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OT: Undergrad Student Loan Question

R

RU-Kidding

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Nov 6, 2001
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After the Federal direct subsidized/unsubsidized and school aid have been applied the general choices are Parent Plus from the feds or private loans providers (i.e. SallieMae, College Ave., Discover, Banks etc.).

Parent plus is currently an exorbitant 7.6% fixed and 4.26% origination fee. Has anyone gone the private loan rate? If yes, your experience and/or recommendations.

Please don't get into home equity loans, borrowing from 401(k), should have gone to a community college , kidnapping for ransom or you should have planned better - lol.

Thanx!
 
No experience in the private loan market for educational expenses and never went the Plus route either.

You alluded to not dipping into 401k but taking a one-time distribution (is it still up to $10k?) penalty-free from an IRA/retirement account for higher education may still be worth considering. Another option might be to see if can qualify for work-study (i.e. part time job) on campus.

Every little bit helps. Good luck.
 
Im not sure what the rate is now, but when my daughter was an undergrad we took loans from nj. The website is hesaa.org, you should be able to get info from there.

We had no problems at all, it was actually very easy.
 
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RUnTeX said:
No experience in the private loan market for educational expenses and never went the Plus route either.

You alluded to not dipping into 401k but taking a one-time distribution (is it still up to $10k?) penalty-free from an IRA/retirement account for higher education may still be worth considering. Another option might be to see if can qualify for work-study (i.e. part time job) on campus.

Every little bit helps. Good luck.
Click to expand...

Thank for your suggestions. Regarding a 401(k) distribution for educational purposes, while it's true the parent under age 59 1/2 half escapes the 10% penalty it's still taxable income to the parents which is reported on a future FAFSA filing upon which future school aid and federal loan eligilbility is based. They don't care that you took out money to pay for school, They only see that your reportable income went up and you can end up screwing yourself out of assistance you would have previously qualified for. It's a vicious cycle - lol

The 401(k) loan route is not an option in this situation for personal reasons...
 
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Most kids these days should do at least a year of CC before investing $200k on a college degree. My younger daughter did the CC route and is finishing up at Stockton now to get her teaching degree. $35k for 4 years is a gift that we can all appreciate. I’m not dipping into my retirement savings and she isn’t going to be saddled with massive debt which makes life after college much easier and also gets them out of the house faster.
 
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newell138 said:
Most kids these days should do at least a year of CC before investing $200k on a college degree. My younger daughter did the CC route and is finishing up at Stockton now to get her teaching degree. $35k for 4 years is a gift that we can all appreciate. I’m not dipping into my retirement savings and she isn’t going to be saddled with massive debt which makes life after college much easier and also gets them out of the house faster.
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Newell - I agree with you and thanx for your comments but you missed the last sentence of my opening post.
 
newell138 said:
Most kids these days should do at least a year of CC before investing $200k on a college degree. My younger daughter did the CC route and is finishing up at Stockton now to get her teaching degree. $35k for 4 years is a gift that we can all appreciate. I’m not dipping into my retirement savings and she isn’t going to be saddled with massive debt which makes life after college much easier and also gets them out of the house faster.
Click to expand...
Mega +1 to all of this. Students and parents need to start making better decisions regarding college and debt.
 
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dfr1966 said:
Im not sure what the rate is now, but when my daughter was an undergrad we took loans from nj. The website is hesaa.org, you should be able to get info from there.

We had no problems at all, it was actually very easy.
Click to expand...
Is that income based?

When I filled out the one for regular aid I qualified for ZERO.

Of the NJ public’s...

Rutgers and TCNJ offered nothing. Rowan only 8K for four years and NJIT was so reasonable we wouldn’t need any help if my son went there.
 
Nope, it is a loan, so not income based. Its from the state of nj rather than federal though.
 
Just a little useless knowledge.

If you use one that Nelnet handles the owner of it is a huge Nebraska donor. It’s main headquarters is in Lincoln. They employ a lot of students to makes calls to people about their loans. The guys an asshat but is a major donor.
 
Maybe try to get a full time job at the college to get free tuition. A co-worker was laid off and he timed it just right and moved to Virginia where his two sons attended college and took a position with them. Some on this board took advantage of this benefit.
 
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