College Debt?

Question

I really want to go to Smith or Mills college, but my mom is a little apprehensive. She is worried about the amount of debt I will accumulate in four years at a private school, and wants me to only apply to state schools. I really want to go to a liberal arts school, but am I underestimating the amount of debt I will have? By the way, my expected parent contribution according to FAFSA is 0 and I don't have any college savings or any thing so I will be solely relying on grants and loans. I also plan on going in to social work, so I won't be making much money after I graduate.

Answer 1

Tuition, fees, room and board at Smith College is $50,000 a year.  Unless you get a GREAT scholarship, your loan debt will very hard to deal with with any major, even more so majoring in social work where the average salary in 2001 was less than $40,000 a year.  I'm not trying to burst your bubble and I sure would try it to see what kind of aid package will be available to you, but I'd also apply to a state college as a back-up.

Answer 2

Well, get scholarships and financial aid, from the college you want to attend but especially from third-party sources. Those colleges WILL destroy you with debt (and they won't feel bad about it, either) if you don't get support from them or others to attend.

Good places to search for scholarships include:

scholarships.com

fastweb.com

Answer 3

I'm in the exact same position, except I'm going after a BFA (art major).

I know the amount of debt I'll accrue will be pretty bad, but... I figure that if I'm going to go into debt, at least I'm doing it over a good education?

Student loan debt is better than frivolous things like credit card debt.