How do most middle to UMC families pay for college?

[Anonymous]

Things are returning to before Obama reformed student loans. Tuition is going to stay high but students who can't pay will have to take out supplemental private student loans with high interest rates and no protections.

[Anonymous]

Life in the donut hole is brutal. Oldest went to Honors College at state flagship (small scholarship), second went OOS with large merit scholarship. Who knows what the third will do.

[Anonymous]

We do pay as you go. Our kids didn't have a 529. We pay for our son $20k out of pocket and he has a $30k scholarship. So he is not in debt and we are not as well. He goes to a Top 30 public college. He is happy. We are happy. Our son said he would have gone to community college if he didn't have a scholarship because there was no way he would take debt to pay for college.

[Anonymous]

Folks a lot of state universities even the flagship ones are under $50k per year all cost included. You don't need to go to Stanford.

[Anonymous]

Sofi must have lobbied hard for these student loans reforms. They are potential winners here. The goal is to shift student loans to the private sector.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks a lot of state universities even the flagship ones are under $50k per year all cost included. You don't need to go to Stanford.

Even 50K is a lot of money to front for most of us families. And for 4 straight years. And most of us have more than 1 kid headed to college.
And it's on top of the other normal big expenses that burden us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Life in the donut hole is brutal. Oldest went to Honors College at state flagship (small scholarship), second went OOS with large merit scholarship. Who knows what the third will do.

What you mean is, life with three kids is brutal.

[Anonymous]

Because kids and parents are stupid is the problem. When I went to college a thousand years ago I was going cheapest college possible driving distance my house. Only requirement was price related. I viewed it as a commodity. School name was meaningless. I lived at home during college and had a year round job.

Once I got degree then get a job, do MBA part time at night from a name brand school. Had company pay for it.

And guess what I had no job hunting when graduated college. I was already working at a Fortune 500 company in college and just went to full time. And I had that company pay some credits too.

I got my undergrad and grad for free. I paid zero tuition either school. Got enough financial aid for tuition. But never would have got enough for room and board so stayed home.

It can still be done. Kids and parents just dont want to do it. But back in the 1970s Baruch, Pace, NYU, Fordham, St. John's in NYC were nearly all commuter students. In fact St. Johns, Pace and Baruch did not even have dorms back then! 100 percent of people lived at home and just commuted.

And in DMV my older neighbors in their 60s to 90s who are locals went to American University, Georgetown, UMD, GWU a lot lived at home. that alone is a huge reason college costs have gone up. People go away to school.

[Anonymous]

We told my kid what we could afford, and we looked at schools in that range. My kid went to a school that was $18k/yr. After his second year, he transferred to a local (and inexpensive) school and finished up living at home. After student loans and grant money, we paid the difference each semester. He came out owing $20k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because kids and parents are stupid is the problem. When I went to college a thousand years ago I was going cheapest college possible driving distance my house. Only requirement was price related. I viewed it as a commodity. School name was meaningless. I lived at home during college and had a year round job.

Once I got degree then get a job, do MBA part time at night from a name brand school. Had company pay for it.

And guess what I had no job hunting when graduated college. I was already working at a Fortune 500 company in college and just went to full time. And I had that company pay some credits too.

I got my undergrad and grad for free. I paid zero tuition either school. Got enough financial aid for tuition. But never would have got enough for room and board so stayed home.

It can still be done. Kids and parents just dont want to do it. But back in the 1970s Baruch, Pace, NYU, Fordham, St. John's in NYC were nearly all commuter students. In fact St. Johns, Pace and Baruch did not even have dorms back then! 100 percent of people lived at home and just commuted.

And in DMV my older neighbors in their 60s to 90s who are locals went to American University, Georgetown, UMD, GWU a lot lived at home. that alone is a huge reason college costs have gone up. People go away to school.

Agree. That was the golden age. Long gone.

[Anonymous]

I went to college in Ireland. Now I was more mature than the average boy at 18, so it reassured my parents. When I was looking for a job it didn't matter than I got my degree from a foreign country. I studied electrical engineering.

Your kids should consider Europe. Of course US universities are better, but they cost a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How the hell are people going to afford med school?

I worked in a hospital and interacted with a a lot of residents. Many from modest backgrounds joined the military to get med school paid for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I for the life of me do not understand how this country let college cost be determined by parent income. Middle class and UMC are in no more financial position to pay for college than those making 50-60k a year, unless those MC and UMC forewent houses, cars, etc. - which would undermine a large portion of the economy. The fact that the equity in my home is considered accessible to pay for college is ludicrous. The whole system is broken, very broken.

Agreed! Why do we, as a country, settle for this nonsense? Making education and healthcare a luxury is so dumb. We are about as prepared with elementary aged kids as we can be and it will still be a freaking miracle if our kids make it through undergrad debt-free.

[Anonymous]

My daughter already told me she will only go to a Top 5 college. I told her we can't afford it, she kind of rolled her eyes and pretty much told us to figure it out. She has good grades. Got perfect SAT score, taking AP calculus, physics and chemistry next year. She has as 4.05/4.0 GPA. I am not sure if the credentials will be enough for a Top 5. She does competitive dance for extracurricular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because kids and parents are stupid is the problem. When I went to college a thousand years ago I was going cheapest college possible driving distance my house. Only requirement was price related. I viewed it as a commodity. School name was meaningless. I lived at home during college and had a year round job.

Once I got degree then get a job, do MBA part time at night from a name brand school. Had company pay for it.

And guess what I had no job hunting when graduated college. I was already working at a Fortune 500 company in college and just went to full time. And I had that company pay some credits too.

I got my undergrad and grad for free. I paid zero tuition either school. Got enough financial aid for tuition. But never would have got enough for room and board so stayed home.

It can still be done. Kids and parents just dont want to do it. But back in the 1970s Baruch, Pace, NYU, Fordham, St. John's in NYC were nearly all commuter students. In fact St. Johns, Pace and Baruch did not even have dorms back then! 100 percent of people lived at home and just commuted.

And in DMV my older neighbors in their 60s to 90s who are locals went to American University, Georgetown, UMD, GWU a lot lived at home. that alone is a huge reason college costs have gone up. People go away to school.

Agree. That was the golden age. Long gone.

This is completely irrelevant to today. There are so many factors that made this viable for you that just don't exist today. For example, the average home price in the DMV was $75k in 1975. The investment cost for today's kids to strive for a middle class life is just a whole different beast now. It's not just "they are selfish and want to live at school."