Just got back from college visit for daughter. 11,000.00 a year for the next 4

[greenbriar]

She will be a senior in HS next year.. graduating a year early. Then on to a state college


visited one today. Great campus 24 to 1 classroom to teacher ratio except for Freshman lecture classes, then 70 or so students.

Very nice campus



She is talking about trying out for Pep Band or even the choir...that would be books and tuition as long as she is in it


but mannnnnnnn


we are still paying on our own student loans and she will not qualify for pell because we make good money..

they also said the FAFSA will look into our finances and determine the "parental contribution" (the amount they feel the parents will contribute) before they award her her financial aid..

BWahaha


I said well, on paper it looks like we could pay for it all but we can't

heck I can't even afford to buy the cool washing machine I want and its only a 1000 bucks..


but over all, I am excited but sad for this next stage in our life

[CatholicEdHead]

1. My younger brother's tuition is about $11K/semester right now

[Droopy]

2. Can she commute to college?

She should be able to get all of the finacial aid via student loans that she needs if she can commute.

[greenbriar]

3. no one is 3 hours away the other 2

and we want her to have the whole experience



dorm room and all!!!!!!!!!!!


she will just have to take out loans like we did

[ScreamingMeemie]

4. We just filled out the fafsa, which states that we can contribute a heck

of a lot more than we actually can (life insurance). Luckily, she should be getting a scholarship to her school. She's a senior. She also was awarded the promise scholarship. Financing an education is rough going. And then, they try to encourage them to live on campus (we live 15 minutes away :eyes:) for $6600/year. Oy.

Also, don't be scammed into the pay fafsa site. A lot of people are paying the $80 because they mess up and go to the wrong site. It's free to apply. The right site is fafsa.ed.gov and not fafsa.com. Half the parents at Scholars Day at her college of choice got suckered into paying because it looks like a legit goverment site.

[ellisonz]

5. That's about average cost these days.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/general/2006-02-22-student-loans-usat_x.htm

[harmonicon]

6. I think that seems quite reasonable

When I started college over ten years ago my tuition was nearly 3 times that at a private school. My grad school was almost as bad - I'll be paying off those loans into my 40's, if not later, but what the hell - I'm happy where I am now, and really do think I got a great education. Look around for all sorts of little scholarships. I got a $1000 scholarship in my two years of grad school from some private trust. There just happened to be a scholarship set up for people from my home county getting an advanced degree in my field. Completely bizarre, but those two thousand dollars are two thousand dollars I didn't have to take out in loans. Good luck on you guys finding the right place.

Your daughter is lucky to have a parent so involved in making college a reality for them. My parents were a tremendous amount of help to me when I was looking for schools. I've known a lot of people who didn't go to college, but could have done really well at it and probably found better jobs, or at least explored the possibility of a wider range of job possibilities, if they'd only had a little parental support.

[BreweryYardRat]

7. If she has any friends going to the same school, look into an off-campus apartment.

Most dorms are at least as expensive as a room in a good off-campus apartment, with fewer amenities and less space than an apartment.

If I could have found anyone to room with this past year, I would have.