full pay private = charity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay at a private. To avoid taking loans, I may need to stop my charitable donations (~$8k per year). I've rationalized this by telling myself that full pay at a private is subsidizing those on need-based financial aid...effectively a charitable donation (but not for tax purposes). Am I crazy?

Yeah, you are. You're not subsidizing those on need-based financial aid -- people who give to the school are. The actual cost of educating your child is higher than what they're charging you. This is crazy, but it is true.

OP here. I agree that nobody is paying the "true" full price, but they aren't charging everybody the same price. My price is higher so that somebody else's price can be lower. That's a subsidy.

So alumni are subsizing you. You are subsizing everyone who isnt paying 100 percent. The kids paying 90% tuition next year are subsidizing everyone who pays less than them. The kids who pay 80% pay for everyone who pays less than them. The kids paying 50% pay for the other half. Throw in federal government loans anyone is taking out at any of these levels, and the subsidy story is more complex.

Your post suddenly changed from focusing on your concern about not being able to donate to charity anymore to talking "subsidies". Whats your real point here? (rhetorical question).

[Anonymous]

If a school wants your kid, they will give you money regardless of your income. So if you don't want to pay full tuition, just have your kid go down a notch or two on the college tier and the money will start flowing in.

Then you don't have to worry about "subsidizing" anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay at a private. To avoid taking loans, I may need to stop my charitable donations (~$8k per year). I've rationalized this by telling myself that full pay at a private is subsidizing those on need-based financial aid...effectively a charitable donation (but not for tax purposes). Am I crazy?

Yes, you are crazy. Why do you need to rationalize paying college tuition?

OP here. I've already rationalized paying full tuition. That ship has passed. I'm trying to rationalize the end of my charitable contributions vs. taking on debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay at a private. To avoid taking loans, I may need to stop my charitable donations (~$8k per year). I've rationalized this by telling myself that full pay at a private is subsidizing those on need-based financial aid...effectively a charitable donation (but not for tax purposes). Am I crazy?

Yes, you are crazy. Why do you need to rationalize paying college tuition?

OP here. I've already rationalized paying full tuition. That ship has passed. I'm trying to rationalize the end of my charitable contributions vs. taking on debt.

Still crazy. Why do you need to rationalize not taking on debt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay at a private. To avoid taking loans, I may need to stop my charitable donations (~$8k per year). I've rationalized this by telling myself that full pay at a private is subsidizing those on need-based financial aid...effectively a charitable donation (but not for tax purposes). Am I crazy?

Yes, you are crazy. Why do you need to rationalize paying college tuition?

OP here. I've already rationalized paying full tuition. That ship has passed. I'm trying to rationalize the end of my charitable contributions vs. taking on debt.

Still crazy. Why do you need to rationalize not taking on debt?

Thank you. Feeling better now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay at a private. To avoid taking loans, I may need to stop my charitable donations (~$8k per year). I've rationalized this by telling myself that full pay at a private is subsidizing those on need-based financial aid...effectively a charitable donation (but not for tax purposes). Am I crazy?

Yeah, you are. You're not subsidizing those on need-based financial aid -- people who give to the school are. The actual cost of educating your child is higher than what they're charging you. This is crazy, but it is true.

OP here. I agree that nobody is paying the "true" full price, but they aren't charging everybody the same price. My price is higher so that somebody else's price can be lower. That's a subsidy.

Although I understand what you're trying to say, that's not how it works. Others pay less than you because they are not in the same financial position so they are offered aid. Your tuition is not paying for that difference in cost. The people who donate above and beyond their tuition are the ones who are subsidizing that difference in cost. In fact, the people who are donating money above and beyond their tuition are also subsidizing you since those donations also go toward helping with the difference of what is actually costs to educate your child and keep the school running. This is not to make you feel bad because you should never feel bad about not being able to give more than you're able, but the facts are that you are not subsidizing anything by paying the full listed tuition.

You should also not feel bad about reducing your contributions to charities in order to pay for private school. Consider this a period of time that you will not donate financially and, if possible, contribute in others ways by volunteering or helping an organization to secure a grant, etc (their are plenty of ways to help organizations that are not monetary). I'm confident that once you are done paying for school tuitions you will start up the contributions again. This may be harsh, but trying to take credit for paying for others when that's not how it works is simply to validate your own feelings, but it's not based on fact.

That's not exactly true either for the top colleges/universities. when I was in college, tuition per child was around $30K... and I heard that the school was actually spending over $100K per student. So at that time, unless you were donating an extra $70K on top of the tuition you were paying, you would not have been subsidizing anyone else.

I understand that...I wasn't trying to say that it is a one-to-one ratio of each person donating directly toward an individual student. The money is obviously put into a larger financial aid account (or another account for other services the donation is for), but the concept is the same. Those who donate above tuition are the ones covering these extra costs, not the OP who simply pays the tuition she is charged.

Oh, and the amount of money people donate to private schools would astound you...there are plenty who are donating more than 70k...

[Anonymous]

Top tier private? If yes, go for it.

[Anonymous]

Do what you need to do, but stop rationalizing it.

You used to be more charitable, but this year you won't be. You aren't a bad person because of this, but don't pretend that your child's tuition is a charitable donation to a private college. It isn't.

I don't give $8k to charity.

[Anonymous]

Charity begins at home. You educate your child, and you don't take on debt unnecessarily. For 4 years, you will cut back on charitable giving while paying for your kid to go to college. Once your kid is out of school, you can resume your charitable giving, at an increased rate if it makes you feel better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charity begins at home. You educate your child, and you don't take on debt unnecessarily. For 4 years, you will cut back on charitable giving while paying for your kid to go to college. Once your kid is out of school, you can resume your charitable giving, at an increased rate if it makes you feel better.

+1 And OP should consider that not all charity is financial. Time is a resource that many charities value. Soup kitchens and shelters need workers all year long. Mentor programs such as Big Brother and Big Sister also need help all year long. Tutoring in a Title I school can be done September through June. You get the picture ...