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I remember reading in the old BBS about someone using a student loan to purchase a horn for school. Could someone please elaborate on how to go about doing this? I'm in need of a tuba and funds are low because of the cost of college classes.

Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks.

It depends of your financial aid situation. If you need to get your teacher to write a letter stating the importance of owning your own tuba/euphonium and have the estimated cost of the instrument added to cost of education. Then the Financial Aid office should increase your allowed student loan amount. I'm not sure if you will be able to get an unsibsidized loan. Good Luck.

If your a graduate student it's alot easier!

J.D.

jdsalas wrote:It depends of your financial aid situation. If you need to get your teacher to write a letter stating the importance of owning your own tuba/euphonium and have the estimated cost of the instrument added to cost of education. Then the Financial Aid office should increase your allowed student loan amount. I'm not sure if you will be able to get an unsibsidized loan.

A few years ago, when I was in Graduate school, I used extra student loans to purchase an instrument... It was pretty simple, actually.

There is a cap on the amount of subsidized loans you can take out per year, and after that you will receive unsubsidized loans. Unsubsidized means that interest will begin to accrue on your loan immediately, while you are in school. (The interest on subsidized loans is paid by the government until you are out of school.) Also, if your unsubsidized loan is ever in deferment for any reason (hardship, disability, more school, etc.), you will also be responsible for the interest then (as opposed to the subsidized loans).

Because of their payment flexibility and low interest rates, Federal Student Aid (Direct Loans) are much easier debt to deal with than that from other sources such as credit cards, banks, etc.

Here’s the website for the federal loans, and you can just call them up on the phone too... they can usually answer questions pretty well.

www.dlssonline.com

I think Joe is stating not to use loans as all, unless it would be a last resort.

While taking out loans for the education itself are becoming more and more neccessary due to the high inflation rates of the costs of upper level education, a usefull tuba itself is not all that comparatively expensive. Most schools have tubas for students to use that are not of that low of quality. If they are of poor quality, then you need to petition the school to buy a higher quality instrument, not only to retain you, but to attract other potential players as well.

See if you can be a student employee at the school or work some other nearby job so that you can accumulate your own funds. If you decide to change majors or not use the instrument after college, you will be making payments on something for 10 years you don't have.

It amazes me at how few percussionists own their own tympani or mirimbas .

Regardless of what our government tells you, there is no good debt ratio for personal finances.

wnazzaro wrote:Loans for homes, education, and to some extent, cars, are not bad investments.

I said:

While taking out loans for the education itself are becoming more and more neccessary due to the high inflation rates of the costs of upper level education...

In relative terms a tuba is cheap. I am taking out student loans right now for my MBA. I know the advantages of student loans. I also know the advantages of paying for things like tubas in cash.

How many student musicians do you know who own their own marimba or $15K bows? If you are a professional, then that is your responsibility to own your own tools, but a student, who has little to no track record of success or a guaranteed lifestyle to accomidate payment of these loans should examine all of their choices closely before taking out the loan.

I have a friend who is getting married. He and his future wife are exiting school with $60k plus in student loans including loans for less expensive horns that a tuba. They will not be able to afford a house for 5-10 years because they will be making a mortgage payment worth of loan payments instead.

A few thousand when exiting school isn't bad. Tens of thousands is. On top of that, schooling is no guarantee that you will have a great job upon exiting. It is better insurance that you may, but no guarantee.

When I exit school, I am looking at $24K worth of loans. That is just to cover books and classes. I would not have done this had my wife not have a great job with a high level of security to go along with great pay. An individual student is taking a much higher risk and may only have his/her parents to fall back on. If they can't afford it and the student defaults on these loans, now he/she has a bad credit rating for many years to come.

Unfortunately, a high reliance on credit options is why there are so many in bankruptcy court nowadays.

If you can work and save to buy the tuba, then do it. If you have no other options then take the loan, but be aware of the implications involved when signing on the dotted line.

Matthew Gilchrest wrote: If you decide to change majors or not use the instrument after college, you will be making payments on something for 10 years you don't have.

If you decide to stop playing the tuba one day, you can always sell the instrument and pay off your loan. If you purchase a high quality instrument, especially a used one, and take good care of it, it’s likely that it will retain its value.

One interesting option for people with Federal Loans and low income is the income dependent payment plan, which adjusts the size of your monthly payment depending on how much you make... and, as silly as it sounds, after paying on this plan for a long time (I forget the number, 30-years?) if you still have not paid it off by then, I think they just let you stop paying.

Of course, borrowing money can be a bad idea if you tend to be financially irresponsible. Or even if it just makes you feel bad to borrow, then it’s just not worth it.

tubalawlisa wrote:I am facing about $22K a year in tuition for law school...

Yikes! I know what you mean...I borrowed about the same per year tuition for medical school. Anyway, my opinion is this: you only live once, and if you're going to try to make a career in music, then go for it and borrow to buy the horn. SunTrust bank (out of Atlanta, I believe) has loans tailored to different professions. I got a private loan a while back that was marketed towards medical residents. I also consolidated my student loans with them. Check them out, they may tailor loans for other professions as well.

Take it from a guy who has absolutely been in your shoes. Sallie Mae has a loan called the "Tuition Answer Loan" it covers all of your other expenses outside of tuition/housing. I believe that you can borrow up to 40K a year. Hope this helps!

I used these guys about 4 years ago.

http://www.cfsloans.com/index.cfm?bhcp=1

Was quick and easy and the check was sent out in a couple of days. I believe you could get up to $30,000 which I do not recommend of course unless you need it.

UTTuba_09 wrote:Take it from a guy who has absolutely been in your shoes. Sallie Mae has a loan called the "Tuition Answer Loan" it covers all of your other expenses outside of tuition/housing. I believe that you can borrow up to 40K a year. Hope this helps!

And graduating as a tuba performance major, how would one expect to pay back 40k / year of loans???

To add to Bove's Post(income dependent plan)

If you have not paid off the balance of your loans after 25 years, the amount is forgiven, but you are taxed on it.

MartyNeilan wrote:

UTTuba_09 wrote:Take it from a guy who has absolutely been in your shoes. Sallie Mae has a loan called the "Tuition Answer Loan" it covers all of your other expenses outside of tuition/housing. I believe that you can borrow up to 40K a year. Hope this helps!

And graduating as a tuba performance major, how would one expect to pay back 40k / year of loans???

No worries mate

When I was in *engineering* school I used a student loan to buy a piano. But I was pretty sure of a decent job afterwards to pay it off. (came true, thankfully.)

When I was in *music* school I worked graveyard shift in a restuarant to avoid loans, and it was a good thing I didn't get loans, because a good-paying job did not materialize; regional orchestra + teaching studio + bar gigs did not cut it for income, which was why the engineering school happened 10 years later.

Just be sure you can pay it off.

MA

I dealt with the money problem by getting one of those tubas that come with a kitchenette and shower stall. That way I can just live in my tuba: no rent or mortgage to pay. Just look for a tuba parked at your local KOA campground.

Gotta love those threads dredged up from 2004. They seem to travel in packs.

Good idea bloke.

Sou

whoa there, lets stop for a minute.

If we look back to the FIRST post, nowhere does it say that he isn't working, just that he is considering using extra student loan money to buy a tuba. This ties in with tubaphore's post. You DON'T know this person's schedule, you have no clue what this person does, you don't know how much money his parents has, how much he makes, what he does, or a whole bunch of other things that the readers of tubenet have not taken into consideration, AND, if he is a tuba performance major then it WOULD make sense for him to have a tuba earlier on so he WOULD have a better chance to get a job. sure, he saved up for a tuba and now he has no clue how to use it, great!

Also, especially in a major like tuba performance where the degree doesn't really mean anything, you want to come away from college having LEARNED something, this requires countless hours practicing, studying, listening, etc. and alot of that is lost in having a job while at college.

Not to say your opinion is wrong, I just think that being as offensive (not as in something I find politically incorrect, but in the sense of attacking) as this previous post may have been a step too far.

Bo "has a job, is getting student loans, and is a tuba performance major" Atlas

Since this thread is several years old, I wonder how things actually worked out, for the original poster......?

While this may seem rude, I have done many jobs in my half century. One of the CVs I used to get work here in Vietnam listed every job I had (that lasted more than a month--we won't talk about the job I had working for a feed store).

Eighteen is considered adult. Adults need to earn money. Loans will be paid by money you will never see. If you work while you are in college, you might get a better job--if your dreams of a musical career don't work out!

I don't consider being a student a job unless it pays me. The only time that ever happened for me was when I was at the Armed Forces School of Music, but then my title was Soldier.

Correct me if I'm wrong, Bill, but I believe you were paid to be a student at the Armed Forces School of Music.

I also spent some time there. Looking back, that was probably the easiest job I ever had in my life. Primarily, I played in 2-3 bands per day(an hour each) and practiced as much as I wanted. I had iron chops thanks to that. I lived off post and went home at the end of the school day. My level of responsibility was extremely simple. Of course, there were the few times I had had to walk up and down the third floor hall making certain that no terrorists or other bad people threatened our student way of life, but being the strong man that I was, I could handle that. The pay wasn't particularly good, but I was paid to be a student.

It seems to me that in this thread we have been arguing over not much of anything. How one chooses to fund college should probably be their own business. Personally, I don't favor the government doing it, but that's just my own opinion. Whether one wishes to call college a job or not is just a matter of one's choice of words. It may not be their job, but it is their responsibility. This is much like a job, anway. I'm not sure why some have chosen to make this such a combative thread. Surely there are more important things to argue about(or at least more interesting). And, yes Bug, I know I shouldn't call you Shirley.

TubaRay wrote: Surely there are more important things to argue about(or at least more interesting).

Yeah, like is cork or neoprene a better material for spit valves?

Haven't decided if resurrecting this thread was a stealth troll or just stupidity.

Jim "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Wagner