It's always amazed me that some people get to pick which colleges to go to. I never had that option. Until I turned 24, the maximum financial aid available to me was a measly $5,000 stafford loan. There aren't many places you can attend with only $5,000. That won't even pay for an in state public university in virtually every state. The colleges I spoke with told me that if I didn't have the money, I should wait until I turned 24 and try again. That was a long half decade wait.
You have to have a rich relative available to cosign for all those private loans--federal loans for dependents are capped at about $5,000/year, and independents get about $10,000/year. The total lifetime amount is capped at about $60,000, which is why I'm sometimes skeptical of "I have $200,000 in student loan debt! I'm so poor and oppressed!" stories. It's very likely that these people are just fine because their family will eventually bail them out no matter how many bad choices they make--they're legally obligate to. Student loan companies don't loan money to people without collateral.
You have to have a rich relative available to cosign for all those private loans--federal loans for dependents are capped at about $5,000/year, and independents get about $10,000/year. The total lifetime amount is capped at about $60,000, which is why I'm sometimes skeptical of "I have $200,000 in student loan debt! I'm so poor and oppressed!" stories. It's very likely that these people are just fine because their family will eventually bail them out no matter how many bad choices they make--they're legally obligate to. Student loan companies don't loan money to people without collateral.