How much did college cost you?

[bb4_96]

In light of recent threads about school I was wondering how much people are actually spending on college. If it isn't too horribly intrusive I'm curious: your institution, total tuition fees room/board etc, total grants/scholarships etc, what program, total debt afterwards.

I've gotten both my degrees from NIU in ME. I went to cc for two years before that. i got an academic grant to pay for cc so no cost other than cola since I lived on my own. I borrowed a total of 10k subsidized while I was in NIU for pocket change. I got a full ride to NIU courtesy of usaf. My total debt afterwards was -10k after school because I worked the whole way through.

I don't want this to turn into a huge debate I'm just curious as to how much people are spending. Also anybody who is considering not going for fiscal reasons let me know, there are ways to get aid i never even realized until I was in grad school.

[tricky_ab]

Alright I got my degree in human resources (minor in finance/commerce). My parents put money away for me to go ot school since I was REALLY young so I came out a head when I graduated. I paid for books and any other smaller school related items (laptop, transportation, CHRP designation, etc).

I worked part time during school so I never had a debt balance. I owe my parents a LOT since I was able to come out of school with my shirt on my back.

EDIT:

It was about $4500 a year for 4 years

[Silverbullet]

I have a defered $20k debt from undergrad that I plan on start making payments on sometime this year. I'd say another $10k was spent out of pocket.

My company is currently paying for my grad school school tuition which I will be finishing in 2013.

[Wheelchair]

Here in Georgia, we have the HOPE Scholarship. With it, I did 4 years for FREE, including a study abroad for a year in South Korea.

My pharmacy school debts amount to 50k in subsidized/unsubsidized federal loans.





And I quit pharmacy school...

[dudermagee]

I'm getting paid to go to school

[bb4_96]

I'm getting paid to go to school

care to elaborate? :yum:

[ManoNegra]

Occidental College 1993-1997
BA in Physics
Rode on the coat-tails of affirmative action (yay!), grants and loans
Tuition + Room and Board was ~24k when I started and ~27k per year when I graduated
that was a lot back then
left school with under 10k of low interest loan debt
poor parents so only relied on Work Study for pocket change
(grants/loans didn't allow me to work)

[enkei2k]

Lots of city/community colleges "pay" you to go to school. Pretty much with all the financial aid, grants, etc given to you exceed the cost of tuition so you get to keep the rest for yourself.

I went to private school in NYC, graduated in 2007 with a BBA in Marketing.

Cost was about 20k a year for 4 years so ~$80k total.
With grants, loans, FA, etc...still ended up being ~40k for 4 years.
Took the half out on loans and other half out of pocket. Still got ~10k in loans to pay back and I'll be good.

If I didn't buy a 240, I would be debt free now and driving a car from the 21st century. True story.

[Fearell]

I went to a tech school and it ended up costing about 47K. That 47K is all out of my pocket, no grants or anything were available to me. I'm now attending a local community college and paying per class until I can transfer to a 4 year and graduate.

[bb4_96]

I went to a tech school and it ended up costing about 47K. That 47K is all out of my pocket, no grants or anything were available to me. I'm now attending a local community college and paying per class until I can transfer to a 4 year and graduate.

Unless you got caught sellin dope I'd bet you can get some aid

[wuddup]

Hey OP, what were the "ways of getting aid you didn't even know about"? Would you mind sharing some examples? If it's other areas of money other than fafsa then that would help tons.

Currently going to UCR, halfway through, and government pays for everything since I technically am dirt poor. Fafsa.gov stuff, pell grants, I get paid to go with money left over, but I could use extra to help me through and I recently racked up some debt for summer sesh. So far I'm in debt 3500, but other than that I haven't had to pay for anything for college.

[dudermagee]

care to elaborate? :yum:

Military veteran so tuition gets waved by state schools.
Fees are about $50 bucks a class, books average about $75 per class.
I qualify for 50% Post 9/11 GI bill so they pay for half of my fees up front, I get about $150 a quarter for books, $800 a month for BAH, and another $300 a month for my kicker (I changed career fields so that is gone but w/e).

[bb4_96]

Hey OP, what were the "ways of getting aid you didn't even know about"? Would you mind sharing some examples? If it's other areas of money other than fafsa then that would help tons.

Currently going to UCR, halfway through, and government pays for everything since I technically am dirt poor. Fafsa.gov stuff, pell grants, I get paid to go with money left over, but I could use extra to help me through and I recently racked up some debt for summer sesh. So far I'm in debt 3500, but other than that I haven't had to pay for anything for college.

It's a chore to max out fasfa but if you report as dirt poor you might be already. Also if you only have 3500 debt at halfway you're doing better than most.

My situation was that I had made too much money and every time I filed FASFA I wasn't eligible for much. I found out that through my college's financial aid office I could file a request for reevaluation of financial need. The aid I was eligible for more than doubled after that. I also got some academic scholarships and some awards based on my field and a grant because my grandparent served in the korean war. It would probably serve you best to spend a few days hounding the chicks in the financial aid office to find out what they can come up with.

Military reserve components often have big bonuses and other academic finance perks. You could try that if you really wanted to get ahead. I also did a co-op at a company when I was in cc that paid all tuition/books/fees on top of the fact that i got paid to work there. Add that to the scholarships I had and cc was a fiscally rewarding experience.

Also recently I was offered a position in a program to go back to school full time while conducting research part time and it payed a pretty healthy stipend. Key to that one is to identify yourself academically and extracurricularly. Pick up some projects through the college and get 3.0-4.0 gpa and people will start to notice you.

[theicecreamdan]

I went to community college for all my major prep, I paid tuition for a few years (cc took me a long time) until I realized that I could get that waived. The last two years I took seriously, didn't pay tuition and shared books with my girlfriend.

Then I transferred to UCSD, applied for financial aid. I paid $1000 for my first summer class, and since then I've had a couple grand direct deposited to my checking account at the beginning of every quarter.

I took a $5000 student loan, but even without that I'll be cash positive at the end of next spring when I graduate.

Why it works for me:
Have better than 3.0 GPA
I'm independent (over 24 years old)
I was unemployed most of the tax year before I applied for aid.

fafsa.ed.gov you need to fill this out

[Speed Junky]

Military veteran so tuition gets waved by state schools.
Fees are about $50 bucks a class, books average about $75 per class.
I qualify for 50% Post 9/11 GI bill so they pay for half of my fees up front, I get about $150 a quarter for books, $800 a month for BAH, and another $300 a month for my kicker (I changed career fields so that is gone but w/e).

Why only 50% of post 9/11 bill?

[implayaz9]

F grip

msg length

[biggie]

Had $15k in finanicial aid when I got out, another year of payments left until my education is finally mine. 10 year pay back plan.

[axiomatik]

Went to Arizona State for my BSME (1998-2003). National Merit Scholar + Flinn Scholar + Tuition waiver (top 5% of my high school class) = I got paid $7200/year (except for my 5th year, had to pay tuition of ~$2200/yr).

Went to Stanford for my MSME. $32k tuition, $8k housing, money to buy books, food, gas, etc. Financed completely with Student Loans ~$50k in debt. (~$15k paid back so far)

[h2v7]

45k...................

[word sux]

after grants and shizz

25k

[TougeLove]

after my B.A. and MBA in marketing....0$


did i mention i work for the school? lol :D free books=WTFOMGAMAZINGGGGGGGGGGG

[nathanong87]

b.s. in mechanical engineering from university of maryland . 0$ because i pretty much put all money made from summer internships to tuition. i worked engineering internships for 5 straight summers. i was a commuting student so tuition was around 4k a semester (ie 4k for tuition + 4k for on campus housing (in state))

[azndummie]

20k to the UC system and i went to cc so a little more than that...

[BoostSlideWayz]

This was off of another thread on here i believe but this video actually does shed some light on what really goes on and i have to say i do agree with this video.. I personally havent been to college in about a year or so but i go to community college its cheap and much easiar to afford. 50 to 80 bucks a class for auto tech.. and its hands on experience and you only need 1 book for ALL the classes.. Pretty awesome. But yeah heres the video VpZtX32sKVE&feature=pyv&ad=6739540474&kw=scam

[dudermagee]

Why only 50% of post 9/11 bill?

In order to qualify for 100% you have to do 4 years of active duty time.

To qualify for the minimum of 40% you have to do 90 days of active duty time (6 years of reserve time via annual tours which count as active duty time).
Then its 6 month clips of active duty time for each additional 10%.

I did 6 years (still in) to initially qualify for 40% and had an activation last year for an additional 10% for a total of 50%.

[word sux]

my sister got a grant for about 100k


I wish I took highschool a little more seriously..


she also finished her freshman year with a 4.0 gpa

[Speed Junky]

In order to qualify for 100% you have to do 4 years of active duty time.

To qualify for the minimum of 40% you have to do 90 days of active duty time (6 years of reserve time via annual tours which count as active duty time).
Then its 6 month clips of active duty time for each additional 10%.

I did 6 years (still in) to initially qualify for 40% and had an activation last year for an additional 10% for a total of 50%.

Where did you get that info?

I just looked it up:


Your actual portion of the above rates depends on the number of months of your post 9/11 active duty service. You will receive:
100% - 36 or more total months
100% - 30 or more consecutive days with a disability-related discharge.
90% - 30 total months
80% - 24 total months
70% - 18 total months
60% - 12 total months
50% - 6 total months

[ALTRNTV]

$20k for my respiratory therapist degree
$10k for a one year B.S. program
$80k for physician assistant program

[dudermagee]

Where did you get that info?

I just looked it up:


Your actual portion of the above rates depends on the number of months of your post 9/11 active duty service. You will receive:
100% - 36 or more total months
100% - 30 or more consecutive days with a disability-related discharge.
90% - 30 total months
80% - 24 total months
70% - 18 total months
60% - 12 total months
50% - 6 total months



Its what the education office told me, not that its really a big difference between 36 months and 48.
I'm not even sure you can enlist active duty for 36 months....
Also I know they made some very recent changes to the Post 9/11 bill so I'm not sure if those are new\old\always been that way.
In any event IDGAF I have what I need.

[ZenkiKid]

I have a defered $20k debt from undergrad that I plan on start making payments on sometime this year. I'd say another $10k was spent out of pocket.

.

Wow we must be twins. I have about 20k that I deferred and about 10k out of pocket too. Weird.

[tqstarburst]

So far for me is 3500-4 per semester here at University of Texas at El paso . Not including books,housing,food,gas etc. Grants and FA has helped me alot, living out of a part time job that barely leaves me with free money to spend on my car/girl etc. When we go back for this fall, Federal work study will get me about 2600 for the whole semester consisting of 19 per week.

[DraDrifter]

I actually earned and saved $7800 at least, and went to university for free.

I was paid like $1200-1500 a quarter and the tuition was paid. It was from Financial aid and Grants as well as some free money I signed up through Fafsa and grants.

Got a 4 year Bachelors of Science, I used the free grants and Fin-aid to buy my first 240sx. I did not buy new books, because new books are SCAMS. Just same shit with "New edition" on it, with chapters swapped around. I just Xerox them, made many friends and copy their notes and did study groups. Went to class everyday, it's a must, or you will miss out, because 1 lecture is about 1 weeks worth of materials. Slept in my Hatch during breaks. Graduated on stage, paid $100 for a super quality wood frame for my Diploma, hanging in my bedroom.

Some money spent on parking, fees, etc, gas, food, and saved the rest. I got checks quarterly and then I had it direct deposit. After like the 3rd year, I only got $800. and last few quarters no money as FAFSA only gave like 3 years max when I was in college. So I used the money saved and paid the last couple of quarters and still had at least $7g's minus $3 for my car.

Don't ever have to pay back NADA. DEBT free. NO student loans.

I learned in college the most important things: Time Management, Money Management, and how to get things and not pay or not pay much. I join zilvia and still Lowball, so education is great. =)

Came out of high school with like a 3.2 GPA, and as long as I maintain a 3.0 average in college, I get money. At the end of college I had a gpa of like 3.4.

Not that brilliant, but clever enough to rock the system. wink wink

[ZenkiKid]

^^ I didnt qualify for any grants. But I was granted Veterans Assistance because my dad served in the navy. Free tuition!

[ch1873857]

$0 - TA and GI bill. my technical training after boot camp gave me an associates degree minues 5 credits. so i couldnt help but get that credit.

military will pay for you up to a masters. fun fact

[s13 4rey]

live in Ca going back to school right know in privet universities to be come RN. fuck expensive its costing me 100K :( I put down 25K and 1k per month. I have no help from uncle sam!!! no grants, Funny how thing work out for some people. we live in United State. and have to pay 100% bill due too I make good money on my job so no grants or loans for me.not fair!!!! and If you do not make any money or low income!!! You get a free ride....FUCK THAT!!!!! there one girl in my class she got 100%free ride due to low income, But yet she drives 08 LX 460 WTF... not made at there BUT WE get no help just because we make money!!! and people who make no money get free everything, Food stamp,health care, school,etc...... it should be the other way............

[axiomatik]

so the wealthy should get foodstamps and heathcare and free-rides to college?

[Speed Junky]

Its what the education office told me, not that its really a big difference between 36 months and 48.
I'm not even sure you can enlist active duty for 36 months....
Also I know they made some very recent changes to the Post 9/11 bill so I'm not sure if those are new\old\always been that way.
In any event IDGAF I have what I need.

It's possible, I did (2) 24 month contracts and no one thought that was possible. My friend just completed a 36 month contract and got out, already approved 100% 9/11 Bill.

Well for anyone reading, maybe you DGAF, but you should make sure your info is correct when puting it out there.

[240Sugar]

It cost me 30K~ and it was completely worthless to me. Ended up working in a completely different industry than my major was preparing me for (medical). IMO, college is only worth it if you know for sure what job you want to have in the future (which is nearly impossible to know), and if you are studying something science/math/medical related.

[dudermagee]

It's possible, I did (2) 24 month contracts and no one thought that was possible. My friend just completed a 36 month contract and got out, already approved 100% 9/11 Bill.

Well for anyone reading, maybe you DGAF, but you should make sure your info is correct when puting it out there.

Cool story bro,
all info can be found on:
Welcome to the GI Bill Web Site | The Home for All Educational Benefits Provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (http://www.gibill.va.gov/)
But you already knew that didn't you?

[wuddup]

I actually earned and saved $7800 at least, and went to university for free.

I was paid like $1200-1500 a quarter and the tuition was paid. It was from Financial aid and Grants as well as some free money I signed up through Fafsa and grants.

Got a 4 year Bachelors of Science, I used the free grants and Fin-aid to buy my first 240sx. I did not buy new books, because new books are SCAMS. Just same shit with "New edition" on it, with chapters swapped around. I just Xerox them, made many friends and copy their notes and did study groups. Went to class everyday, it's a must, or you will miss out, because 1 lecture is about 1 weeks worth of materials. Slept in my Hatch during breaks. Graduated on stage, paid $100 for a super quality wood frame for my Diploma, hanging in my bedroom.

Some money spent on parking, fees, etc, gas, food, and saved the rest. I got checks quarterly and then I had it direct deposit. After like the 3rd year, I only got $800. and last few quarters no money as FAFSA only gave like 3 years max when I was in college. So I used the money saved and paid the last couple of quarters and still had at least $7g's minus $3 for my car.

Don't ever have to pay back NADA. DEBT free. NO student loans.

I learned in college the most important things: Time Management, Money Management, and how to get things and not pay or not pay much. I join zilvia and still Lowball, so education is great. =)

Came out of high school with like a 3.2 GPA, and as long as I maintain a 3.0 average in college, I get money. At the end of college I had a gpa of like 3.4.

Not that brilliant, but clever enough to rock the system. wink wink

Everything you said reminds me almost exactly of what I'm currently doing lol.

[ZenkiKid]

what Dra did is going to be tough to do now due to California being a shithole financially.

A friend of mine was supposed to get a couple grand in grants this Fall but got "re-adjusted" by Fafsa and is now only gonna get a couple hundred. This has never happened to her and shes been receiving grants for years now.

[TheWolf]

so the wealthy should get foodstamps and heathcare and free-rides to college?

No I believe the wealthy have become disenfranchised with the "great society" and are tired of paying $30k for their kid and $30k in property taxes for someone else's so they can sit around and brag how they got "paid" to goto college.

[bb4_96]

wealthy is a pretty broad term. when i started looking at college in high school my parents were too 'wealthy' for me to be eligble for aid. By no means were they rich, just dual income middle class people.

[s13 4rey]

Iam with you bb4_96 we were bless with our parents how money and no free ride like other people do!!! and know I make good money and want to back to school. I have to pay 100%wtf!!!!

[afiser]

wealthy is a pretty broad term. when i started looking at college in high school my parents were too 'wealthy' for me to be eligble for aid. By no means were they rich, just dual income middle class people.


QFT, im poor as shit, but my parents are middle class who refuse to help at all with my education. so since my parents are "wealthy" this automatically means i am wealthy, therefore i get no grants and only loans with insane interest rates. in reality, my parents only supply me with a place to live while any money i get goes towards my loans. whatever, fuck the government.

[theicecreamdan]

Get married, join the military, or wait til you're 24+ (what I did)

[axiomatik]

QFT, im poor as shit, but my parents are middle class who refuse to help at all with my education. so since my parents are "wealthy" this automatically means i am wealthy, therefore i get no grants and only loans with insane interest rates. in reality, my parents only supply me with a place to live while any money i get goes towards my loans. whatever, fuck the government.

Insane interest rates? My variable-rate student loan that I just paid off was at 3.6% last month. Four years ago it was almost 9%. I have a hard time believing that in today's market (with the Fed rate at 0%) you are finding student loans with "insane" rates.

[Breitling]

88k for 6 years (no, i wasnt going for anyhting more than a bachelors degree) haha

I did a lot of partying in the first 4 years, cleaned up my act and made the dean's list every semester the last two years. I don't use my major in my current job.

The only thign college taught me was how to handle people. Im not sayign i position people for my bettering... I'm saying that I have learned how to level-up (ethically, and quickly)

The people (mentors) i've met along the way have opened my eyes to the reality of business/life. Those people are amazing. Its truly been a blessing to talk with/learn from people who say "why cant you?"..... its changed my whole perspective on shit.

[bb4_96]

Insane interest rates? My variable-rate student loan that I just paid off was at 3.6% last month. Four years ago it was almost 9%. I have a hard time believing that in today's market (with the Fed rate at 0%) you are finding student loans with "insane" rates.

Unsibsidzed stafford is fixed at 6.8%. Private loans are up from there. I've seen 13%

[axiomatik]

Unsibsidzed stafford is fixed at 6.8%. Private loans are up from there. I've seen 13%

Once you graduate you can consolidate stafford, usually for a lower rate. I had both subsidized and unsubsidized loans at about 5%. Consolidated after graduation into one loan at 2.6% (initially 3.6%, dropped by half a percent for signing up for automatic payment, went down another half percent after 1 year of on-time payments). I also had a variable rate private loan at 7% (the one I just paid off). It went up to 9% a couple of years ago when the Fed cranked interest rates up, but it has been below 4% for 2 years now.

[lucky7]

i need 70 more credits to graduate..... i went to a CC for 2-3 years, and lived with mom/dad. paid for all that out of pocket (worked during the day and took classes at night). got into a university (michigan state), sold S14 to pay for first semester + housing. 12 credits and a dorm room cost me $8,500 for 1 semester. through transferring schools, i lost a handful of credits - which is kind of a bummer.

anyhow, tuition was just raised to $400/credit hour. so i'm looking at $4800/12 credit semester. looking for an apartment right now, but i'm eligible for $3000 per year through grants. my parents are nice enough to help out with whatever else i can't manage. i don't know what the future holds, but at the rate i'm going, i will not owe a dime when i graduate.

[superbike81]

In the end it should cost me zero. Medical school debts will amount to probably $200k but the military should pay most or all of it back for me.

[nathanong87]

if ur parents are 'refusing' to help, why not claim yourself as independent (and follow through with it).... u'd probably qualify for aid that way.

[RiversideS13]

undergrad cost me $40k
MBA cost me $22k
dental school cost me $220k
that just tuition alone ..........me so poor

[afiser]

if ur parents are 'refusing' to help, why not claim yourself as independent (and follow through with it).... u'd probably qualify for aid that way.

if it was that easy everyone would probably do it, if you live at home, you are dependent.

[lucky7]

that's not true.

[theicecreamdan]

you're a dependent if you're under 24, not married, not a veteran probably a few other conditions will get you out of it.

It sucks because a lot of people do have "rich" parents who refuse to help them with school. And some people even have parents who refuse to share their tax info for the application.

If you don't get enough financial aid you need to go talk to the financial aid people at your school. They really want as much financial aid money going to their school as possible so they want to help you.