her AA She is transferring to a state university about 1 1/2 hours away for commuting isn't an option.

Certainly living on campus is more convenient than driving 3-hours per day, but it is possible. Lots of people commute more than an hour to work. How much does she want to live on campus? How averse are you to borrowing? Also I don't know if you're talking about a large amount or a small amount.

Also, find out how many days a week she's likely to have classes. Education majors at the university near us have classes four days a week, while Friday is reserved for observation hours (this is a very good thing because it cuts down on the people who reach student teaching and say, "I didn't realize this is what it's like!"). If you're looking at classes four days a week x 3 hours in the car, that's not ideal, but is it better or worse than spending money she hasn't earned yet?

This is the best university in our state for her major (Special Education).

First, does your state offer the scholarship/loan program that can be repaid through service rather than actual cash? Our state offers it to teachers and nurses, and it works like this: For every year that you are in the program, you promise to work in a public school in our state for one year. So if she is in the scholarship/loan program for two years, and she teaches two years (at full salary), her loan is forgiven without any actual payments. Getting into this program is competative, but not super-competative.

Also, new teachers who teach in troubled school districts can sometimes have loans forgiven -- but that's a tough way to start out, and you can't know today whether she'll get that particular job in the future.

Finally,, Special Ed teachers don't typically have trouble finding jobs -- especially since they are certified K-12. Science, math, foreign language, and special ed are difficult positions to fill, and those graduates often have multiple offers. The negative side of that coin is that the average special ed teacher "burns out" after five years and either leaves teaching or moves into a different position in the school system (i.e., special ed teacher goes back to school, adds a math certification, and becomes a math teacher). Of course, we have some wonderful special ed teachers who love their jobs and have been in them for years, but they're not typical. It is a hard, hard job.

Taking a very off really isn't either as she needs to be a full-time student to stay on our health insurance.

If she took a year off to work full-time, she'd have her own health insurance.

She will need a car on campus as well as she will need a way to get to her classroom observations. Because there are so many education majors, many of them have to travel to schools that are pretty far from campus.

It's certainly more convenient to have a car for this purpose, but in a school with "so many education majors", students usually go together to do their observations, and it wouldn't be difficult to get rides. (And I teach at a high school very near a major university -- the college students come in groups on Fridays.) Also, if she were living at home, she could do those observations in schools close to home. Typically college students are told that they must observe X number of hours in a high school setting (or whatever level they might be), but they aren't told what schools are acceptable.

Of course, once she starts student teaching, a car will be a necessity, so it's probably a mute point . . . but parking stickers here are $400-800/year (some schools have private parking lots that charge even more), and if I were looking at borrowing for college, that'd be money I'd consider not spending.

DD will be on campus for 3 semesters. She will come back home and do the semester of Practicum in the suburbs as well as her semester of Student Teaching here. For these 2 semesters, she will only be paying tuition.

Warning about those student teaching semesters: They are EXPENSIVE. Nobody ever warns you about that. Student teachers are required to dress professionally, have transportation to and from school every day, have lunch and supplies . . . and they PAY for the experience. Also, they're not allowed to work during that semester. (I did have one student teacher who broke the rules and worked anyway -- her work was not nearly as good as the other student teachers I've had, and she never did get a teaching job. However, she also wasn't cut out for teaching and didn't take the whole thing seriously.) She has no choice but to do the student teaching, but it isn't an easy semester financially.

Do you know that she'll be able to student teach and live at home? Here the rule is that students are not allowed to student teach at any school where they themselves were students. And while they do take students' living arrangements into consideration, they also work only with schools that are close enough to the university that the university supervisor can manage to get out to the schools to do their observations.

When I went back to school to earn my teaching certificate, I was already married and lived a good hour away from the university. I was afraid they'd assign me to a school on the OTHER SIDE of the university, giving me a massive commute. Along with my application, I turned in a map with my house marked, and I drew a one-hour's drive circle around it. I requested that I be placed in a school within that boundary, and I ended up in a school right between my house and the university; it was a 30-minute drive from my home, a 30-minute drive from the university. Some of my friends weren't as fortunate. Now that I've been on the receiving end of student teachers, I understand that placing them is tricky -- the university can only place so many at a given school, and they take care that if last year's 2nd graders had a student teacher, this year's 3rd graders won't get one. Placing a whole group of student teachers is work. The moral is ASK, but don't assume that she'll be placed where she wants to be placed.

 

[punkin]

Don't beat her up about the RA stuff. It is a very difficult position to get and I doubt that someone new to a University would even be considered.

Can she live cheaper in an off campus apt. with roommates?

How much of a loan are we talking about here? Did you get any financial aid at all?

Books and miscellaneous expenses can be brought down. Books can be bought used, on line, rented.

Good luck. I feel for you since my DD will be starting college this fall and I am freaking over money as I type.

 

[Christine]

Books and miscellaneous expenses can be brought down. Books can be bought used, on line, rented.

Good luck. I feel for you since my DD will be starting college this fall and I am freaking over money as I type.

I agree. I find that the school's "estimated" expenses have been higher than what we have actually spent.

Also, I really freaked over money too. I am VERY debt adverse and also adverse to my kid getting in over their head with student loans that they haven't a hope of repaying due to probably going into a lower paying field. I am doing my best to cover all the expenses. Next year, if my DD goes back to her university she will be paying for her apartment.

OP--is there anyway you can continue to contribute towards her tuition--say as much as you were paying for community college. Coming out with that much debt is just tough on a teacher.

 

[MrsPete]

The cost of the university is about $20,000 for room, meal plan and tuition. Of course they say to add on another $4,500 for books and misc expenses.

That's a pretty large amount for a teacher to owe. Have you googled the teaching pay scale for your state? It'll tell you exactly what a first year teacher will earn.

Most of the younger teachers with whom I work have a second job -- those with loans tend to live at home with mom and dad AND have the second job. I would investigate any opportunity to avoid borrowing.

I have to admit that I'm a little irritated that DD ignored my suggestion of applying to be an RA. It's too late now to apply for the fall semester. They'll have applications available in August for the spring semester but they lady that I spoke to in housing said that they generally need only about 20 mid year. Those odds aren't so great.

I was an RA in college, but no one could apply without having lived on campus for at least a year - after all, how can a person represent the housing department to the student body if he or she is brand new to it? Also, when I was working as an RA, they didn't tend to like to hire education majors -- they didn't want to end up with a person who'd be gone all the time with student teaching in the last year.

 

[daughtersrus]

Certainly living on campus is more convenient than driving 3-hours per day, but it is possible. Lots of people commute more than an hour to work. How much does she want to live on campus? How averse are you to borrowing? Also I don't know if you're talking about a large amount or a small amount.

DD really does want to live on campus. I also think that it's important for her. Her older sister graduated in Dec with a SpEd degree. She lived on campus for 3 semesters and that is what DD#2 is planning to do. I think that she would feel "cheated" if she wasn't able to do the same. It's hard to explain but I kind of feel like she'd be cheated as well. She's grown up with a younger sister that has gotten a lot of attention because of she was born with a serious disease. She loves her little sister(who will soon be 16yo) but I'm sure that she's missed out on a lot of things growing up. Our youngest DD is the reason that both of my older girls have chosen the career to be a SpEd teacher. They both are also working for our local Special Rec to try and make a difference.

Also, find out how many days a week she's likely to have classes. Education majors at the university near us have classes four days a week, while Friday is reserved for observation hours (this is a very good thing because it cuts down on the people who reach student teaching and say, "I didn't realize this is what it's like!"). If you're looking at classes four days a week x 3 hours in the car, that's not ideal, but is it better or worse than spending money she hasn't earned yet? First, does your state offer the scholarship/loan program that can be repaid through service rather than actual cash? Our state offers it to teachers and nurses, and it works like this: For every year that you are in the program, you promise to work in a public school in our state for one year. So if she is in the scholarship/loan program for two years, and she teaches two years (at full salary), her loan is forgiven without any actual payments. Getting into this program is competative, but not super-competative.

DD will be in class 4 days. They also are off on Fridays for the first semester. The third semester (this will be her senior year) she will be in a classroom 2 days a week. She'll be assigned to a school within 2 counties that the university is in. This will be her "practicum". She plans to move back home for the 4th and 5th semesters. The university allows the students to pick from 4 regions of the state to do their "field base" one of which is the suburbs of Chicago where we live. Although it won't be in our specific school district, it should be close enough for her to commute.

Our state has a tuition waiver program as well. This is the program that both of my DDs applied for. If you are selected, you get it for 4 years I think or until you graduate. DD#1 was lucky and was chosen. DD#2 just found out that her name was not picked (it's random and not based on need or grades). That's why were searching out loans now. Our state only gives out 250 of these for students that are not graduating high school the current year. She will reapply next year.


We'll also look into some loan forgiveness programs when she gets a job. There are jobs out there for SpEd but it's still pretty competitive. Especially here in IL, where schools are cutting teaching jobs by the hundreds!

Do you know that she'll be able to student teach and live at home? Here the rule is that students are not allowed to student teach at any school where they themselves were students. And while they do take students' living arrangements into consideration, they also work only with schools that are close enough to the university that the university supervisor can manage to get out to the schools to do their observations.

Living at home shouldn’t be a problem. ISU has many professors in the Chicago area that are assigned to the students doing their field base and student teaching here. With DD#1, she was asked to choose 3 districts that she’d prefer. She was placed in one of them for field base (of course it was the furthest from our house but still only about ½ hour). SpEd majors have 2 student teaching placements. DD#1 was not placed in any of her preferred districts but they were all still within the Chicago suburbs. She was about 1 hour north for one and about 45 minutes south for the other.

I’m confident that things will work out someway, just not the way that we had hoped.

I really do appreciate the replies

Edited to add...

That's a pretty large amount for a teacher to owe. Have you googled the teaching pay scale for your state? It'll tell you exactly what a first year teacher will earn.

Most of the younger teachers with whom I work have a second job -- those with loans tend to live at home with mom and dad AND have the second job. I would investigate any opportunity to avoid borrowing. I was an RA in college, but no one could apply without having lived on campus for at least a year - after all, how can a person represent the housing department to the student body if he or she is brand new to it? Also, when I was working as an RA, they didn't tend to like to hire education majors -- they didn't want to end up with a person who'd be gone all the time with student teaching in the last year.

We've looked into the salaries as well. We're lucky in that the Chicago suburbs seems to be pretty good in pay. Most of the districts around us start out in the very high $30's and even in the low to mid $40's. I know that this is not the norm for most teachers.

ISU has a huge Ed department (they actually started out as teacher's college many years ago). I would hope that they wouldn't hold that against those that apply to be an RA but I guess that you never know.

I agree. I find that the school's "estimated" expenses have been higher than what we have actually spent.

Also, I really freaked over money too. I am VERY debt adverse and also adverse to my kid getting in over their head with student loans that they haven't a hope of repaying due to probably going into a lower paying field. I am doing my best to cover all the expenses. Next year, if my DD goes back to her university she will be paying for her apartment.

OP--is there anyway you can continue to contribute towards her tuition--say as much as you were paying for community college. Coming out with that much debt is just tough on a teacher.

I agree that the estimates are high.

We are going to try and continue what we've been paying.

 

[redbirdgrad]

Just wanted to say good luck and GO REDBIRDS!

 

[daughtersrus]

Just wanted to say good luck and GO REDBIRDS!

Thanks!

 

[MrsPete]

DD really does want to live on campus . . . Our youngest DD is the reason that both of my older girls have chosen the career to be a SpEd teacher . . . The university allows the students to pick from 4 regions of the state to do their "field base" one of which is the suburbs of Chicago where we live. Although it won't be in our specific school district, it should be close enough for her to commute . . . Our state has a tuition waiver program as well . . . We've looked into the salaries as well. We're lucky in that the Chicago suburbs seems to be pretty good in pay. Most of the districts around us start out in the very high $30's and even in the low to mid $40's. I know that this is not the norm for most teachers . . .ISU has a huge Ed department (they actually started out as teacher's college many years ago). I would hope that they wouldn't hold that against those that apply to be an RA but I guess that you never know..

I agree that living on campus is better, and I'd hate for both of you to feel that she was "cheated" out of an experience that she wants -- but be certain that she fully understands that living on campus now will affect her future income. A starting salary of 30s and 40s is much more than entry-level teachers earn in my state, which is good, but be sure to compare it to your cost of living and make sure that she understands what she's promising for the future. From talking to my students, I am certain that many of them don't really grasp the idea that paying back the loans will be real money; they seem to think that it'll be easy -- like skipping one meal out each month will enable them to easily pay back the loans.

I'm glad to hear that your daughters have real, concrete knowledge about what being a SpEd teacher is like. I think the people who become disillusioned are the ones who don't. I specifically remember years ago one of my student teacher's car-pool buddies sat in my room crying, "I just can't do this. I thought being a SpEd teacher meant playing with sweet little Downs Syndome kids all day and going to Special Olympics. This is HARD." In addition to being insulting, this girl was simply uninformed. It's sad that she managed to make it to student teaching without a real concept of the job into which she'd put significant time and effort preparing. Somehow she thought that SpEd teachers didn't have to teach the kids anything, didn't have to plan lessons -- she thought it was just playing games all day. People who go into the job with REAL expectations tend to do much better.

It's good that you have some first-hand information on how your student teachers are assigned. In my area, I wouldn't assume that a placement could be made close to my home rather than close to the university.

Sounds like your tuition waiver thing IS the same program I was describing. We just call it something else. Doing it via lottery sounds unfair.

As for the RA thing, when I was in college it was very competative -- especially for girls (just because the applicant pool was larger). With so many students to choose from, they rarely chose education majors because they know that those people'll be off campus for most of the day for an entire semester, and they need someone who's more available. Having done the job myself, it's not an unreasonable thing. An RA needs to put in plenty of "face time" on the hall, and it's impossible to do that if you're always away at the elementary or high school.

 

[Christine]

I agree that living on campus is better, and I'd hate for both of you to feel that she was "cheated" out of an experience that she wants -- but be certain that she fully understands that living on campus now will affect her future income. A starting salary of 30s and 40s is much more than entry-level teachers earn in my state, which is good, but be sure to compare it to your cost of living and make sure that she understands what she's promising for the future. From talking to my students, I am certain that many of them don't really grasp the idea that paying back the loans will be real money; they seem to think that it'll be easy -- like skipping one meal out each month will enable them to easily pay back the loans.

I was just having a conversation with a lady today that I haven't seen in FOREVER. I worked with her back when her kids were toddlers and she used to bring them in the office. Her oldest just got his first job out of college and her youngest will graduate next year. The oldest has come out of school with $90,000 in loans (he now makes about $50K) and the daughter will have $100,000 in debt. They will most likely just be working in the business field (no doctors/lawyers/indian chiefs there!!). She retired and took a job as a consultant to a contractor to help them pay off their loans. There is no way they can do it themselves and actually live. But it's hard to think of that when you're just starting out.

 

[punkin]

Wow, those are some hefty loans. I will pay for DD17's education. She will have minimal if any undergrad loans. I am hoping to be able to do the same thing for DD11.

However, in this case, the loans are only for 2 years, right, and not for the full $20K per year either because the student is working part time (at least until she has to student teach). Also she has a good chance of getting the lottery scholarship next year. I think it is definitely worth taking out the loans.

 

[HunnyPots]

I agree that living on campus is better, and I'd hate for both of you to feel that she was "cheated" out of an experience that she wants -- but be certain that she fully understands that living on campus now will affect her future income. A starting salary of 30s and 40s is much more than entry-level teachers earn in my state, which is good, but be sure to compare it to your cost of living and make sure that she understands what she's promising for the future. From talking to my students, I am certain that many of them don't really grasp the idea that paying back the loans will be real money; they seem to think that it'll be easy -- like skipping one meal out each month will enable them to easily pay back the loans.

What the OP describes is pretty much what we see around here.
I live in a very small low-income district and our first year teachers start at a minimum of $30,020.00 for a 10 month contract or $35,484.00 for a 12 month contract. And they are among the lowest paid teachers in the state! Drive an hour east of here and teachers start at around $45K.