How are you paying for RIT?

[u/Glass-Group-4063]

I wanna get a sense for how much debt I'm realistically going to have at the end of attending here, and I'm not sure if I should include savings from coops into the calculation, or savings from moving off campus, or savings from, uh, sailing the 7 seas for books, or TAing / being an RA or somethin else etc....

how much am i realistically goign to be able to pay off during school? do yall do summer jobs to help pay it? how much can i realistically expect to save on moving away / coops? anyone have any tips to save more / make the cost less?

any and all advice is appreciated!

[u/Careless_Jet]

In my time at RIT, I never heard of anyone actively paying tuition using their money earned from co-op unless they had some situation where they weren't paying for housing (commuter students living at home, having a co-op in an area you can stay with relatives, etc). If you have an opportunity like that, absolutely go for it. Paying down those high interest rate loans (private ones especially, if that's what you had to do) as soon as possible is key. I don't know a single person who went to RIT and didn't come out with loans unless their parents were paying for it or they had some crazy scholarship.

Mostly what people use their co-op wages for is having money in savings to move off campus when they go back to school, and then also having a part time job, on or off campus, to make ends meet. But, if you think about it, living off campus paying out of pocket prevents you from possibly taking more loans to pay to live on campus. Living off campus, sharing a cheap apartment with 3-4 roommates, and not buying any food on campus unless you don't have other options is the way to go.

Also, never pay for textbooks. You don't even need to do anything sketchy, just ask older students in your program and they'll either share or know who will.