Supporting kids

[ahd929]

I posted this in financial aid, but I thought I'd post it here, especially if there are stay-at-home parents here:

Sorry for the long post, but I have questions that the financial aid office just won't answer.

I will be an M1 at Michigan starting August 7th. My wife is pregnant with our first child, due July 25th. We will be moving to Ann Arbor sometime between July 25th and August 7th. (I know, it's crazy.)

Michigan has set a budget for me, and they have met that budget, every nickel of it, through a combination of scholarships, loans, and grants. Therefore, according to them, they have done what they can do and I cannot qualify for any additional aid. But, their budget accounts for a single student's expenses, and not a family's. (One example, family health insurance is 4x more expensive than a single student's.) I understand their position perfectly. My only question is: how do I make up the difference? I have already been told clearly that they will not re-evaluate my budget. My wife can't just jump back into the workforce in a new city with a days-old baby, which means we're gonna come up a few thousand dollars short even if she finds a great job as soon as she can.

Michigan's financial aid website mentions "Alternative Loans", which are issued by banks through the University, but I don't qualify, because those are only up to the cost of attendance. I have to do this independently of the University. So, how does this work? Do I just go to a bank, walk in, and ask for a loan?

Has anyone else done this?

Also, if we can borrow enough, my wife wants to be a stay-at-home mom. It is worth the extra debt to us to be able to have a parent at home.

Any advice?

Thanks!

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[LO281OK]

Any advice?

Thanks!

First of all, congratulations on your first child (we have 2 + 1 due within a few days). Also, there is nothing that can replace the fact that my wife has stayed at home since the birth of our first...

Couple of options...

1. on the health insurance front - check to see if your wife and child can qualify for Medicaid with no income. Many med students with families go this route. You may even qualify, which would save you that much money in your budget to use elsewhere (like rent, food, etc.)

2. on the loan front - Bank of America offers the Education Maximizer loan to medical students which does not consider the cost of attendance or go through the school. The rates are a little higher and you may need a cosigner, but definitely check it out:

https://www.educationmaximizer.com

3. other fronts - check out other gov't assistance sources like Food Asst. Program, etc, which can make room in your budget.

If you have any questions, PM me...

 

[ralf]

Ditto on the congratulations. Kids are awesome. Also, my sister is starting her third year in med school this year and has a four year old little girl. Her husband works part time to keep them afloat and to keep child care costs down. Especially the first year (infancy) it's really hard to find reasonable reasonably expensive child care (here in Albuquerque infant child care at any ratio runs about $600.00 a month). If you can find a way for your spouse to stay home for even the first six months and then work part time that would be great. Some body has to be around when the kid gets sick.
I do have a quick question, we have two kids (three and seven months). How does the whole budgeting thing work if you already have kids?
If my spouse is accepted to dental school we'll need to move and I don't make that much moola. (He's not working now.) Any suggestions for planning the move, job transfer etc???

First of all, congratulations on your first child (we have 2 + 1 due within a few days). Also, there is nothing that can replace the fact that my wife has stayed at home since the birth of our first...

Couple of options...

1. on the health insurance front - check to see if your wife and child can qualify for Medicaid with no income. Many med students with families go this route. You may even qualify, which would save you that much money in your budget to use elsewhere (like rent, food, etc.)

2. on the loan front - Bank of America offers the Education Maximizer loan to medical students which does not consider the cost of attendance or go through the school. The rates are a little higher and you may need a cosigner, but definitely check it out:

https://www.educationmaximizer.com

3. other fronts - check out other gov't assistance sources like Food Asst. Program, etc, which can make room in your budget.

If you have any questions, PM me...

 

[bananaface]

At UW I was told that as a professional student I could take out the max in unsubsidized stafford loans even if it wasn't part of my assigned financial aid package. The yearly max for sub+unsib is about 32K now. It's worth checking into with your FA office.

In my experience the "budgets" that schools calculate are very generous. Hopefully you won't need too much extra cash.

 

[ahd929]

i don't know if the last question was directed to me, but here's one answer: i guess every school is different. like bananaface said, they let him take out as much as he wanted up to the stafford maximum. michigan just doesn't do that. i'm allowed to borrow through their financial aid office only as much as they budget for me, and they explicitly told me that the budget they set for me cannot and will not take into account any dependents. so, i'm borrowing $10k in unsubsidized staffords, which is well below the $30k maximum, but that extra $20k is not available to me even if i think i need some of it.

on a positive note, i did find a loan program - privately, through a bank - that will make up the difference between my financial aid award and my actual expenses. the terms suck but i didn't have much of a choice.