Pay for college with loans or cash...

[Anonymous]

Not sure if this should go in the finance forum.

My niece wants to attend a college that cost about 34k for tuition and 10k R&B. Niece (brother's child) was left a $100k trust/insurance from his x-wife that died 6 years ago. Fund controlled by aunt (deceased wife sister). My brother is unemployed (laid off 7 months ago), but looking for work. I don't know all the details about what he has saved and all of that, but niece told me that FAFSA said they could afford to pay $31K. That seems hard to believe. I think his income last year for about 65K and he has two other school age children. He says he only has about 10K a year to contribute.

My niece and brother are wondering is better to use the trust money to pay tuition balance or get student loans and save the cash for other things or emergencies?

I don't know much about this stuff and paid for school with student loans. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Anonymous]

always pay cash

[Anonymous]

Cash is better. I could see holding back maybe 10k or so to help her have a cushion when she graduates, for an apt and other expenses, but I would think using the trust money for college would be in line with it's intended purposes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not sure if this should go in the finance forum.

My niece wants to attend a college that cost about 34k for tuition and 10k R&B. Niece (brother's child) was left a $100k trust/insurance from his x-wife that died 6 years ago. Fund controlled by aunt (deceased wife sister). My brother is unemployed (laid off 7 months ago), but looking for work. I don't know all the details about what he has saved and all of that, but niece told me that FAFSA said they could afford to pay $31K. That seems hard to believe. I think his income last year for about 65K and he has two other school age children. He says he only has about 10K a year to contribute.

My niece and brother are wondering is better to use the trust money to pay tuition balance or get student loans and save the cash for other things or emergencies?

I don't know much about this stuff and paid for school with student loans. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

100k is not going to go a long way!

I made way more than 65k and my EFC was 27k, so those numbers r wrong.

I would say use a mixture of cash and loans, however, do not borrow more that her first job expected salary. Take his 10k, some from inheritance, and some from loans.

Encourage her to choose a viable major, and not a hobby major. GL!

[Anonymous]

They'd need to read the fine print when doing the fAFSA. There is a place to update for changed circumstances.

[Anonymous]

Look for cheaper schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look for cheaper schools.

That didn't help at all and didn't answer the question. Not interested in going to a cheaper school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look for cheaper schools.

That didn't help at all and didn't answer the question. Not interested in going to a cheaper school.

IF, and only IF, she plans on taking a govt or non profit job, finance everything. She will then be eligible for income based repayments (10% of income) and 100% forgiveness in 10 years. She could easily come out 50- 75K ahead doing this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look for cheaper schools.

That didn't help at all and didn't answer the question. Not interested in going to a cheaper school.

Well I want an Audi A6 turbo station wagon with a turbo and sports package. But I have a Honda Accord with 98k on it,because it's paid for.

If her dad is unemployed, she needs to rethink her choices. It's upsetting, but there you are. 100k isn't going to pay for that school for 4-5 years. Maybe she could defer and go to community college for a year then transfer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look for cheaper schools.

That didn't help at all and didn't answer the question. Not interested in going to a cheaper school.

IF, and only IF, she plans on taking a govt or non profit job, finance everything. She will then be eligible for income based repayments (10% of income) and 100% forgiveness in 10 years. She could easily come out 50- 75K ahead doing this.

Thank you this helps. Niece is going to school either using trust money or loans. She is not considering going to a cheaper school.

And to the PP who wants the Audi, hey if you got the credit go for it! YOLO!

[Anonymous]

If its niece's trust, why wouldn't niece use that? Loans suck! They have very high interest rates (ours were all 6.5%)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look for cheaper schools.

That didn't help at all and didn't answer the question. Not interested in going to a cheaper school.

IF, and only IF, she plans on taking a govt or non profit job, finance everything. She will then be eligible for income based repayments (10% of income) and 100% forgiveness in 10 years. She could easily come out 50- 75K ahead doing this.

Thank you this helps. Niece is going to school either using trust money or loans. She is not considering going to a cheaper school.

And to the PP who wants the Audi, hey if you got the credit go for it! YOLO!

What is wrong with cheaper schools? You seem very defensive, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If its niece's trust, why wouldn't niece use that? Loans suck! They have very high interest rates (ours were all 6.5%)

Interest does not accrue on a student loan during the time they are in school. So you should max out loans as much as possible during that time. If you kid lands a govt or non profit job, sign up for the loan forgiveness program, which has income based repayment and a 10 year forgiveness option. They might pay $300 a mos for 10 years and then have the balance written off completely if they stay in govt work. If they don't take that government job, you can always pay off the loan as soon as they are out of college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look for cheaper schools.

That didn't help at all and didn't answer the question. Not interested in going to a cheaper school.

IF, and only IF, she plans on taking a govt or non profit job, finance everything. She will then be eligible for income based repayments (10% of income) and 100% forgiveness in 10 years. She could easily come out 50- 75K ahead doing this.

Thank you this helps. Niece is going to school either using trust money or loans. She is not considering going to a cheaper school.

And to the PP who wants the Audi, hey if you got the credit go for it! YOLO!

What is wrong with cheaper schools? You seem very defensive, OP.

I'm not defensive, and nothing is wrong with cheaper schools if you want to go to cheaper schools. But going to a cheaper school was not my question or my issue. She has chosen her school, was accepted and decided that's where she wants to go. She has decided that she is going to do whatever it takes to go to this school, be it using loans or all of her trust money. Therefore talking to her about going to a cheaper school is of little importance to her. Me and my brother are just trying to figure out which to use. Loans or the cash.

She want to be a doctor, so she knows she has a long wrong ahead of her. She is steadfast on this school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If its niece's trust, why wouldn't niece use that? Loans suck! They have very high interest rates (ours were all 6.5%)

Interest does not accrue on a student loan during the time they are in school. So you should max out loans as much as possible during that time. If you kid lands a govt or non profit job, sign up for the loan forgiveness program, which has income based repayment and a 10 year forgiveness option. They might pay $300 a mos for 10 years and then have the balance written off completely if they stay in govt work. If they don't take that government job, you can always pay off the loan as soon as they are out of college.

OP, this is what we needed to hear. I was unsure about the how interest accrued while in school. This is essentially what I told her to do, get the loans and then pay back as soon as she graduates or find a job that would have a loan forgiveness program.