Anyone else NOT planning to pay for college?

[K&Rs Mom]

Okay, another spin-off:

Dh's parents paid his whole undergrad, including repaying ROTC after he dropped out in year 2. My mom gave me an allowance every month, but the rest I was expected to take care of with scholarships, loans, and working. We have decided to go with the second option for our dc, but it seems to be pretty much expected in our culture that parents are supposed to pay for college.

 

IMO, college students are not children - that's why we allow them to live away from home for 9 months of the year. Mine are still young, so I'm speaking from a theoretical place at this time, and just wondered what other thoughts were out there on this....

[JennifersLost]

We're paying for half and expect them to get scholarships or flat-out pay for the other half. We may extend loans to them, but we will expect them to be paid off, too.

[elegantlion]

Our son certainly won't get a free ride. We don't make enough money for that to be even feasible. I suspect he will have to rely on scholarships, loans and even working. ROTC is not out of the question either.

 

I do hope we are able to provide some spending and living money, but a lot of the financial responsibility will be on his shoulders.

[Call Me Cordelia]

If I had it I would help or even pay all, depending on the focus and maturity of the child. We don't have a penny saved, for college or retirement (and my husband is 55!)

 

I figure if my ds lives at home, works and maybe attends pt, he will have enough saved for his last two years or can continue living at home.

 

I don't know yet whether my dd's will attend college. Ds should - he's very bright, but as yet we have no clear direction.

 

At times I think we're idiots to have chosen the lifestyle we have. I didn't work ft until this year and now the hours I want limit my job choice. This is so that I can still hs.

 

But I don't think it will hurt him to work through school.

[Ellie]

My dds graduated before the Internet (and before that IRS thingie where you can set money aside--not that there was any extra money to set aside). and it was much more difficult to research scholarships :-( Both dds graduated from community colleges (which in California are *very* reasonbly priced); older dd also went to cosmetology school, graduated from there, and worked as a hair stylist while finishing her degree at a state college (which was also very reasonably priced). (Younger dd chose not to go to a state college for a variety of reasons.)

 

Neither dh nor I come from families where it is common for parents to pay for their dc's college (in fact, none of our parents and most our cousins didn't go to college at all).

[kokotg]

We have a scholarship program paid for through lottery money in GA, so I'm hoping that will still be around and we won't need to pay for college (it covers tuition, fees, and books (at least last I checked, which is when I was in college) at in-state public schools. If they want to go out of state or private, they'll need to figure out how to pay for it). My husband is a public high school teacher, and we have three kids (with 4 1/2 years between the oldest and youngest, so there'll be a lot of time where 2 are in college at once), so whether to pay for college ourselves or not likely won't be a choice for us. As far as what I would WANT to do, I think it's reasonable for kids to work part time while in college and to work hard and try to get scholarships, but I very much hope we're in a position to help out enough that our boys don't have to get loans. I had scholarships and DH had parents who paid for everything, so neither of us has had to deal with loans at all. I see a lot of people my age really, really struggling financially, despite making more money than we do, because of student loans.

[Elisabeth in IL]

I paid for my own college and we are paying for my dh to finish his education now. While we don't plan to pay for our sons college, because we don't have the funds at this point, I will do whatever I can to support and help them.

[Mrs. H.]

MFS over at Mental Multivitamin has written several excellent posts about this very subject, so hopping over there to check them out might be good.

 

I qualified for a full academic scholarship that included tuition, book, room and board, and an extra $600 per semester (that went towards gas, and I lived at home). Dh worked enough during his summer and holiday breaks to pay for tuition and books, and lived at home as well. When we got married, I quit school to be a mom/part-time daycare teacher, and dh still had a couple of years to go. Being married qualified him for a grant, and he worked weekends to pay for rent, food, etc. He graduated undergraduate school with no debt.

 

Law school was where the debt came in. By then dh was 26, had been married 2 years, and was a father. His law school wouldn't allow their first year students to work at all, so I worked full time at a daycare, and we took out a student loan. Dh worked from his second year on, full time, and went to school, too. I quit for good when I got pregnant with #3, during dh's 3rd year. Dh's parents didn't help us out financially, except to loan us the money for our first home down payment (which was quickly repaid), and to occasionally gift us with clothes or shoes for the kids, but none of this was expected.

 

We plan to fund our children's education until they are either 18 or until they graduate high school, whichever comes last. If they finish all their high school course work at 16, we will continue two years of homeschool in higher courses related to their choice of future track...to help them clep out of many early college classes and receive credit. We might even entertain the option of sending them to community college, which is less expensive, to earn several credits before they are 18.

 

We intend to encourage them to do all their undergraduate work at one of three local colleges within driving distance of our home, all of which are excellent. They can live at home for free, work for their tuition, books, and gas money, or hopefully earn scholarships. This is easy in our state, it has a built in program to encourage students to go to college here instead of leaving. They can also work during the summers and holiday breaks to earn money towards a graduate school education if they pursue that course, or they can look for fellowships and ways to get their tuition paid for after school. Dh would even recommend joining the military to get school paid for if there weren't a war going on at the time.

 

Saying that you won't pay for college is not saying that you won't help at all or that the kid is 'on his own' now.

[Quiver0f10]

Our children will be paying their own way through. We hope they get scholarships, but will be taking student loans to pay the remainder.

[Jenny in Atl]

At this point (with lots of life getting in the way of best laid plans) we will wing it. If there is a will, there's a way. :001_unsure: Right?

[Marie in Oh]

the child's goals, maturity, drive, etc. We will have some money to help, but it isn't a given that we will pay for it all. They will work and help earn it, either with scholarships or a job.

[Gamom3]

We don't make enough to pay for it.

We have told him he will have to apply for Grants, Loans and the Hope Scholarship.

[Mrs Mungo]

I paid for my own college. However, I had to work 50+ hours a week to do it and I took a heavy and difficult course load. I couldn't get financial aid or student loans because my parents refused to give any of their financial information. I was exhausted and dropped out in my senior year because I just could not do it anymore. I was at a point where I didn't have enough hours in the day. I couldn't attend study groups, work groups or in some cases labs because I worked so much. I wound up failing my third year of Russian because I didn't have enough hours in the week to attend 10 hours worth of language labs a week.

 

My husband received a scholarship to go through an accelerated ROTC program and was commissioned with his associate's. His parents paid for his last two years as far as his classes went but not his living expenses. He received some GI Bill and was paid as a 2nd LT in the National Guard while finishing school. He still had to work 40-50 hours per week (both of us were paid under the table for those extra hours and didn't get paid overtime or anything) and worked from 4-midnight. He managed to finish but he took the easiest classes possible so that he didn't have to study. His goal wasn't an education, it was a piece of paper.

 

So, our intent is to help our kids as much as possible. I don't want them living on easy street and partying their college years away but I don't want them to have to struggle as much as my husband and I had to. I want them to be able to pursue an education, study and make good grades.

 

eta: My mom is constantly harping on the fact I didn'tquite finish my degree even though I had less than 10 hours to finish. I find it really annoying since she did nothing to help me with school. I was also living at home at the time, I missed part of a midterm once because I had to pick one of my sisters up from school because she was sick. I lived with my grandmother part of one year to help take care of her while she was sick and dying from cancer. So, if you put a ton of responsibility on your kids and don't help them with school please do not hold it over their heads later if they don't manage to finish.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

We are fully funding our own retirement so we won't be a burden to our children. They can get scholarships, loans and/or jobs to pay for college. We can't get scholarships, loans or jobs to pay for our retirement.

 

During K-12, we do the best we can to support their education. Whether it be lessons or outsourced classes. Like many here, we are a one-income family and there isn't much left over for extras. My kids understand our finances. They know that a full ride via Mom & Dad is unrealistic.

 

When my homeschooling days are over, if they are in college and I am working, I will offer them some help, as much as I can after I've funded my retirement of course.

 

K

[HootyTooty]

I sort of fit into this camp. A few years ago, I decided I would set aside enough money for my kids. I would let them earn their way through college through their own way. When they graduated, I would give them what money I have saved to offset any loans they need to pay off. If they don't go to college, then me and my dh keep the money for a rainy day. I'm still working out the kinks, but that is my bare bones plan.

 

Also I wouldn't tell my kids I had this money for them.

[Sarah CB]

We could afford to put them through college but we are choosing not to. Our eldest is 12 and already saves 50% of what she earns for college. She began saving this year and already has $300 for college. We want them to understand from an early age that college is important and valuable. They will save 50% of all earnings until they are able to pay for their own schooling. We have a fantastic university in town so they'll be encouraged to live at home (free room and board) while they pursue their education.

 

Dh put himself through undergrad and the experience was hard but worthwhile. He took out student loans for law school because he wanted more time to study but he found that because he didn't have to work he ended up not managing his time as well so he probably studied less and then ended up with thousands of dollars in loans to pay off, too. No one wants to start a family and already be thousands of dollars in debt.

[Jeanne in MN]

so I was on my own. Looking at my experience compared to friends whose parents paid for much of their education, I say I came out ahead.

 

I knew how to save everything I made. I didn't order pizza with people, or go out to the movies or out to eat. I didn't buy University sweatshirts or t-shirts. Didn't have stereo and cd's, tv, mini fridge, etc.. I was *very* frugal. I worked hard and spent wisely, applied for financial aid, grants, scholarships, loans, etc. I walked out of 5 years of college, and a trip to Wales, Great Britain with only $3000 in loans. I am very proud of that. It taught me a lot about managing money, being an adult and that college degree is mine.

 

I have friends whose parents paid for everything or a great deal. They gave their kids credit cards to use and would pay them off for their kids. Two friends that married were a financial mess their first years because they had so much in loans to pay off and they couldn't get bills paid. They had no idea how to manage that money once they were on their own. It was really sad.

 

Not to mention the kids who would skip classes because they were tired and didn't feel like going. I figured if I was paying for it, I was going to get everything coming to me and attend all my classes.

 

I want my kids to take ownership of their education-to value it and take pride in it.

 

The thing that concerns me, though, is I've looked at the cost of a year of education at my alma matre and it's twice what it was when I attended. So my kids would have twice the amount of money to earn and pay has not gone up equivocally. Will need to evaluate that.

 

We'll also have three kids in college at the same time and I don't have much for retirement either. Lots to think about!

 

Jeanne

[Jenny in Florida]

My daughter started college this year through an early entrance program. We certainly had not planned on having her go quite so soon and had very little in savings to help with the costs. However, it is clear that this is the right thing for this child, so we are scraping to hold up our end.

 

She got a scholarship that covers about half of her tuition, room and board. She is too young to work, even through the work study program, and I am determined that she will not burden herself with debt. So, we are paying as much as we can out of pocket and have taken a loan to cover the rest. The program she is in is the only one of its kind in the country, so shopping around for better prices or having her go to school locally were not options. We have told her, however, that she will have to pay for graduate school on her own.

 

Given that we are going to these lengths for our daughter, I don't think it would be fair to turn around and tell our son that we won't help him when it is his turn. So, we will, again, do as much as we can manage for him when the time comes.

 

--Jenny

[KristineIN]

Mine was not paid for, we just finished paying off my loans last year. Dh had a free ride from his parents and he never graduated, wasted much money. I think I would help pay for community college and go from there. Dh's parents have money market accounts for two of my children, the last one, one was not set up, I don't think it was intentional, I just could never bring myself to ask. I think dh's dad asked for Caleb's soc number at one point to set it up, but time went by and I never said anything. If we ever come into money because of a lost loved one, I'd probably set one up. The accounts are intended to help with college.

 

Kristine

[melissel]

We have a 529 currently and are saving a little bit each month toward college. We expect to help as much as we can, and they'll have to find ways to cover the rest.

[ereks mom]

...we feel that the responsibility of funding a college education should rest with the one who is getting the education. We've seen too many college kids who went to school on "Daddy's money" and didn't take college seriously. It's a sad truth that when people have nothing invested in a venture they usually don't care how it turns out. They don't realize the value of money or an education. But a kid who works to put himself through school KNOWS. He appreciates it more when he's had to work for it.

 

Dh & I both worked our way though college, and graduated with only $600 worth of college loans to pay back. (It probably would have been $0 worth of loans if I had been able to work that one semester when I was student-teaching.) By paying for college ourselves, we took OWNERSHIP of our educations. We accomplished something ON OUR OWN that was worth working for. We learned something about setting goals and achieving them without having to rely on our parents. Talk about gaining maturity!! :)

 

Fast-forward to today...

There's no way we could afford to finance our dc's college educations. We have NO savings and our income is unpredictable. (We sacrificed a lot when I put my teaching degree to work educating only my own children!) ER has known for a long time that his college education is his responsibility. He knows that he has to either a) make the grades & get the scholarships, or b) work to put himself through school, or c) some combination of a) & b).

[Carmen_and_Company]

Taz's job was to apply for scholarships & participate in scholarship competitions to help lower the cost of school. He also works a part-time job & puts 1/2 of that money away. We also began saving for college from infancy and have muture savings bonds that will defray some of the costs. So far, we have a scholarship offer on the table that will cover almost $30k--leaving a balance of about $8k that is the cost of housing & his meal plan. So if he pays a good portion, our whole family is willing to help with the balance.

[Kim in Appalachia]

but we have 5 kids, and college is so expensive. (side note, we do save for retirement. as my mom says, you can take loans out for school but not for retirement). I will encourage my dc to not go into debt for ungrad, but rather work as well as going to a state school or to a school that provides a lot of help. We will probably help out with the living expenses.

 

There are a lot of options out there, and if a person really wants that education he/she will find a way.

[amy g.]

We aren't paying for it either.

 

I'm giving up my career, and the money I could be earning to give my children the best childhood I can imagine now.

 

We just had a history lesson on the front lawn, in the hammock with the baby goat frolicking around us, and the baby blowing bubbles. In my book, it just doesn't get any more fun than that!

 

We pay for expensive camps and private lessons by sacrificing our own desires. It is what we want to do, and what we choose to do. Their childhood is our responsibility.

 

I see college and their adulthood as their own. They have the right to choose anything legal they want to do, and they have the responsibility to pay for it themselves.

 

We will pay at least 2 years at community college before they turn 18. After that, we will give them room and board while they are in college. Dh wants to pay for their books and give them cash for Christmas, birthdays, Valentine's Day, Easter, MLK day, Presidents day... Well, you get the picture.

 

I know that the situation is different today, but Dh and I both paid our own way through school, and we think that part of it was every bit as important as the rest of the education we received.

[...................]

to the tune of a couple hundred per month each. (whatever I can earn part time after they graduate.)

 

If our kids get scholarships (which hopefully they will if I persevere with a rigorous classical education) then they can go.

 

If not, community college here they come!!

 

We would probably encourage our dd to go for nursing, and our ds to go for sysco certifications and microsoft certifications, and a general AA in case he wanted to go further later on.

 

But hopefully they'll both get scholarships to good colleges. And they can use work studies to pay off a little bit of college, too.

 

Ideally, they will be able to dual enroll and /or graduate early and get a year or two of college under their belts before they're 18.

[rafiki]

.

[KIN]

I want to do all I can to ensure that my dc don't start out with a large loan when they start their adult life. I think that if I train them to know how to use money wisely that it can only help them to start out debt free. Our children should be able to attend college mostly funded by us and their own savings and appreciate it and not take it for granted. Those of us that didn't appreciate our "full rides" given by our parents may not have been trained to realize the opportunity for what it was - a chance to start out ahead in life, not behind.

 

I've seen many families who struggle with college debt for years, or struggle to finish college after they have families - it does help them learn to be frugal, but it puts considerable strain on marriages and families. I hope my children do not have to start with that kind of a burden. I also love what the lady said in the thread below about what they have given up in order to fund their dc education - they don't have cable, cell phones for their kids and more. So often we feel we have to have all of these "things", but then can't afford to save for our retirement or kids' college. I'm really not judging those who spoke up in this thread AT ALL, I'm speaking to myself as well. It is very easy for me to get caught up in wanting or thinking I have to have something, when I really don't, and could save the money for my kids. For instance, I have several things I'd love to do with our "stimulus check" - new flooring, dh would like a new, large TV, Lasix for myself and on and on. What I think we will end up doing - putting it in savings for either the kids' 529's or our future car savings. :)

 

O.K., I'm getting sidetracked here! LOL! What I want to challenge us in - is not to believe that if our dc get loans and pull themselves through college on their own will make our kids appreciate or do better at college. It may make strains in their life that could last many, many years. Now, this is all just my humble opinion! :tongue_smilie:

[mcconnellboys]

We hope to pay for as little of our son's college as possible, LOL! My husband may make him take out student loans for dollars over and above any scholarships so that he realizes the amount hanging over his head. We may ultimately pay those off, if he does well, but dh wants him to know the amount of any debt he's accrued.

 

Regena

[JFSinIL]

only what we have too, according to the financial aid office, and that AFTER we go in and tell our story of having to fund a disabled kid all his life, and expenses for same that prevented any kind of savings for college (much less retirement savings for us.) DS will enter college the same year that hubby pays off his last student loan, too. Kids (aside from son with autism, obviously) had best earn themselves some merit scholarships based on grades, etc. hate to see them saddled with huge loans for anything less than medical school.;)

[6packofun]

I paid for my own college. However, I had to work 50+ hours a week to do it and I took a heavy and difficult course load. I couldn't get financial aid or student loans because my parents refused to give any of their financial information. I was exhausted and dropped out in my senior year because I just could not do it anymore. I was at a point where I didn't have enough hours in the day. I couldn't attend study groups, work groups or in some cases labs because I worked so much. I wound up failing my third year of Russian because I didn't have enough hours in the week to attend 10 hours worth of language labs a week...

 

...So, if you put a ton of responsibility on your kids and don't help them with school please do not hold it over their heads later if they don't manage to finish.

 

I agree and had a similar experience here. I think of how extremely difficult it would be for me as a responsible adult now to have a job and go to school full-time and give my education the best that I could. It was so hard to feel like I had to choose between being exhausted and eking out a way to stay in college or feeling like a total failure for dropping out for a season.

 

My season out included getting married and having 6 kiddos. LOL!!

 

But I have similar intentions of doing as much as I can for our children while they are young adults still learning how to manage life. Will they have to work some of the time and take out loans? Probably. But whenever we can, we'll help them with books or room & board and, most importantly, with advice all along the way about how to manage their money wisely.

 

We're doing that training now, of course, but once you're in the thick of really being ON YOUR OWN, it is scary and huge! I remember feeling like, "I am an honor student...how can I feel so UNprepared for all of this when I was so independent and responsible in high school??" LOL Very different! And many times I was too ashamed to call home and ask for help or advice...I don't want my kids to ever feel like they need to suddenly have it all together once they walk out my door. *sniff sniff* ;)

[Amy loves Bud]

Well, I have a plan that I hope will work. We expect our children to pay for their first semester of college completely on their own. We will be working with them through high school to encourage saving for this expense. In fact we are already working with them on it to the extent that we require a certain amount of gifts and allowance to be put in long term savings. We will reimburse their expenses after they complete that first semester successfully, thus giving them money for the next semester. We'll continue to do this for as long as they want to go to college up through the completion of an undergraduate degree.

 

I would not put paying for college above funding retirement, but we are doing well enough to save for both at this point.

 

I think the generalizations are too sweeping with regard to this topic. You pay and they don't take it seriously, you don't pay and they can't focus because they have to work too much. I do believe it is dependent on the individual, but I hope our plan will throw in an added incentive to do well.

[Harriet Vane]

Dh's parents paid for his entire college education. Dh used his time well, had good study habits, and had a full and happy social life. If I could figure out what his parents did right (other than being the wonderful people they are) and do exactly the same for my kids, that would be priceless.

 

By contrast, I had absolutely NO ONE helping me with college or with high school for that matter. I was dirt poor absolutely all the time, and very fortunate to attend a challenging private high school. I paid for most of my high school education myself--my youth pastor helped pay quite a bit (I never requested it either--they helped because they found out what I was doing and just wanted to help, dear dear friends that they are) and I was given a generous financial aid package. College was a similar story. I had a wonderful scholarship that took care of the bulk of my expenses, and I worked (hard!) to pay the rest myself. Like dh, I had a really good school experience.

 

I expect my children to contribute as much as they can to their college education. This will include getting a job in high school and saving for college. When you buy something yourself, you are more likely to value it and take care of it. Frankly, I saw too many people waste their parents' money in college. I would like to prevent that lifestyle of entitlement if at all possible.

 

On the other hand, I have friends who are still paying off their college debt at nearly forty years old. By contrast, dh and I paid off what little I had in school debt within our first year of marriage. We have sooooo appreciated our financial freedom. I hate to think of my kids starting life with crushing debt. This was brought home to me especially when I ran into a young woman who used to babysit for me occasionally. She has finished med school and is starting her residency, and already owes $100,000!!!! She's still in her 20s!?!? That's one debt load I would like my kids NOT to experience.

 

So for us the bottom line is that we expect our kids to contribute a significant amount to their college fund to give them a sense of ownership and because it's freakin' expensive! On the other hand, we will help significantly because it seems counter-productive to start life with crushing debt.

[Cricket]

I'm sure we will help as much as we can but we will expect them to work and pay as well. I went to a private college (about $12-14,000 a year--probably cheap compared to today's rates). My parents made very little so I got lots of financial aid as well as scholarships and I worked. I still graduated with about $13,000 worth of student loans to pay back. I was young and stupid! I regret that very much. I wish I had worked harder, gone to a cheaper school and graduated with no loans. Hopefully we can keep our dc from making the same mistake.

[Mrs Mungo]

Well, I have a plan that I hope will work. We expect our children to pay for their first semester of college completely on their own. We will be working with them through high school to encourage saving for this expense.

<snip>I think the generalizations are too sweeping with regard to this topic. You pay and they don't take it seriously, you don't pay and they can't focus because they have to work too much. I do believe it is dependent on the individual, but I hope our plan will throw in an added incentive to do well.

 

Just speaking for myself, I was trying not to generalize. I was speaking just to my own situation. For what it's worth, it was reasonable the first two years to work and go to school. I took 18 hours of classes every semester and it still didn't cause me *too* much distress. However, the higher level classes I was taking my senior year required more work than I had hours in the week due to my job. That's just a fact.

 

As I said, we'll help our kids out as much as we can. We have 529 plans for each of them that we've been putting aside off and on since they were infants. That doesn't mean we won't expect them to contribute.

[Amy loves Bud]

Just speaking for myself, .

 

 

Oh, I know that! I was responding in general to the topic, and not to your particular take on it. I've seen this topic come up from time to time and the generalizations fly. But I don't really think there is one right answer - it comes down to the family and the kid.

[Karenciavo]

We put aside a little each month for the older two, haven't gotten around to it for ds5 yet. They contribute as well from gift money and work. They will each have at least one year saved before college and hopefully they will get some scholarships.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Okay, another spin-off:

Dh's parents paid his whole undergrad, including repaying ROTC after he dropped out in year 2. My mom gave me an allowance every month, but the rest I was expected to take care of with scholarships, loans, and working. We have decided to go with the second option for our dc, but it seems to be pretty much expected in our culture that parents are supposed to pay for college.

 

IMO, college students are not children - that's why we allow them to live away from home for 9 months of the year. Mine are still young, so I'm speaking from a theoretical place at this time, and just wondered what other thoughts were out there on this....

 

We can't pay tuition, but we'll pay room and board until they're 19, then as much of room and board as we can after that for undergrad.

 

Scholarships, working, small loans, or indentured servitude (which is how I'm paying for my nursing degree) are the order of the day in our house.

[pixelroper]

official story- at 18 dd gets a peanut butter sandwich and hug before she goes out the door, unofficial story: if dd applies herself, gets excellent grades and we see she needs a hand- dh will probably try to do something to help. If more dc are in the plan for us it may all change. I paid for 90% of my college, it wasn't always easy but I survived.

[Dayle in Guatemala]

We aren't planning on it, because we just can't afford it. But, we are committed to helping them with what we can. In other words, they won't go hungry, they will have clean laundry, and the occasional care package will show up for them. They also can live at home as long as they are pursuing their education with a goal in mind.

 

We didn't have help for our college education and we made it okay. It was tough, but, it helped our character and we learned to appreciate what we have!

[3littlekeets]

My kids will get 50% off tuition at the large state school where I work. I will happily pay the remainder of tuition. Fraternity houses, residential colleges, etc... on them.

[Kelli in TN]

We simply cannot fund college for six kids. It is not a possibility. They know that they must figure it out.

 

Our first child got enough scholarship that we were able to scrape up the remainder. We also bought his books and his meal plan. We would transfer money to his checking account when he needed it and we made sure he always had money in his bookstore account.

 

Our second child was kind enough to earn a full tuition scholarship. She also has a state scholarship that pays for her dorm, including her meal plan. We pay for her books and give her a weekly allowance for gas and makeup.

 

The rest are still at home, but they are taught that they have to find a way to fund their own schooling. We will help, but we are in no position to foot the bill.

[Nestof3]

So far, our oldest has saved up enough to pay for a local university or a local community college + university. He plans to go local so that he can still live at home. He has worked with Dad (who is self-employed) for quite a few years. We used to require him to save half, then he decided to save 3/4. Now he saves more than that.

 

We do require him to pay for his car insurance, but we take care of his other needs. He spends his own money on wants (which he keeps to a minimum), but I like to surprise the boys with things from time to time too.

 

I think college students appreciate it much more when they have to work for it. So many of us -- whose parents paid for it (I'm one of those) -- didn't fully appreciate it.

[*anj*]

Dh works at a major university. If he continues to work there, our children will get free tuition to whichever college they choose. It's a very nice deal, I know. As for the rest of the costs, we will give some money and we expect our college students to raise the rest of the funds. We are committed to a debt free lifestyle, and are trying to teach our children the same thing, so we are encouraging them to earn money, win scholarships/grants, etc. to pay for their education.

 

Both of our parents helped us attend college. We both had part time jobs to help as well. We did, however, take out student loans and spent the better part of 10 years repaying them.

 

Another option that we're considering with our kids is to encourage them to attend the community college for the first two years, then transfer to the state university to get their Bachelor's Degree. This would provide the best of both worlds: saving on the cost for the first two years, but they get their BA/BS from a major university.

 

We're trying to keep our (and their) options open at this point.

[CLHCO]

We just can't afford to at this point, though I'm not opposed to helping where I can if that changes when they reach college age.

 

I know we will be looking at reducing their time spent at college by testing out of some classes, taking them at the community college level, or even encouraging distance learning where possible.

 

I will ask them to work part time when possible during the year and full time in the summer. This is what I had to do for living expenses at least.

 

I advise them against taking out loans unless there is a very clear direction to their study and they have a plan for how it will be paid back. In other words, I don't really want my daughters to "find themselves" at college for 10 years then walk into a marriage with $60k in debt, to then raise children on that debt.

 

Since I know my older daughters have never had a drive for any high-powered career and would like to just have a family and maybe write stories, I think the distance learning is a fine choice. The post asking what my children want to be when they grow up would put them in the "I don't know" category. They have never liked that question and at almost 14, nothing has changed. My son is a different story. He's been planning all kinds of things from day one, most of them very lofty. It's in the personality so we'll probably push for having him save, go for scholarships and perhaps take out a loan if done wisely.

[Kris]

My Dad paid for my books my first semester of college. I think it came to about $65.00. Other than that, I was on my own.

 

We've always told my son that he will have to foot the bill, but we will help if we can. I worked full time while carrying a full load at school. The fact that I think he can do it, too, seems to horrify some of the people I talk to. I don't know why -- kids have been doing it for eons. I've been told if they don't have the time to party and go to football games, they aren't getting all of the college "experience." These are the same people that think my son is missing PS socialization, so that's how much I care what they think.

 

If we can help, we will, but it doesn't look too good right now. But I don't think people really appreciate anything that's just given to them, and I don't think this is any different.

[Sandy in Indy]

We just don't have the funds to pay for college...most of the time we're trying to figure out how to pay the bills around here!

 

DD is attending a private university...she got a nice academic scholarship and fed/state aid pick up the rest, including her books (which we bargain shop for on the the net). She lives at home. That's our contribution--we put a roof over her head.

 

DS is looking at pursuing a 6 year program (pharmacy). He knows it will be likely that he'll be in debt before he finishes. You can bet that I'll be helping him look for scholarships and other financial aid.

[Hannah C.]

My parents can't pay for college, so it's all on me. I am taking out more loans than I would like, but compared to the amount of debt people tend to get into in college it will hopefully be a very small amount. Also, I have excess loans right now which I will hopefully be able to pay back before I graduate! I would pay them back now but I'm hoping to go to Europe at some point. Most of my college is paid for by grants and an academic scholarship, which I am extremely grateful for.

 

Several people have mentioned that when you pay for your own education, you own it. I'm finding that to be very true. The fact that it's ALL on me makes me think a lot more about what I'm doing and why. And since I'm paying for it, I'm taking as much advantage of my education as I can!!

[3littlekeets]

Dh works at a major university. If he continues to work there, our children will get free tuition to whichever college they choose. It's a very nice deal, I know. As for the rest of the costs, we will give some money and we expect our college students to raise the rest of the funds. We are committed to a debt free lifestyle, and are trying to teach our children the same thing, so we are encouraging them to earn money, win scholarships/grants, etc. to pay for their education.

 

Both of our parents helped us attend college. We both had part time jobs to help as well. We did, however, take out student loans and spent the better part of 10 years repaying them.

 

Another option that we're considering with our kids is to encourage them to attend the community college for the first two years, then transfer to the state university to get their Bachelor's Degree. This would provide the best of both worlds: saving on the cost for the first two years, but they get their BA/BS from a major university.

 

We're trying to keep our (and their) options open at this point.

 

 

Wow! Any??? Or any in a certain group? I have friends at several Privates, and there is a consortium of choices for them. And, for me, it's just my state school:confused:. Other state Univ. often have reciprocity, etc within their system. I'm hoping to go to a consortium school at some point, but I love my university and our research facilities, etc. But, WOW, any school would be amazing! Edited: one friend also has a Univ. that will pitch in 1/2 at most accredited Universities. Gosh, I need to look at moving, LOL

[*anj*]

Wow! Any??? Or any in a certain group? I have friends at several Privates, and there is a consortium of choices for them. And, for me, it's just my state school:confused:. Other state Univ. often have reciprocity, etc within their system. I'm hoping to go to a consortium school at some point, but I love my university and our research facilities, etc. But, WOW, any school would be amazing! Edited: one friend also has a Univ. that will pitch in 1/2 at most accredited Universities. Gosh, I need to look at moving, LOL

Ooops, my mistake!

I just went and checked their website.

If our children attend that University they'll get 100% free tuition.

If they go to another college/Univ. they'll get 50% of their tuition paid for.

If they go to grad school at his Univ., they'll get something for that as well. It's still a great deal.

If we both worked for the University (at dh's level) and the children went to a different school, we could combine our 50% each and they'd have full coverage. That would be nice, eh?

 

I do feel a bit nervous that they have a disclaimer: "Policy can change at any time..."

 

I hope it doesn't change for the next 15 years anyway!

[Colleen]

No way would I pay outright for a young person to go straight from high school to a four-year university. If one or more of our boys chooses to attend college, we may offer support to an extent, but the majority of the financial burden will be their responsiblity. Beginning when they're age at or so, we pay our guys to work on the farm and the majority of that income goes into long-term savings. The older they get, more they earn ~ and save. Once they're graduated from high school, they can use that money however they see fit. They can also put effort toward earning scholarships, and make other wise financial decisions, e.g. earn credits at community college while in high school; choose a school that doesn't have the highest price tag, and work while attending school.