Shocked by Student Loan Websites

[chb119]

If she got 1/3 at Columbia, she get a full-ride somewhere else. This girl is about to slip a noose around her neck, and her parents insisting she live off off-campus are kicking the stool out from under her.

I would run out the numbers with her, so she can see just how much debt she is going to be in for the privilege of going to school at Columbia and living in NYC. Work up the numbers for a less-expensive alternative, perhaps the visual of the end number with a-lot less zeros will open her eyes. Make sure to stress, that the day she signs for those loans, the responsibility of that number rests on her head and her head alone for years perhaps decades to come.

[Klassyhk]

Originally Posted by Countess Capital

MI-Roger...those are private lenders and there are a lot of scam artists in that market...some are very malicious and in this new age of semi-virtual reality some of those con-artists believe that they are trying to build racketeering and extortion revenues through the college lending system because they know that for many students college is a "dream" and for many others college is a "necessity," and trust me the "dreamers" are considered the "easiest make."There really are only certain limited financial sources for college students; 1. a bank who is willing to lend 2. the federal government in the forms of loans, grants and scholarships 3. sometimes states have scholarship and grant money set aside for struggling students and academic achievers 4., private individuals and even corporations 5. and the university itself. The financial aid office or the bursar office will be the only organization that you will want to talk to about finding funds unless you go directly to a bank; they are the ones who will connect you to the best sources of funding and sometimes they will even get the funding for your student.
It seems odd to me that she has been accepted to Columbia University and, the university hasn't at least offered to provide funding or alternatives for her especially, if she has been accepted but is not financially able to cover the tuition or that she has not been given a list of alumni and contributors that would donate to her education. Most of the Ivy Leagues will give tuition waivers and living stipends to students who get selected to attend their universities but can't afford the cost of an Ivy league (especially, in graduate school where she can be a teaching assistant). I found this out too late in my education...but I'm not upset about it (I love my Alma Mater and I am about to fulfill my glorious destiny and complete my Ph.D. in Russia); but I had final SAT scores that wold have admitted me to any one of the Ivy's and later found out that ninety percent of the Ivy leagues will basically fund students who are financially disadvantaged but have the grades/scores and are selected to attend---my DAD wasn't willing to pay for my education (we had a serious falling out before I left for college but he actually ended up helping me pay for it...) because his generation was totally different; he(they) were SUPERMEN students who worked their way through college, took loans but paid them off by the end of the semester, (tuition was really inexpensive in his college years), graduated top of his class with honors and managed to do this while raising a family (go figure... today this is kind of like walking to school at 5 am; uphill both ways in blizzards just to get a "good" education)... but if she is young enough she might try waiting...most universities in Germany and Russia and even parts of France are entirely free, even for international students who relocate to study there !!! Students have to pass a battery of tests and a series of examinations, the work is academically strenuous and more difficult than most academics in the U.S. and unforgiving if you don't complete the program---meaning you could be a medical student but if you fail the examination process or fail to complete the education then, you'll be turning wrenches or cleaning chimneys for your career---but this concept has worked beautifully for Europe and the Academic community here in the states are demanding a similar scenario; the student loan debt burden and coming student loan debt crisis is going to be the platform on which the academic community will base their justification for "free universities" in America and a free college education.

Please use paragraphs. They're your friend. It's as simple as pressing the ENTER key after every five sentences are so. There's a reason you had to use them when composing your papers as you were pursuing your degree.

[L210]

I didn't read the whole thread, but Graduate Plus loans have no cap. A student is allowed to borrow up to the estimated cost of attendance. A cosigner is not needed unless the student has adverse credit history.