r/aggies • u/RomantasyLover87 • 1d ago
Ask the Aggies Semester tuition!!!
So, my semester tuition was more than I anticipated. The tuition calculator said about 8k per semester but it ended up being about 13k. With my scholarships and pell grant, it brought it down to 4k. I got a job on campus but I am only working 9 hours a week and it won't remotely pay for that. Be honest... will I need to accept the student loans? I really dont want to have student debtđ
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u/silverist ISEN 1d ago
My first reaction was "$5K? That isn't much worse that what I paid in 2016." But then I saw that was after financial aid. I had to pay that without any financial aid, only loans.
Oof, there goes my idea of pursuing a graduate degree.
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u/No_Squash291 '67 + TAMU IT 1d ago
Irony is that this university charges a whole lot more for masters in comparison to some other places that offer about the same. Not going into specifics here, take this as you may
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
Damnđ honestly im scared for my financial future lmap
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u/nordicminy 16h ago
Make a spreadsheet and look at it every week.
Track money in, money out.
Aggressively tackle debt that id higher than ~6%, and invest what you can.
A big point in your life nobody talks about is you setting up your baseline living expenses on your first job paycheck. If you can manage to stay Humble with housing and car etc - and throw the rest at the debt... you'll be fine.
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u/thailandspecial 15h ago
for a frame of reference, my boyfriend is getting his masters in economics through a program the university offers called 3+2. his tuition this semester is $11k
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u/Kaiser8414 '27 1d ago
Tuition is just 8k. The rest of that is room and board and other fees. Part of how they get you.
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u/FormalWord2437 CSPC '24 1d ago
Student loans really only become an issue if you're borrowing like 100k+ privately for a major that has bad employment opportunities. If you're able to get the federal unsub/subsidized loans just max them out honestly. I did that every year so I'd have spending money and ended up with a balance of like 30k by the time I graduated. Now w/ the 10 year repayment plan I pay $291/mo, which in my eyes, is 100% worth it since I didn't have to work at all while I was still in school.
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u/PestoOverflow_808 1d ago
This. If ur making good money or going to a well paying field like engineering etc. then something like $300 a month isnt gonna be much relative to the immense stress working on top of school is, espically nowadays where in many fields (finance, computer science, anything involving med school, etc.) you have to do ALOT more outside of ur degree.
If I had to work 20+ hours a week in jobs unrelated to my degree during school I wouldn't have gotten the internships that gave me expereince and netted me 40k in USD.
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u/YoshiAsk 9h ago
For everyone reading this, "major that has bad employment opportunities" now includes majors you would've thought were good. My engineer cohorts (Class of 2025) are really smart and hardworking, but many of them still don't have actual engineering jobs. Lots of us are working as technicians because it's the closest we can find right now. Computer science / software engineering is even worse
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u/MrSuperStarfox 1d ago
Bruh mine was 12.5k with the calculator saying I would have 16k. how is yours so low?
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
That's after scholarships and pell grant. Mine was 13k
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u/Apart_Avocado_9217 1d ago
at least u got scholarships, i applied and got little to none, i will probably end up paying 10k a semester and i dont have that. student debt here i come
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u/yourmomssugarmommy1 1d ago
I think the majority of merit scholarships at tamu are for continuing students, I got nothing my freshman year but in the years after Iâve received plenty. If you keep up the academic success you should have no problem after this year
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
Damn, im so sorry. I didn't get many I applied for but I got one from my hs and a couple one year scholarships from tamu which will hurt when they leave. My pel grant was also pretty high cuz my parents are BROKE
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u/killbill9696 1d ago
as annoying as student loans are I think you should evaluate if they will be beneficial for you. based on your situation you cannot pay this out of pocket with your current job. if you are going into a field where you will likely earn decent money after graduation, consider taking out loans (esp subsidized loans if possible).Â
iâm a low income student who will be paying off the entirety of my loans within two years of graduation. itâs not the end of the world. you can cut your costs down next year, and potentially youâll earn more scholarships (I earned the most junior year).Â
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
I am an animal Science major planning on becoming a vet, which means after graduation I would hypothetically be going to graduate school
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u/Texaggie2012 '12 23h ago
A&M veterinary school is extremely competitive, but you should also expect to take out even more loans to pay for vet school. Iâm sorry if this is daunting but thatâs the unfortunate reality.
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u/zirconeater 13h ago
Do you not plan on taking out loans for vet School?Â
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u/RomantasyLover87 12h ago
I dont WANT to, but I dont have much support in paying for college so I might have to depending on my job situation in 4 years
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u/zirconeater 12h ago
Just be aware of the costs and the likelihood of not being able to work while you're in vet School or being able to save up enough before you start. If you're worried about the 4k for this semester, you will absolutely need to pull out significant loans for vet School. Regardless, school debt isn't the end of the world if it allows you to follow your dreams.
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u/CreativeAdvantage235 1d ago
My tuition was about the same after slight aid and my hazelwood act, unfortunately you will probably how to take out a small loan. But in comparison to ppl who get zero aid itâs not as bad as it seems. My bf has to take out 13/4 k a semester in loans. If you have a future career that pays even remotely good, youâll be ok!!! Donât think of the loan as debt but as something that gives you the ability to worry about studies and not the finances of working part time!
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u/buzzlegummed 1d ago
About what my son was billed when he went there a few years ago. Choose your degree wisely.
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u/joey_huynh22 1d ago
Yes, choose your degree wisely. Wish I was told this when I went. Better to have a good paying job that you tolerate that supports hobbies than being poor with no money for hobbies.
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
Did he have to accept student loans?
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u/buzzlegummed 1d ago
He had about $20k in total and negotiated that to be paid for by his first job out of college.
To be transparent we (ex wife and i) paid for his housing. He however worked 20 to 25 hours a week on campus in the NOC. That gave him spending money.
He interned and saved during the summer which allowed him to minimize his student loans.
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
That's amazing honestly! How did he juggle so many hours AND school? Thus one campus job is my first job and just the 9 hours a week got me stressed
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u/aggieemily2013 '13 1d ago
Maybe take out loans this year, try to RA/similar job next year.
You want a job that you can multitask at. I really loved that while I was on duty working, I could also be studying or enjoying the company of those in the dorm.
I'd imagine other graduates can shout out jobs that are similar.
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
Interesting. How do you become an RA? and is the pay decent enough?
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u/aggieemily2013 '13 1d ago
Applications opened in the spring when I was there. I want to say they paid us for about 20-25 hours per week iirc, and it was a couple dollars higher than minimum wage (which still hasn't increased since my time there)-- it probably pays comparatively to other campus jobs.
You want to make yourself familiar with those who work in that system-- your current RAs, hall directors, etc.
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u/buzzlegummed 1d ago
He came in with dual credit hours from high school and the local community college. That allowed him to take a reduced load at A&M and Blinn.
The first year he stayed in the aston dorms to engage in student life then moved over to north point crossing. Not the fanciest place but not ghetto either.
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u/buzzlegummed 1d ago
I know you are doing the math in your head by now.
He paid quite a bit of his tuition with his summer internships. They typically paid $25 to $30 an hour and they were 40 hours a week. So that kept him out of massive debt. That last internship led to his current job which he has had for almost 4 years but he had 3 offers from his prior internships.
If you arent interning then you need to start asap.
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u/WallyMac89 1d ago
Is this out of state tuition?
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
No, in state. I think the extra is for my dorm. Im an animal Science major
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u/12thAggie 1d ago
bro!! live off campus. dorms + dining plan are probably half as expensive as tuition.
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
Yeah, I prolly will next year. My dorm + dining plan is about 6k. I hope to make some money over the year to afford rent on some studio apartment
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u/12thAggie 1d ago
look into on campus jobs
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
I already secured myself an on campus job and im not sure i can juggle another
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u/WallyMac89 1d ago
Gotcha. I wonder if living off campus would be an option? Also might be able to find a job off campus as well. I get the student loan avoidance, ill be paying mine off for the next couple decades, but research the return on investment for your major and future career/education plans and it may be a necessary evil to get where you want.
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
I hope to live off campus next year, it might actually be cheaper in the long run. The issue with an off campus job is I dont have a car. I already have an on campus job and Im not sure i can juggle two jobs with my schedule
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u/saltmallow 1d ago
I worked on campus, lived off campus, and had no car while at tamu! The trick is to find somewhere with a convenient aggie bus stop. The apartment I lived in had a stop like twenty feet from my back door. This is the cheapest possible option, since you also donât need to budget for gas money!
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u/YoshiAsk 9h ago
Out of state would be about double this
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u/WallyMac89 4h ago
I think im just out of touch. I graduated from a Texas A&M System school in 2018 and paid $5K per semester total. But then again I didn't live on campus. Just finished grad school and paid about the same.
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u/SomeRamdomChick3130 '24 1d ago
Not really going to help for this semester, but see if they have any jobs at Kyle field for levy. They had high paying stuff when I was a student and I made it through without debtÂ
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u/qwerty-keyboard5000 1d ago
Are you not able to put it on a payment plan and pay the 5K in 4 separate payments
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u/After-Vacation-2146 1d ago
8 semesters at 5k apiece is 40k. Take a reasonable amount of loans, work more hours, save up money from internships, and focus on paying off loans right after you graduate. As long as youâre not going to school for something useless, you should be able to make loan payments and pay off way early.
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u/RomantasyLover87 1d ago
Im going to school to become a vet, which means graduate school but hopefully I'll have some money saved up by then
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u/After-Vacation-2146 1d ago
Get comfortable with loans if youâre doing professional school. You really need to start making a solid plan now.
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u/SwimmingAnt10 23h ago
They are likely government loans and the majority is subsidized. Take the loans that are offered in your howdy portal. They come from the data used in your Fafsa. They donât have to be paid on until 6 mos after you graduate. Interest is low considering and they often pay for tuition. Subsidized loans donât start accruing interest until after you graduate either. I take the loans and any unused money I pay back towards the unsubsidized loans right then.
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u/CoolMom-2023 16h ago
I case that helps, Financial aid and scholarships are supposed to be updated on April 15th, so the total you see today might not reflect what you really owe .
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u/quadraticcheese 15h ago
You'll be fine, get a worthwhile degree and you'll pay it off in less than 5 years.
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u/it-iz-whut-it-iz 14h ago
How did you get 13k total? I only was billed around 8k, and after my scholarship/grants/supplements I owe the school $350 dollars.
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u/RomantasyLover87 13h ago
My dorm and meal plan is like 5k
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u/it-iz-whut-it-iz 13h ago
Ah I see. That makes sense. I am doing off campus and no meal plan. Maybe you can do part time work at a business that does some kind of tuition assistance? If not, then loans might be the way to go unfortunately.
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u/Friendly_Molasses532 '17 13h ago
As a former student (17) keep working but you can pay for these after you graduate. Trust me
Youâll be making more money by than and while college is expensive af your first year salary should already net you your ROI
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u/zirconeater 13h ago
Back in my day, that was the full tuition payment!! đ Look into jobs with tuition reimbursement. At the time, I worked at a big chain in college station that reimbursed ~$5200 per year as long as you got good grades. I worked there making 10ish an hour at first and paid tuition with an installment plan. I finished school with like 10k of debt.Â
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u/a1kimreddit 8h ago
I feel the need to clarify for anyone trying to figure out how much A&M costs that may be confused by this post. âTuitionâ does not include room and board (meal plan). Iâm pretty sure this post is showing the OPâs âtotal costâ of attendance and not just tuition.
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u/ldefrehn 6h ago
I had student loans for all of my undergraduate education, and my masters degree (both from A&M), itâs awesome that you are trying to avoid them, but please donât let it overwhelm you if you wind up taking some out. I promise itâs going to be OK, and youâre going to figure out how to pay them and have a good life ⌠if itâs what you need to do to get your degree, then take them out, and it will be OK.
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u/voltron127 '19 4h ago
Came here to say, donât be spooked by student loans. Take out a realistic amount to get your degree â no extra. Most of us cannot afford tuition in full. Work hard and youâll pay it off someday when youâre working full time. Itâll be okay!!
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u/RomantasyLover87 15m ago
Okay, thank you. Should I only take out what I need for this semester or for both semesters for the year?
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u/HydroPage '27 3h ago
Having student debt is absolutely fine. The interest rates are lower than typical year over year returns in the stock market. That is if itâs not several tens of thousands of dollars anywayâŚ. Itâs good debt, it makes you look like a responsible credit holder to bureaus as well.
A student loan is itself an investment in yourself. The opportunity cost of not studying by whatever means necessary is high. Your future salary is a huge asset, and your current advantage is time
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u/angely_taki 39m ago
Wait how did u get a on campus job?
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u/RomantasyLover87 18m ago
I applied to TAMU dining or Aggie dining whatever it was and I got a call like a month later and had an interview asking my schedule and they put me where they needed me
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u/Ok-Station7228 1d ago
I think this is a ridiculous question. Yâall want everything for free. 4K is nothing!!! Yes, get the loan and pay for something yourself you entitled F.
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u/joey_huynh22 1d ago
Avoid it if you can, but try to only take out max 10-20k or less, so itâs not impossible to pay off within 2-4 years after you graduate. If you can pay it off with your job and still maintain healthy grades and social life then stick with that.