NCU DBA+Final Cost=Cold Feet

Loan is approved from SLM and I am getting cold feet. The "Truth in Lending" disclosure estimates that I'll pay (according to their schedule) $54K for my DBA at NCU. I guess I knew all along that it would cost a bit but the numbers caught me at a bad time.

Prime +2% seems to hurt more than I thought.

 

The doctorate there is ab out 26K. If you go with prime rate + 2 you are looking at the following over 10 years....

Loan Payments Calculator

Loan Balance: $26,000.00
Loan Interest Rate: 8.25%
Loan Term: 10 years
Minimum Payment: $50.00

Monthly Loan Payment: $318.90
Number of Payments: 120

Cumulative Payments: $38,267.41
Total Interest Paid: $12,267.41

If you finance books you are likely looking at total payments of around 42K. Prime rate is 6.25% at this time.

How are you coming up with 54K?

The loan situation stinks at NCU for sure. There has to be more to the story than they say. Still, even the total payments are cheaper than a Walden, Capella, or UMUC doctorate.

 

Bing,

You are correct....NCU is $26K. However, the TIL I received today shows 8.569% (variable) with a 2 yr deferment period. According to SLM, "The amount you will have paid after you have made all scheduled payments is $53,832.62." After the 2 yr deferral, there are 179 payments at $297 and 1 payment at $307. I think the deferral period is the issue....might have to take another look at that.

The good news is I will qualify for a 10% NCU discount for full tuition payment. Even better is the cost does not compare to some of the other schools. Yet, it was still hard to look at when I got the final figures.

 

Another option

If you can afford about $400 per month now, look into taking your time on the program, only completing one course every 16 weeks, and pay it off as you go.

It beats getting in debt.

 

Yep. Sounds like a sticker shock for sure. Might want to check out the Newcastle or Southern Queensland DBA programs. They are about the same price or cheaper and you can do Stafford loans. The Staffords will take care of that deferment for you.

OR...take a look at Touro. You can get Staffords with Touro and it is not much different with price.

Bing

 

Re: Another option

I agree with this idea. I also would choose to pay for 1 course at a time. Tuition lock is good for three years in this payment format and should one accelerate through, you probably would not be harmed by any tuition increase after the three year lock.

Besides, a few classes at a higher tuition increase are minimal compared to the interest one would be paying from day one of a loan.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

NCU doesn't have a DBA. They have a PhD program.

 

DBA costs

Sounds like you're deciding on "any" degree. Looking at all the programs including the ammortization costs will give you the same ordinal ranking, because they all start with the present value or program costs in today's dollars (generally).

NCU is cheap compared to most, but all are expensive over time. I'd make your decision from the present value among programs. You might compare the benifit of getting the tuition discount against your expectations that the load might creap up with the prime rate, which is likely to increase. Is the present value of the discount greater than the present value of the interest payments over the term? At what rate are the sums equal?

Please don't ask me to solve this. I've had too much beer tonight?

 

Hi BinkWile.

NCU just started the DBA program recently.

http://www.ncu.edu/university_information/dpro_det.asp?degree_program_id=17

Craig

 

NCU does in fact have a DBA program.

http://www.ncu.edu/university_information/dpro_det.asp?degree_program_id=17

 

Well shut my mouth.... I stand corrected!

 

This is interesting. With the generous scholarship that NCU is giving to law enforcement fire personnel the 51 credits of doc coursework could be done for under $15K. Is any other school doing that?

 

Can you please elaborate more on the scholarship program? How does it work?

 

http://www.ncu.edu/law%5Fenforcement/

Scholarship
Special tuition scholarship rates are available for all members of your department:
$675 per course for Bachelor's degree programs
$855 per course for Master's and Doctoral degree programs

 

Oh my gosh!!! I can actually afford that. LOL

Dr. Hecht is extraordinarily saavy. First he gets a foothold in Vietnam (which is difficult for Westerners) and now he offers the best RA doctoral-level prices that I've ever seen.

This is an offer too good to refuse. If one enrolls, is the scholarship guaranteed throughout the degree program?

 

Not as cheap as Touro..

My Touro MBA cost $6750 due to me being retired military....

 

Interesting ...

I looked at NCU's program and the title of the ebedded pages caught my eye ... http://www.ncu.edu/niche_market/landing_page/default.asp?niche_id=1948 I was interested to see the "niche_market." I guess this makes tons of sense and I wonder why others have not thought of it. However, is his offer good ONLY to those in the departments listed on the left? or is it available for anyone in police/fire protection work? HEY how about volunteer firemen? LOL

Anyone know?

peACE,

ACE

 

Re: Not as cheap as Touro..

I didn't know they extended their lower prices to retired military. Does that apply to the doctoral programs, too?

 

Re: Re: Not as cheap as Touro..

Yes, retired military and spouses get the same break. However, the break for the doctorate isn't as great as the one for undergrad and graduate courses, Doctoral tuition at Touro is regularly $500 per credit and for retirees it is $400....

http://www.tourou.edu/cba/mtap.htm

 

Re: Interesting ...