money matters…

Now going to England to study is not going to be cheap. Because I am a senior I have to take a few very specific classes. So, I had to do a lot of shopping around to find a program where I could take these classes. I decided on the Engineering & Computer Science in London offered by the L.C. Smith College of Engineering & Computer Science of Syracuse University (Interesting since that is where one of my best friends J███████, who will be in Oxford next year, is from. isn’t that a neat coincidence?) The program is run by the Division of International Programs Abroad, I will be attending City University in the heart of London.

One of the advantages of this program was that my school’s (George Mason University) Center for Global Education has a deal with Syracuse so that I do not have to worry about transfer of credits, and I even get a discount on the program fees. However, there program is not cheap; I have to pay Syracuse Tuition which is $20,866, plus the program fee of $2,000 or so, which brings my total tuition to a total of $24,100! Add to that living expenses (it only covers 1 meal a day) and travel, and special insurance for over seas, etc, etc, etc… and it all added up to a grand total of $32,000+ dollars in my calculations!

I don’t have that kind of money!

So, I went to Financial Aid, they told me that since I was only 22 as of January 1, 2001 I was only eligible for a maximum government loan of $5,500 in my name. So I got this and applied for a Sallie Mae loan for the rest but Financial Aid has to sign off on that based on your “estimated cost of education”, a number they come up with. The number for my education cost estimate came from a letter from Syracuse which stated that my tuition was $24,100, not taking in to account any other cost. So I currently have a Federal Government subsidized loan for $5,500 and a Sallie Mae loan for $18,600, (total = $24,1000), leaving me about $8,000 from my goal. My mother applied for a PLUS load, from the government but the approval for that comes from George Mason, and since you cannot borrow more than the ?estimated cost of education? less other loans, they denied the loan. To make a long story short I spent all day today on the phone with George Mason, and Syracuse trying to prove to someone I needed more money! After 6 hours of phone tag and holding and being transferred I finally got a hold of someone at Syracuse who had a cost brake down form that Syracuse students get. It said that the total estimated cost of the program, including everything was $37,540!!!!!!

Anyway I got this form faxed to the Office of Financial Aid at GMU and they are going to re-evaluate my need, and loan request. I leave for England in 23 days, well see how long it takes them to get all this done and whether or not I will be able to eat more than the one meal a day that the $24,100 covers at City….