What do you mean when you say you "can't afford" a college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We will contribute only the amount we saved by HS graduation, which will be more than enough for in-state public, enough for some less expensive OOS public schools, and maybe barely enough for the cheapest private Catholics. Four years at the typical private school is out of reach and we are not planning to spend any money out of pocket. DC is a pretty average student, so a non-flagship public school should be a good fit and won't break the bank, even if she goes out of state as currently planned.

You won't continue to add some during the college years? We have always included the college years in our savings plan for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For the average family earning between $30-65k, the net cost of attendance after all grants, scholarships, and discounts is about $23k. With some debt, a family might squeeze by paying 30% of their income for college, but 70% of income is just not possible for four years.

So interesting about the $23,000. Where is that figure from? We are a single-parent family with an income of about $85,000, and the financial aid for most schools DC is admitted to comes out to $23,000. That's including merit aid, but I'm subtracting out the federal loans and, for some, work study. It doesn't matter if they are private or state schools in other states. In-state, is just slightly cheaper. I was hoping we'd get a little more aid, but it is what it is. I did not allow DC to apply to private schools where I could tell there wouldn't be much scholarship/grant money available.

So to answer your question: We really can't afford these colleges. Is DC still going to one of them? Yup. I will have enough in a 529 to cover the first two years and then we are loan land. Yes, two years of community college would be a bit more fiscally responsible, but just felt too much like more high school to DC and I do worry about the low transfer rate to four-year colleges. Still hoping some private scholarships come through.

[Anonymous]

For us it means, we have enough in savings and current cash flow to pay for about $25K/year for our 2 kids. I think education debt is a bad idea when you can get a good undergrad education without it. DH and I both went to state schools, no debt, and have had good careers. So, I will not allow my kids to go into debt for a school that costs more than that. There are plenty of affordable options for them in VA. Also, an important factor is that DH will be 65 when our youngest is graduating college so raiding our retirement savings or taking out substantial personal loans would be stupid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We will contribute only the amount we saved by HS graduation, which will be more than enough for in-state public, enough for some less expensive OOS public schools, and maybe barely enough for the cheapest private Catholics. Four years at the typical private school is out of reach and we are not planning to spend any money out of pocket. DC is a pretty average student, so a non-flagship public school should be a good fit and won't break the bank, even if she goes out of state as currently planned.

You won't continue to add some during the college years? We have always included the college years in our savings plan for college.

Saving for college is probably the only thing that we've done right, financially. The kids' college years will mark the beginning of the "Oh crap, I am going to be eating generic cat food during retirement if I don't save more!" portion of my adulthood. I'm sure we'll outfit the dorm room/apartment and buy some necessities, but I'm not planning on paying tuition/room & board out of my paycheck once they're enrolled. (Plus, 529 accounts continue to earn during the school years).

[Anonymous]

Impact retirement savings.

[Anonymous]

OP, is it really impossible for you to imagine that the vast majority of the U.S. population lives paycheck to paycheck? Why such strange questions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For us it means, we have enough in savings and current cash flow to pay for about $25K/year for our 2 kids. I think education debt is a bad idea when you can get a good undergrad education without it. DH and I both went to state schools, no debt, and have had good careers. So, I will not allow my kids to go into debt for a school that costs more than that. There are plenty of affordable options for them in VA. Also, an important factor is that DH will be 65 when our youngest is graduating college so raiding our retirement savings or taking out substantial personal loans would be stupid.

I think this is what many parents are planning on. $25,000 per year for state school is a good plan, $65,000 a year for private is not.

[Anonymous]

I am willing to reduce retirement contributions (just enough to keep full co match) but would prefer not to take anything out of retirement funds. Honestly it will depend on the schools. My parents gave up a free college for me and struggled to pay for a much higher quality/better fit school. I think we all agree it was well worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, is it really impossible for you to imagine that the vast majority of the U.S. population lives paycheck to paycheck? Why such strange questions?

OP here. I am a teacher and do live paycheck to paycheck. I have more credit card debt than savings. Trying to understand what people of different HHI mean when they say the can't afford college. I assume that most people don't have $250k in the bank for each child who starts college.

[Anonymous]

I can't pay the rent on schedule half the time so we're going to be creative about college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean that it will impact retirement or put me in jeopardy of not meeting basic needs

Same here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, is it really impossible for you to imagine that the vast majority of the U.S. population lives paycheck to paycheck? Why such strange questions?

OP here. I am a teacher and do live paycheck to paycheck. I have more credit card debt than savings. Trying to understand what people of different HHI mean when they say the can't afford college. I assume that most people don't have $250k in the bank for each child who starts college.

We have $290K for two children, both teens now, towards college. We figure that we can afford $40K/year each, max, and that is pushing it. $35Kish would be more comfortable.

We do not want our kids to take out loans, so whatever we can do for that sum will have to be enough. That means that e.g. SLACs in New England are out, since they don't give merit aid and since we won't qualify for need-based aid.

It kind of boggles my mind that we have saved so much money (at least, to me it is a lot) and still cannot afford to send them to the colleges of their choice. Crazy.

[Anonymous]

^^^PP here. I should add, when our younger child enters college, DH will be 64 and I will be 58. We will not be willing to take on additional debt at that time.

[Anonymous]

In our neighborhood it means the parents would rather remodel their kitchen for the 3rd time. Or buy another luxury car - nothing but instate!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In our case, it will simply mean that we don't think it's a good value. Other than the obvious candidates of HYP/Stanford/MIT, I'm not willing to pay $65k per year for a school that is no better than UVA or Va. Tech. And we're too wealthy for any financial aid, so I'd rather pay the $25k for in-state tuition, and I'll happily set each kid up with an extra $100k or so in pre-seeded retirement savings.

They'll come out ahead.

This is us.