How Does One Pay for College if they Never Saved for College?

[Anonymous]

Both parents work full time throughout their childrens' lives and really sacrifice to save the $250,000 per kid it will take. My mother wore the same polyester pants for 10 years to send me to Duke.

[Anonymous]

Hope a family member or friend dies and leaves $500,000 for college for the kids. This actually happened in the past year to two of my friends (!)

[Anonymous]

I also recommend the community college route for the first couple of years. Some around here are fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:seriously? someone asks about how to pay for college and the suggestion is Ivies?

I'd go for 2 years at a community college, and then transfer to a "big" school. Classes are a lot less expensive, often smaller class sizes, and your student could work to pay for it, or do work/study or something. Then, when he or she transfers, they can take out loans for the more expensive university experience.

While it's possible to pay for school on student loans alone, it sucks to later be saddled with the debt as a young(ish) person just starting out.

Our former babysitter did that and it totally screwed her. Very few of the credits would transfer and she had to go to the new school for 3 years. The only way she could afford the "big" school was with an athletic scholarship, but she lost that her last year because she had been in college for too many semesters. While it sounds good in theory, you need to research it carefully.

I know it does work in the California system. You can go to CC for a few years and transfer in to the UC system if you get a certain gradepoint. I think people don't do that for financial reasons, though. I think it's people who can't get in to the UC system initially and they prove themselves in CC.

[Anonymous]

My mother didn't have money for me to go to college so I took out the max for student loans and she took out a loan to pay the difference. I only know 1 person whose parents had the money to just pay for college for them. She didn't even understand what a student loan was when I told her why I never had any money after graduation. Even if I have enough money to pay my son's college tuition in full, I'll still expect him to take out a student loan to cover part of it.

[Anonymous]

Like some of the previous posters recommended, I think about a JC or Community College for 2 years and then transfer to your school/university of choice. Obvisously, make sure they accept most of not all the basic classes that you'd be transfering. I addition to work study, pell grants and other employment (waiting tables, lifeguarding, etc.) the other benefit of a JC/CC is that it alows the young person to find themselves and figure out what exactly (at this point in their young life)-- what major they'd like to puruse. It's a heck of a lot cheaper then switching your major several times. Plus the 2 to 3 year JC/CC path also gives the young person time to mature and grow up. In a few cases young adults to straight to a university and fall victim to the Freshman Flunk (party too much that they end up on academic probation or being kick out of school) remember time managment is as much as a part of school as are good study habits.

[Anonymous]

You don't -- find a way to go to college free!

All you have to do is make sure your HHI is less than $60,000 and all your DC has to do is get admitted to Harvard or Princeton. Or, at any income level, if your DC is admitted, s/he can go to Cooper Union or Berea College on a full scholarship. Don't know how they handle living expenses.

[Anonymous]

All the private schools give merit-based aid, although they may not call it "merit." There's no discretion on the federal stuff, but regarding the school-based aid: the more they want you, the bigger the package.

As for the original enquiry: your kids will live at home most likely, and go where they get the best package. If they have to, they will go to a community college for a while. If you couldn't save, you couldn't save (only you can judge "couldn't")

[Anonymous]

Both my husband and I took student loans to pay for private college (including room and board) and his grad school and some grad classes for me. We worked over the summers for spending money (beer) for the school year. Parents helped with things like books and if we were out of money by April (before the school year ended). We finished undergrad in 1998 and he finished grad school in 2003 with an MBA. We have consolidated our loans and the rates are very very low and ammortized over a very favorable 40 years! Our monthly payment is $550 - which for us is very manageable.

It can be done. And your child does not necessarily have to attend community or in-state although that wouldn't hurt.

We got married when we were 24 and those school loans def kept our budget in line - which is a good thing for such young adults.

I want my kids to take loans....nothing's free and better they learn this as young adults.

[Anonymous]

RE: transferring community college credit - this can be easily done and is easy. However, I always tell people to skip the Associate's degree if going the CC route. Associate's require lots of extra credits that DON'T transfer, and that costs a lot of extra money and time. Unless you plan on not getting a bachelor's, it is a total waste.

My parents didn't save (or couldn't, IDK) for the three of us but rather paid for our degrees as the bill rolled in. I think they timed their kids so we wouldn't be in college at the same time, lol. We all went to CC and transferred to in-state schools. CC was free for 2 of us as well, through different programs we received. My father was really opposed to student loans, as he hates debt of any kind.

[Anonymous]

My kids are 5 and 3, so I have no real reason to read the blog in the NY Times re: college acceptances, but I do. Last week they opened for comments for people to post where the got in and what they chose "How Fat was Your Envelope". I found very heartening the number of posters who were talking about full-ride financial aid, merit scholarships, etc. I plan on saving and paying for college for both, but it's comforting to know that if we aren't able to do that, there will be colleges that will take and being willing to somewhat underwrite, my children as long as they work hard and do well in their endeavors.

FYI:

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/envelope/

[Anonymous]

I want my kids to take loans....nothing's free and better they learn this as young adults.

Absolutely. Given a choice between saving for my and my wife's retirement, and "sending my kid to college" (i.e. not saddling them with student loans), I'll pick retirement.

At least then I can help them pay off their low-interest loans.

[Anonymous]

Hypothetical situation: grandparents are multi-millionaires. Parents don't make much money (maybe 80,000). Kid gets $35,000 every year in financial aid (outright grant) for college. Does anyone have a problem with this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hypothetical situation: grandparents are multi-millionaires. Parents don't make much money (maybe 80,000). Kid gets $35,000 every year in financial aid (outright grant) for college. Does anyone have a problem with this?

Not at all. College aid is not just need based anyway since there is merit aid, sports scholarships, etc. Plenty of people with resources get aid. And in this hypothetical I wouldn't assume that the grandparents are going to choose to pay for college for the kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:seriously? someone asks about how to pay for college and the suggestion is Ivies?

I'd go for 2 years at a community college, and then transfer to a "big" school. Classes are a lot less expensive, often smaller class sizes, and your student could work to pay for it, or do work/study or something. Then, when he or she transfers, they can take out loans for the more expensive university experience.

While it's possible to pay for school on student loans alone, it sucks to later be saddled with the debt as a young(ish) person just starting out.

Our former babysitter did that and it totally screwed her. Very few of the credits would transfer and she had to go to the new school for 3 years. The only way she could afford the "big" school was with an athletic scholarship, but she lost that her last year because she had been in college for too many semesters. While it sounds good in theory, you need to research it carefully.

I know it does work in the California system. You can go to CC for a few years and transfer in to the UC system if you get a certain gradepoint. I think people don't do that for financial reasons, though. I think it's people who can't get in to the UC system initially and they prove themselves in CC.

One of the things that happens with community colleges is that a lot of people have to take remedial courses which don't count towards a degree but they don't realize it at the time. Sounds like what may have happened to your baby sitter. It's a big cause of people dropping out of school, too. You spend what is a lot of money for some folks and have to spend years in school.