Page 25 - AT

BUSINESS Friday 14 december 2018
A25

Millennial Money: A college education isn’t priceless

By BRIANNA MCGURRAN costs. But your likely student
Associated Press loan burden should be
College-bound high school one of the top factors you
seniors of America: You consider when figuring out
are about to embark on where to apply and where
one of the most formative to go.
periods of your life, full of FOCUS ON YOUR FUTURE
new friendships, personal STUDENT LOAN PAYMENT
growth and overcaffein- Here’s how to decide
ated conversations on the whether a school is truly af-
nature of humanity. fordable: Your student loan
Keep “ruinous student payment after graduation
debt” off the list. should be no more than
At this point, while you’re 10 percent of your monthly
working on applications take-home pay. That’s true
and deciding which schools for both parents and stu-
most excite you, you may dents.
be hearing that college Use a student loan afford-
debt is “good debt.” That ability calculator to find
an education is priceless, your maximum loan pay-
and if you’re going to bor- ment. As a student, you’ll
row money for anything, it need to know your expect-
should be to expand your In this Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018, photo students and passers-by walk past an entrance to Boston ed first-year salary, which
mind and career options. University College of Arts and Sciences in Boston. you can find in the Bureau
That’s only partially true. Associated Press of Labor Statistics’ Occupa-
It’s OK to borrow some you regret. Here’s how to ready; some aid, such as numbers should give you a tional Outlook Handbook
money for school. But a col- make that happen. federal work-study, is first picture of the schools that . No idea what you’ll do
lege education does come ESTIMATE YOUR COLLEGE come, first served. will require massive yearly after school? Use $50,000
with a cost — one that be- COSTS The FAFSA will give you an student loan borrowing, as an upper bound; that’s
comes very real after grad- The Free Application for Expected Family Contribu- and those that are more the median annual salary
uation if student loan pay- Federal Student Aid, known tion, the amount of money affordable. for 25- to 34-year olds with
ments affect where you live as the FAFSA, opened on the government calculates It isn’t easy to let go of your bachelor’s degrees, ac-
and work, and how much Oct. 1, 2018, for the 2019-20 your family can provide for vision of college if your cording to the National
you can save for the future. school year. The form gives college. Use the net price dream school is too expen- Center for Education Sta-
Years from now, college you access to free federal calculator for each school sive. Yes, you can always tistics. But depending on
should live as a memory of aid such as Pell Grants, plus you’re interested in to see appeal for more financial where you live, $30,000 or
late-night library runs and low-interest federal student how much you’ll likely pay aid, and living at home or $40,000 could be more re-
lightbulb moments in class, loans. Fill it out as soon as per year based on your applying for outside schol- alistic, especially for your
not as a financial decision possible if you haven’t al- family’s income. These two arships can help offset first year out of school.q

US mortgage rates fall to 3-month low; 30-year at 4.63 pct.

4.63 percent from to 4.75 week earlier, according to the global economy. Eco-
percent last week. The key the Mortgage Bankers As- nomic growth is expected
rate stood at 3.93 percent sociation. Refinance ap- to slow next year, and the
a year ago. plications increased 2 per- U.S.-China trade dispute
The rate on 15-year fixed- cent while applications for and rising interest rates
rate loans fell to 4.07 per- home purchases were up 3 could make that slowdown
cent from 4.21 percent the percent. more painful.
previous week. After taking sharp losses at To calculate average mort-
As mortgage rates have the end of last week, stocks gage rates, Freddie Mac
ended the year with de- have gyrated this week. surveys lenders across the
clines, prospective buy- The hour-to-hour changes country between Monday
ers have been wading in. reflect investors’ nervous- and Wednesday each
Mortgage applications ness over the health of week. q
in the week ended Dec.
7 rose 1.6 percent from a
In this Nov. 28, 2018, file photo a realtor sign hangs in front of a
home for sale in Pittsburgh.
Associated Press
Associated Press in the stock market pushed
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home borrowing rates
long-term mortgage rates lower, although they re-
fell this week to their lowest main much higher than a
level in three months, an in- year ago. Mortgage giant
ducement to prospective Freddie Mac said Thursday
homebuyers in a haltingly the average rate on the
recovering market. benchmark 30-year, fixed-
Continued steep declines rate mortgage dropped to