hi this is my first post so please be gentle with me ! My son is a sophomore at a private liberal arts college rated very very highly out here in the northwest. It is also the school I graduated from not so long ago. only difference is back when I attended it was around 6,000.00 per years and now its over 40K per year ...he got a bunch of scholarships totalling just over 20,000 per year for all 4 years the problem is I am really struggling to pay the other 20k myself. I r3cently went through a nasty divorce from my wife which left me broke and my credit hurt bad. In other words I don't qualify for any of the loans Ive found so far and he picked up a 3-4 k loan this year but that was their maximum we liquidated out house in the divorce and she got the equity (of course) anyway are there any other programs that he or I can apply for and receive with this type of a profile ?? He is a 681 beacon but has a very thin file ...i am in the low 500's currently and climbing ...i fear noit fast enough anyone have any ideas for me??

He might or might not qualify for some private loans. With your numbers you will not qualify for anything at this point. Whatever way you look at it, somebody is going to come out with $60k for a liberal arts degree, which is total nuts. Most liberal arts degrees won't get you any job that you can afford to make payments in excess of $500/month, which if he is borrowing privately he will end up with. Then add on graduate school if applicable. Read thru this forum and you will see numberous people who regret their private undergrad degrees. I am trying to be gentle but if you can't afford it, you can't afford it.

Hi. Just a few things I was thinking about when I read your post:

1. Your son getting a liberal arts degree from a good undergrad school (your school), will not determine his future. That sheepskin might hold some superficial clout for a few years after graduation, if at all. His future will be determined by his talents, skills, motivation and work history, and other factors that neither you nor he have any control over. If he is as bright as you say he is, he will survive and thrive.

2. This is a hard period for you, your ex and your son; many emotional issues involved. Of course you want to keep it going the way it was, and it is painful to see him suffer for your problems. But if you pretend that you can pay when you can’t, or overextend yourself to maintain an illusion that nothing has changed, this will backfire.

3. What your son really wants to know right now is that he will be loved by both of you forever, and that he will be able to complete his undergraduate education, in a way that works for him, where he is right now.

4. Tell him what the real deal is financially, but be a cheerleader for the positive. Take the initiative to look into less expensive options based on his interests and goals, and get him involved in this process. Even state schools or community colleges or distance learning while he works. He will of course feel his whole world is being destroyed, but if you give it to him straight about your limitations, and put in major time and effort on your part to help him shift gears in a positive way, he will get it eventually.

5. The setbacks your son is experiencing right now could be exactly what he needs to get to his next level of growth. Don’t get in the way of this.

Best Wishes,

Squeakster

Much wisdom in your post, squeakster.

Whether you ever find out about it or not, many people will read this thread and take something of value from your post. Thanks for posting it.

All the family/emotion issues aside:

My younger brother had bad credit and needed money for school, so he went through a private student loan company called Think Financial, and I cosigned for him. I wrote about it here: http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=205766

Secondly, it's insane how expensive school has become as compared to federal loan limits. You can only get like $3000 from the government! With average tuition closing in on $30k a year for private schools, it's insane!

Where are we supposed to come up with the other $27,000???

Anyway, I wish you well, and hope you manage to figure something out. Good luck!

LA derees can lead to six figure income.

That is true; however, there are many more of us out there with liberal arts degrees who are NOT making six figures -- myself included.

I think Lynn's point is well taken -- taking on such huge student loan debts is not something that should be done lightly.

taking on 50K in student loan debt to be a software engineer is not wise either.

"Median annual earnings of computer applications software engineers who worked full time in May 2004 were about $74,980. The middle 50 percent earned between $59,130 and $92,130. "


I certainly wouldn't have problems paying a $50,000 loan on that. I have about half that in loans now and the monthly payment is around $130. My current income is not even worth mentioning.

I think the valid point is that a high amount of loans should not be taken lightly in any circumstance. However, I would rather have $50-100,000 in loans and MAKE $50-100,000 per year than make the typical income of an hourly worker with no degree and have no debt. I would rather make $5000 a month and have a $500 loan payment than make $2000 a month, know what I mean.

Personally I think it is insane for anyone to co-sign for a $27k loan. If you brother defaults, it puts you on the hook. As a new homeowner, who do you think they will persue if he defaults??

those software engineers are not making 75K right out of school. and they better learn hindi.

Some of the richest people in the world never went to college. Others with advanced degrees are struggling. There are some fields where going in it makes sense to think of a college education as a bottom-line investment in future earnings. Maybe. But maybe not.

Students who choose Liberal Arts don’t think that way. They choose that route because it suits their talents and mentality, and because they really can’t do otherwise. They almost always don’t know what they want to do when they get out of school, and are always made to feel embarrassed about that. They instinctively want an education where they can try out different things, and in so doing they learn how to think more broadly and learn how to teach themselves in a way they would not get in more career-focused training.

The young man who is going for his Liberal Arts degree may have a successful career ahead of him as a writer, salesman, artist, historian, politician, social worker, lawyer, professor, researcher, musician, anthropologist – or even a doctor or computer expert – anything can and does happen with a Liberal Arts degree.

My original thoughts for Guru were that he should not overextend himself financially because of his immediate situation, and he should look at less expensive options. But I neglected to suggest the simplest/best option – that his son could just take a year or two off from school, live at home and work, while his father’s finances improve; then he can complete his B.A. at the same school.

Worth mentioning also is that in my years working as a college academic advisor I noticed that the more life and work experience a student had, the more successful they were academically, and that these students tended to end up at the top of their class. Something about appreciating education as a gift, and being more focused on their specific goals. Can’t say how these students ended up financially, but success doesn’t always translate exactly into dollars.

Hey, Guruofgetmedone. Still listening? We wish you all the best, please check in and tell us what you’re thinking…

Squeakster

so nobody needs to?

that said, I agree with your advice to not over-extend. state universities are a great option.

I agree.

I went to a private university for my BA (got it 20 years ago), but only took about $6K in SL debt to do so. There were a couple of scholarships I was offered at state universities, though, and it's quite possible I might have gotten away with NO SL debt if I'd done that.

Seems to me that it was easier to go to college back then without taking out so much SL debt. I would hate to have to try to finance a college education now.