If You Went Have Your Undergrad Degree, Please Read This Thread

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I have student loans. Through the gov't of Canada and Alberta. Will take me ten more years to pay off.

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[url="http://www.scholarships.com"]http://www.scholarships.com[/url]

[hoosieranna]

[quote name='-I---Love' post='1236201' date='Apr 9 2007, 12:16 PM']I don't agree about state schools being necessarily cheaper. I am a senior at a private Catholic college and it was MUCH cheaper for me to go here than any public university. That is because many small private schools give loads of scholarships and grants for being even an average student. So it really depends on your specific case. If I went to PSU for instance I would only have got 1,000 grant per year.

My schools tuition, room and board = approx. 30,000. I have taken out Perkins and Stafford Loans each year (every new year you are offered a higher amount to take) as well as one smaller bank loan one year. My parents paid for a few thousand my first two years, and I paid for a bunch last year from money I had saved working.

Basically I'll have a good bit of loans I have to pay, but I need to have a college degree, so that's that.

There is a fund (I can't remember but can look if necessary) that gives scholarships to some students who enter seminary...if u r in that situation.[/quote]

It was cheaper for me to go to a private liberal arts college than it was for me to attend Indiana University as a resident. IU offered me $15000 in loans. Wittenberg offered me $20,000 in grants and scholarships, and about $4000 in loans my first year. The listed price is rarely what you actually pay.

[Thy Geekdom Come]

I am about to graduate and I will have about $20,000 in loans (so will Jennie). Avoid all loans, but especially private loans, as much as possible. Try to get grants and scholarships.

Can't say exactly how much I'll be paying back...I think it's like $200/month for about ten years.

Oh, and avoid early payment penalties. Say you owe $20,000 in loans when you graduate. Let's say you come into some money and decide to pay off the whole thing at once. Some banks will let you do that and you'll only pay the interest you've accumulated so far. Other banks will let you pay it all off, but will insist that you pay the interest you would have paid if you weren't taking care of it now (so the interest on the next 10 years, like $3,000, you would also owe, even though you won't have the loan anymore over all those years).

[Proud2BCatholic139]

I'm hoping this is my last year in getting a loan. It's another 10,000 for me. Plus, I have the stafford loan. I'm hoping that my job will cover school for the 08-09 school year. *sigh* I need this money to get a car, that's why I am taking a lot out.

[jkaands]

[quote name='Nadezhda' post='1236378' date='Apr 9 2007, 01:57 PM']It was cheaper for me to go to a private liberal arts college than it was for me to attend Indiana University as a resident. IU offered me $15000 in loans. Wittenberg offered me $20,000 in grants and scholarships, and about $4000 in loans my first year. The listed price is rarely what you actually pay.[/quote]

EX-cellent.

Basically, Rev, do whatever works best.

BTW, avoiding the pre-payment penalty is something you ALWAYS do when you get a mortgage. I didn't know that you had to avoid this in student loans, too!

One thing to remember, tho', Rev, is that if you want to join a religious community, you can't be in debt. And if you want to become a diocesan priest, you won't earn much so it will take a long time to pay off your debt.

WHY dioceses don't underwrite seminarians is beyond me. They could structure it so that the diocese would pay a certain amount on your loans for every year you serve after ordination.

[Mateo el Feo]

[quote name='the_rev' post='1235232' date='Apr 8 2007, 07:11 PM']Basically our quesiton is how much did you have to take out in federal loans, ie Staffard, Perkins, etc. and how much did you take out in private loans. Since that is kind of personal, you can give a rough estimate, and could you indiciate if it was a private or public university.

Finally, how much do you have to pay altogether each month for your loans, and what is the length of your loans.[/quote]For me I chose in-state (cheaper) and chose to live at home.

Started with my parents paying most of the first year. Got around half covered by scholarships. My internships paid for the rest. Debt at the end of 4 years: $0.00.