Should I use my savings or take a loan for college tuition?
Depleting remaining savings leaves you with a tiny cash buffer, while taking a private student loan incurs interest rates around 8% on the borrowed amount. This choice forces students to weigh the risk of exhausting their financial safety net against the long-term cost of taking on additional debt.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Paying tuition in cash to avoid accumulating more high-interest debt
- 2Taking out the student loan to preserve cash for post-graduation flexibility and emergency funds
- 3getting lifeguard certification
- 4working part-time hours
- 5finding a second job
- 6planning to buy a used bike
- 7Taking out student and parent loans
- 8Attending community college for the first two years before transferring
- 9Working part-time, summer jobs, or securing positions as an RA or TA
- 10Applying for continuous scholarships
- 11Commuting from home to save on housing costs
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I have no idea how I’m going to pay for this.”source ↗
“Even after minimal scholarships and stacking the loans available to us, we still have about a $20k gap this year… with three more years to go…”source ↗
“I can either pay the $10k tuition in cash and be left with $3k, or take out a $10k private student loan at around 8% and keep my savings.”source ↗
“What would you do: pay tuition in cash, take the loan and keep the savings, or take the loan and buy a used car?”source ↗
“ZERO college fund for my daughter when she started college. It is all I could do as a single mother without privilege to survive with a roof over our heads.”source ↗
“Even in-state schools are way too much for middle class parents, who don’t qualify for need-based scholarships, but can’t just cut a check.”source ↗
“Usually, saving up for a motorcycle + gear + paying for my own insurance + licensing could be easily paid for and saved up for in about 6 months (I did the math). However, only being 17 years old, I am still a kid and must keep in mind my parents' "suggestions" in life haha. They feel quite strongly about raising a significant amount of money for college instead of purchasing a motorcycle within the next year.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Should I pay cash for a car or finance it?
- 20Should I pay off debt or start investing and saving?
- 6Should I buy property or keep my money invested?
- 4Am I saving enough money for the future?
- 3Should I take car dealer financing for a rebate and pay it off early?
- 2How to pay for private college after a layoff without draining trust funds