Grants and Scholarships

Attend your top school and graduate in debt or get a free ride for college?

I have a big dilemma. I applied to two universities. George Mason University (Top pick school) and Norfolk State University (last resort/fall back school) and got accepted at both. My top school I really want to attend is George Mason, but the total sum of all my grants and scholarships will not cover my tuition for the year. However, if settle for my fall back school and attend Norfolk State I'll have basically a free-ride for college meaning I'll pay no money out of my pocket because I have financial aid. My main goal with college was to graduate with absolutely no debt/loans. I do not want to spend a large portion of my life paying student loan bills. And for so long I was deadest on not borrowing any money. But now that I know I won't have enough money for George Mason, I'm wondering if I should suck it up and borrow the money. Or should I give in and attend the lesser school and graduate debt-free. {My Question for everyone:} If given the choose of earning a college degree debt-free or with debt, which path would you choose? Would you borrow all the loans needed to attend your top/dream school - no matter how much it is. Or would you go with the “free-ride” - the school in which your grants and scholarships would cover everything? As for me, I’m leaning towards the free-ride school, because I really don’t want debt, especially with how the economy and the future is looking as of now. It will be hard to give up money every month for 10 -20 years for student loans. Thanks for any feedback. Namaste QUOTE: "A lot depends on what you are studying in college." --- That's is true. I figured for something like medical or law degrees, the school attended really matters. However, I plan to major in (Tourism and Hospitality Management), so I hoping that career area won't focus on what school I attend. I calculated some numbers, and on estimate I could end up with $80,000 plus in loans. Way too much right? I'll be out-of-state for both schools. And for so odd reason schools charge out-of-state residents far more than in-state. Why? Everyone is getting the same education at the same school, same programs... but that's life I guess

Public Comments

1. It all depends on whether or not you would feel happy at the fall back school or not! If you would wake up and regret the decision, then maybe the debt is worth it. I'm a little biased though, since I'm about to enroll in my dream school, and get a ton of debt, but to me, it's worth it for the experience!
2. There are other options than that. You could go to Norfolk or a community college for 2 years still debt free then transfer to George Mason University for the last 2 years. The money you saved by going to either school can be used to pay for George Mason University. I would aim on debt free instead of dream school. In 20 years no one is going to care about the school (if accredited), but you are still going to paying student loans. EDIT: Public school eduation is subsized by the state. That why in-state pay less than out of state students.
3. Go to the one you can afford now. I'd go debt free. Why owe money if you don't have to. That way when you get out of college and get a real job. You can keep most of your salary. I took out a 25K student loan for my bachelors degree to attend SDSU. I still owe 9K. My monthly student loan payment is about $240 a month. I could have purchased a new car with that amount. I don't regret taking out the student loan because it allowed me to complete my bachelors degree which I paid for myself. The bachelors degree got me a good job. However, If I can help it; I don't want to pay much for education anymore. My employer paid for my masters degree. When I go for my doctorate degree my employer should pay for half.
4. A lot depends on what you are studying in college. If you are planning to enter a highly competitive field or continue on to post-graduate work, like law or medical school, the higher-ranked college would probably be worth the investment down the road. However, if you plan to enter a field that only requires an undergrad degree or that always needs people (like teaching), then the less expensive school will probably serve your needs just fine. Of course, the question of how much money you would need to borrow has pretty considerable weight in the issue. If it was a matter of borrowing $10,000-$20,000, that really isn't too bad a debt to have with a low education loan rate, but once you start getting over $30,000, you want to be sure that you are going to be able to get a well paying job out of that degree to pay it all back without having to eat ramen noodles until you are 40. :-)
5. I think you're VERY smart to consider the financial impact of your decision before you've already racked up huge loans for college. I've heard so many stories of kids who've borrowed huge sums of money -- $85,000 to more than $100,000 -- to attend the undergraduate school of their dreams. Then they graduate (or sometimes don't), get a job that pays $35,000 a year and begin to realize just how enormous that debt is. It swallows up so much of their expendable income that they can't afford to buy a condo, to replace an old car, to go out with friends, to take a vacation -- the debt repayment basically takes over thei
6. Are you in-state or out-of-state? According to College Board, if you are in-state, GMU is $7,512 per year and Norfolk State is $5,560, which is a difference but not a staggering difference. 4 years at GMU would be about $30,000.