How to pay for college: specific scenario

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had cash to cover freshman year thanks to a one-time gift from a relative.

FAFSA gave us nothing due to our HHI, etc.

We cannot bring cash to the table for tuition for the next 3 years.

What’s the best way to handle this in terms of student loans or other loans?

Consider transferring to an in-state public university as tuition should be much lower.

While that would make sense financially, it’s not what the kid wants to do.

I’m playing mediator between kid and DH to gather facts and numbers to focus options and determine next steps.

So parent refuses to fund college at all? The kid doesn’t have a viable choice. Transferring to instate college is best option. If they are allowed to live free with you, they could find a job, work for a year and save, and transfer to instate college in a year to mitigate the loans. I would also look at how they can be considered separate from their parents since their parents are not paying.

You mean like getting married? Not many other options. But maybe if the kid threatens to get married it will put the fear of God into the dad who apparently wants to leave the kid in a lurch, lol.

[Anonymous]

Tap into retirement?

[Anonymous]

Is ROTC a possibility?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this isn’t a specific scenario. This is a totally common scenario of parents not planning. It’s just sad that the relative’s gift let you kick the can on admitting to your kid that you hadn’t been working toward a sufficient college fund and you have to only now pull the rug out from your kid.

Or they just don't make enough money to pay for college. The median income in the US is around 60k and not 200k like it is in DCUM fantasyland.

Why can't they join the military? It's not like you have to sign up for infantry. The majority of people I work with for the feds are former military. You get preferential treatment in the fed hiring process and your college is paid for. You might even get a security clearance out of the deal. Most of these guys didn't finish college and are making 150k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this isn’t a specific scenario. This is a totally common scenario of parents not planning. It’s just sad that the relative’s gift let you kick the can on admitting to your kid that you hadn’t been working toward a sufficient college fund and you have to only now pull the rug out from your kid.

Or they just don't make enough money to pay for college. The median income in the US is around 60k and not 200k like it is in DCUM fantasyland.

Why can't they join the military? It's not like you have to sign up for infantry. The majority of people I work with for the feds are former military. You get preferential treatment in the fed hiring process and your college is paid for. You might even get a security clearance out of the deal. Most of these guys didn't finish college and are making 150k.

If OP has a HHI of $60k/yr why are they getting $0 in aid from FAFSA?

[Anonymous]

We have money, and the plan was in-state tuition at the flagship (with CC and transferring in as the Plan B).

Generous relative threw a wrench into our (read: parents’) plan.

Kid opted to go out of state and loves it there, so now we are evaluating options.

While we can bring some cash to the table, we can’t cover everything…right now. (We will likely inherit some cash that we will use to help pay off student loans, but that will likely be a decade down the road).

I suppose I am wondering what the best options are in terms of loans and where to start.

House is worth $700k+ and we owe roughly $200k. Mortgage is low ($1700/month).

We won’t touch our retirement or investments. (We also both have pensions available down the road.)

[Anonymous]

The best options are federal loans, because they are the only loans you can enjoy any forgiveness/repayment plans on. I wouldn’t even think of taking out a home equity loan or retirement loan in your situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The best options are federal loans, because they are the only loans you can enjoy any forgiveness/repayment plans on. I wouldn’t even think of taking out a home equity loan or retirement loan in your situation.

I don’t think we qualify for federal loans based on HHI and investments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly this isn’t a specific scenario. This is a totally common scenario of parents not planning. It’s just sad that the relative’s gift let you kick the can on admitting to your kid that you hadn’t been working toward a sufficient college fund and you have to only now pull the rug out from your kid.

Or they just don't make enough money to pay for college. The median income in the US is around 60k and not 200k like it is in DCUM fantasyland.

Why can't they join the military? It's not like you have to sign up for infantry. The majority of people I work with for the feds are former military. You get preferential treatment in the fed hiring process and your college is paid for. You might even get a security clearance out of the deal. Most of these guys didn't finish college and are making 150k.

If OP has a HHI of $60k/yr why are they getting $0 in aid from FAFSA?

I have a HHI of 75k/yr and don't get any aid. If you have a halfway decent amount of money in a taxable account or investment property, no aid for you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have money, and the plan was in-state tuition at the flagship (with CC and transferring in as the Plan B).

Generous relative threw a wrench into our (read: parents’) plan.

Kid opted to go out of state and loves it there, so now we are evaluating options.

While we can bring some cash to the table, we can’t cover everything…right now. (We will likely inherit some cash that we will use to help pay off student loans, but that will likely be a decade down the road).

I suppose I am wondering what the best options are in terms of loans and where to start.

House is worth $700k+ and we owe roughly $200k. Mortgage is low ($1700/month).

We won’t touch our retirement or investments. (We also both have pensions available down the road.)

You really screwed up and are selfish. You overbought an expensive house and refuse to change your lifestyle. Kid has to drop out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have money, and the plan was in-state tuition at the flagship (with CC and transferring in as the Plan B).
Generous relative threw a wrench into our (read: parents’) plan.
Kid opted to go out of state and loves it there, so now we are evaluating options.
While we can bring some cash to the table, we can’t cover everything…right now. (We will likely inherit some cash that we will use to help pay off student loans, but that will likely be a decade down the road).
I suppose I am wondering what the best options are in terms of loans and where to start.
House is worth $700k+ and we owe roughly $200k. Mortgage is low ($1700/month).
We won’t touch our retirement or investments. (We also both have pensions available down the road.)

What are your investments for? Why won't you touch them?
It appears that you have assets to pay and are just choosing not to use them for your child's education based on an outdated perspective of the college landscape.

So to begin with you can (may?) come to the table with the equivalent of in-state tuition. So there needs to be a plan for the delta.
What is your child studying? Would they be in a position to get loan forgiveness in the future? If yes, I would start with Federal Loans as this makes your child understand that they are making a choice when they have a different (free?) option that they are turning down so they have skin in the game.
For the rest of the $, I would take pay using a HELOC as it appears that you have a lot of assets between the pensions, investments etc.
Finally - I would make your child commit to working over the summer and bringing cash to the table for their spending money at school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have money, and the plan was in-state tuition at the flagship (with CC and transferring in as the Plan B).

Generous relative threw a wrench into our (read: parents’) plan.

Kid opted to go out of state and loves it there, so now we are evaluating options.

While we can bring some cash to the table, we can’t cover everything…right now. (We will likely inherit some cash that we will use to help pay off student loans, but that will likely be a decade down the road).

I suppose I am wondering what the best options are in terms of loans and where to start.

House is worth $700k+ and we owe roughly $200k. Mortgage is low ($1700/month).

We won’t touch our retirement or investments. (We also both have pensions available down the road.)

You really screwed up and are selfish. You overbought an expensive house and refuse to change your lifestyle. Kid has to drop out.

?

We bought a $400k house that has appreciated in value over time. Our mortgage is $1,700.

Our kid isn’t screwed.

They can take out loans or transfer in-state.

We will help. We just can’t pay $50k+ each year to cover tuition, etc. outright.

If they live at home and commute to the state flagship, we could fully cover tuition. They just don’t want to. That’s what I’m dealing with currently.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have money, and the plan was in-state tuition at the flagship (with CC and transferring in as the Plan B).
Generous relative threw a wrench into our (read: parents’) plan.
Kid opted to go out of state and loves it there, so now we are evaluating options.
While we can bring some cash to the table, we can’t cover everything…right now. (We will likely inherit some cash that we will use to help pay off student loans, but that will likely be a decade down the road).
I suppose I am wondering what the best options are in terms of loans and where to start.
House is worth $700k+ and we owe roughly $200k. Mortgage is low ($1700/month).
We won’t touch our retirement or investments. (We also both have pensions available down the road.)

What are your investments for? Why won't you touch them?
It appears that you have assets to pay and are just choosing not to use them for your child's education based on an outdated perspective of the college landscape.

So to begin with you can (may?) come to the table with the equivalent of in-state tuition. So there needs to be a plan for the delta.
What is your child studying? Would they be in a position to get loan forgiveness in the future? If yes, I would start with Federal Loans as this makes your child understand that they are making a choice when they have a different (free?) option that they are turning down so they have skin in the game.
For the rest of the $, I would take pay using a HELOC as it appears that you have a lot of assets between the pensions, investments etc.
Finally - I would make your child commit to working over the summer and bringing cash to the table for their spending money at school.

Am I incorrect in thinking federal loans aren’t available to everyone?

HHI and investments preclude many of us from qualifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have money, and the plan was in-state tuition at the flagship (with CC and transferring in as the Plan B).

Generous relative threw a wrench into our (read: parents’) plan.

Kid opted to go out of state and loves it there, so now we are evaluating options.

While we can bring some cash to the table, we can’t cover everything…right now. (We will likely inherit some cash that we will use to help pay off student loans, but that will likely be a decade down the road).

I suppose I am wondering what the best options are in terms of loans and where to start.

House is worth $700k+ and we owe roughly $200k. Mortgage is low ($1700/month).

We won’t touch our retirement or investments. (We also both have pensions available down the road.)

What is your HHI and are there anymore children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have money, and the plan was in-state tuition at the flagship (with CC and transferring in as the Plan B).

Generous relative threw a wrench into our (read: parents’) plan.

Kid opted to go out of state and loves it there, so now we are evaluating options.

While we can bring some cash to the table, we can’t cover everything…right now. (We will likely inherit some cash that we will use to help pay off student loans, but that will likely be a decade down the road).

I suppose I am wondering what the best options are in terms of loans and where to start.

House is worth $700k+ and we owe roughly $200k. Mortgage is low ($1700/month).

We won’t touch our retirement or investments. (We also both have pensions available down the road.)

You really screwed up and are selfish. You overbought an expensive house and refuse to change your lifestyle. Kid has to drop out.

?

We bought a $400k house that has appreciated in value over time. Our mortgage is $1,700.

Our kid isn’t screwed.

They can take out loans or transfer in-state.

We will help. We just can’t pay $50k+ each year to cover tuition, etc. outright.

If they live at home and commute to the state flagship, we could fully cover tuition. They just don’t want to. That’s what I’m dealing with currently.

You let them go to this school. You have plenty of money and can afford it but don't want to. You have a pension, savings, and retirement and yet choose to save nothing for college. You set them up to fail. Sounds like you choose to live more comfortably and not make important things like college a priority. You're expecting others to pay failed.