Feeling stressed by college decision and finances

[Anonymous]

Can you talk real numbers on this anonymous forum?

How much do you have saved? What are the school choices and cost options each year? How much would your salaries be cut if one parent loses their job? How much can you “cash flow” each year? How much are you willing to take out private loans or go to community college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is going to community college. Not paying $30k+ for years 1 and 2.

Logical though I know many CC students who intend to get a bachelors get waylaid.

Yes, but typically those who get "waylaid" are not the students who picked CC simply for costs, but were on track in HS and planning for a 4 year college. They tend to be the kids without as much direction, who struggled in HS and likely would have struggled even more at a 4 year university.
But a kid who starts at CC simply because they want to minimize debt will most often go on and finish college

[Anonymous]

It’s hard to say without real numbers of how much you have set aside for college, and whether you have say a year of savings in an emergency fund. With an emergency fund of a year, I’d let the kid go where they wanted.

[Anonymous]

College Savings: Enough to pay for a bit more than a year at full pay OOS public

Income: Iffy job contributes 40% of HHI

Emergency Fund: Some recent expenses, can probably cover 4-5 months of total household budget