So I make a little over $100,000 a year as a carpenter and my wife makes around $30,000 a year as a preschool teacher. We have three kids and live in a rural area. We have filled out FASFA loan applications and the amount our child will receive is shocking to me. We are not eligible for any grants or even work study. He can get a loan for $7500/ year through the program but that’s it. I am willing to add $10,000/year from my retirement savings but that still leaves us about $14,000 short. I am not complaining about the cost of college attendance but I am just upset about the loan amount. I simply don’t understand how the loan amount is so small. I feel like I am in the minority that I can offer $10,000 a year and still can’t afford it. The kid did well in school his entire career and scored well on the SAT and was a good athlete.
We have friends that are sending a child off to college in the fall also. Their total bill is $7000/ year which is fully covered by a student loan. They get grants and work study. Yes, they make less/ year but they are not poor by any means.
We also have friends that don’t have to bother looking into a loan because they can just write a check for $35,000 a year. I am just feeling really pissed off because I seem to be stuck in the middle and I feel like I have let my child down because I wasn’t successful enough and was too successful at the same time.
This is a very smart kid who has always done the right thing, never in trouble ever, no drugs,tobacco or alcohol. Never even had a detention from kindergarten to senior. Captain of a really good football team and captain of the wrestling team. He did everything right and it seems like he is getting fucked.