Question about College Tuition Costs?

If you attend a community college and get 5K in Pell grant money, I'm not sure how you'd rack up 10 K in student loan debt. Most of the time the pell grant money should cover all your classes and books at a community college. At least it does at mine, and I don't get nearly as much pell grant money as you. As for paying of your loans. This depends, do you have a college fund now? Will you be working at least part time while attending college? Do you qualify for any scholarships? I attend community college part time and work full time. Not the ideal situation, but I do have a small student loan debt from a previous college that I am currently paying on even while in school. RIght now my pell grant pays for everything and I even get a small refund back. I'm saving all my refund money because I know the pell grant might not always be there. My husband finished his Master's degree last year. He went in the military when he was young, so he had no student loan debt from getting his bachelor's degree. All he owes on now is the 25K from his master's. His monthly payments for that is around $250.00 a month. So, if you think you'll be racking up 50 or 60 K in debt, look to pay a $500 or $600 a month student loan payment after you graduate. Probably more since we're talking in the future.Just remember any unsubsidized loans that you take out start charging you interest the day you take them out. Subsidized loans don't start charging you interest until you graduate. Ways to cut cost is CLEP some of your classes. This saves you time and money. If at all possible work while you attend school. Use some of that money to pay for your classes and books out of pocket. And if you do take out student loans, try paying on them while still in school even though it's not required. Even $20.00 a month can make a difference. As far as getting your Phd. The cost will depend on the field that you're in. For instance. My husband's degree is in clinical psychology. If he were to get his phd. so he could be a licensed psychologist the phd portion would cost him around $100K. That's just for the phd portion. Not the 25K he just spent to get his Master's. It really depends on your course of study and what you want to do with your degree. For us, it's not in our best interest to go into that kind of debt so my husband can get his Phd. He can work under a licensed doctor as a therapist now. (Which is what he does) I'm also majoring in psychology. I probably won't go past a bachelor's because I want to do more social work and a master's isn't needed for that. Plus, I got a late start on my college career and I don't want to spend the rest of my life stressing out about how I'm going to pay back my student loan debt.

How do you go to a community college & accumulate debt? I mean it's a COMMUNITY COLLEGE. You need to attend a cheaper school because acquiring debt before you even attend a 4-year school is really bad.

There are several types of federal aid. Usually if you qualify for a Pell grant you will qualify for other grants and federal loans and you can get work study if you want that. My daughter qualified for a Pell grant and she gets like 4 grants, student loans and was offered federal work study. Here is a sample award: http://www.triptocollege.org/paying_colleges/figure_out/sample_letters.cfm The rule of thumb to keep your loans down is to pick a college which has a low cost of attendance (total of tuition, fees, books, housing, meal plan, personal expenses and travel expenses). Also, if the one college denied you, why do you think if you went to community college the school will then accept you? There are many reasons a college will accept you: http://school.familyeducation.com/college-prep/high-school/56210.html My daughters friend was in all AP classes, high SAT/ACT scores but she did not participate in groups, volunteer etc so her dream school did not accept her. She is now studying elsewhere to be a surgeon. http://articles.cnn.com/2009-07-16/living/howard.college.loans_1_private-student-loans-subsidized-stafford-loans-borrow?_s=PM:LIVING This comes out every year: http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/student_guide/index.html

There are several types of federal aid. Usually if you qualify for a Pell grant you will qualify for other grants and federal loans and you can get work study if you want that. My daughter qualified for a Pell grant and she gets like 4 grants, student loans and was offered federal work study. Here is a sample award: http://www.triptocollege.org/paying_colleges/figure_out/sample_letters.cfm The rule of thumb to keep your loans down is to pick a college which has a low cost of attendance (total of tuition, fees, books, housing, meal plan, personal expenses and travel expenses). Also, if the one college denied you, why do you think if you went to community college the school will then accept you? There are many reasons a college will accept you: http://school.familyeducation.com/college-prep/high-school/56210.html My daughters friend was in all AP classes, high SAT/ACT scores but she did not participate in groups, volunteer etc so her dream school did not accept her. She is now studying elsewhere to be a surgeon. http://articles.cnn.com/2009-07-16/living/howard.college.loans_1_private-student-loans-subsidized-stafford-loans-borrow?_s=PM:LIVING This comes out every year: http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/student_guide/index.html

How do you go to a community college & accumulate debt? I mean it's a COMMUNITY COLLEGE. You need to attend a cheaper school because acquiring debt before you even attend a 4-year school is really bad.