Help me out. I'm stressing.?

Question

I'm a junior about to be a senior this fall in high school. I have very good grades and scored extremely well on the ACT. I can get into really good schools and I want to go to one in particular. Unfortunately, my family has very little income and these schools cost $20,000+/year. A lot of people tell me to not worry about costs because there are enough scholarships and student loans out there to cover all your tuition. Other people tell me to go to the cheaper public schools because aid wont cover everything. I would like to go to one of the better schools, even if I have a lot debt afterwards. I think it would be well worth it, but I'm not sure if there will be enough aid to completely cover my costs. Will there be? Or should I just go to a cheaper school?

Answer 1

There is no question that you will be able to get all of the aid you need, the question is whether you will be willing to pay off all of the debt you accumulate. If you look up the amounts that student loan lenders allow you to take out, you can see that they almost always let you take the loan out for the whole cost of attendance. In other words, you will be able to get all of the money you need and then some through loans.

Answer 2

Unless  you have a letter in your hand confirming all of your college will be paid for for the next four years you have every right to worry about how to pay for it.  Let me make a few suggestions... in higher education a high price tag does not equal a high paying job.  

Also private schools are great for those who can afford them... but remember, the ultimate goal here is to get a job and no employer is going to pay you MORE money because you went to a private school and borrowed tons of money to graduate from there.

Good rule of thumb when borrowing (if you insist) is never borrow more total than you would expect to earn your first year out of college.  Example, graduating with a debt of 120K is okay if you are now qualified to be a doctor, but not if you are going to be a kindergarden teacher unless you expect to earn that much your first year after graduating.

Attend the school you will graduate from with taking out the least amount of student loans.  This will be different for every person and what I consider "THE BOTTOM LINE FACTOR" in choosing a school that's best for you.  Don't be dazzled by high scholarship amounts when dealing with private schools.  

A scholarship for 3,000 will go a long way if it is offered to you from a state school costing 3,000 a year, but a $20,000 scholarship from a private school doesn't look so good when you still have to choke up anohter $20,000 to attend.

Good luck!!