Middle class families - Are you willing to take on a ton of debt for a top college?

[Anonymous]

No. Anyone who goes six figures in debt for UNDERGRAD is a moron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to UVA for undergrad and law school. It's an awesome school. If my kid gets into Columbia and UVA, I would pay for Columbia, bc Columbia is a better undergrad than UVA. Columbia opens doors that UVA does not. How could you ever say you wouldn't pay for the better school? I could pay cash for her tuition, but even if I couldn't -- if I was the poors -- I would take out loans, beg on the street, I would do ANYTHING to get the $. That so many would be unwilling to do so is a terrific indication of why you are middle class in the first place -- you will not do whatever it takes to get to the top. Sad you condemn your kids to your life of meritocracy.

If the kid wants "the top" he can get loans, scholarships, jobs and pay for himself. If he doesn't have that kind of drive why would parents bother. Kid will probably be happier if you handed him the difference in cash. I am speaking from the "done with the rat race" point of view. Excellent education, zero drive, worked only as long as I had enough to leave. I paid back all the money wasted by parents on my education with interest (real one, not current interest). My kid's can decide for themselves. If they go to college, I will cover room and board, if their GPA is above 3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to UVA for undergrad and law school. It's an awesome school. If my kid gets into Columbia and UVA, I would pay for Columbia, bc Columbia is a better undergrad than UVA. Columbia opens doors that UVA does not. How could you ever say you wouldn't pay for the better school? I could pay cash for her tuition, but even if I couldn't -- if I was the poors -- I would take out loans, beg on the street, I would do ANYTHING to get the $. That so many would be unwilling to do so is a terrific indication of why you are middle class in the first place -- you will not do whatever it takes to get to the top. Sad you condemn your kids to your life of meritocracy.

You don't know half of what you think you do about having little money. Debt, especially overwhelming debt, constrains your choices and ruins lives. It is not reasonable for a child, especially one good enough to get into Columbia, to leave their parents in dire straights to pay for it. UVA would be plenty good enough if that was the best affordable option.

The rest of your post reflects poorly on you and your ability to see beyond your own nose. Did you hear that deVos and the president would like to roll back the public sector loan forgiveness?

[Anonymous]

No. Luckily, we raised our child in a way that he would never even consider having his parents go $100K+ in debt for a name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:mediocracy

You mean mediocrity and you are living proof that money cannot buy intelligence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to UVA for undergrad and law school. It's an awesome school. If my kid gets into Columbia and UVA, I would pay for Columbia, bc Columbia is a better undergrad than UVA. Columbia opens doors that UVA does not. How could you ever say you wouldn't pay for the better school? I could pay cash for her tuition, but even if I couldn't -- if I was the poors -- I would take out loans, beg on the street, I would do ANYTHING to get the $. That so many would be unwilling to do so is a terrific indication of why you are middle class in the first place -- you will not do whatever it takes to get to the top. Sad you condemn your kids to your life of meritocracy.

Again, my husband went to Columbia. It does not open doors outside the Northeast. He was glad to go there and proud to call it his alma mater, but he said going into big debt isn't worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to UVA for undergrad and law school. It's an awesome school. If my kid gets into Columbia and UVA, I would pay for Columbia, bc Columbia is a better undergrad than UVA. Columbia opens doors that UVA does not. How could you ever say you wouldn't pay for the better school? I could pay cash for her tuition, but even if I couldn't -- if I was the poors -- I would take out loans, beg on the street, I would do ANYTHING to get the $. That so many would be unwilling to do so is a terrific indication of why you are middle class in the first place -- you will not do whatever it takes to get to the top. Sad you condemn your kids to your life of meritocracy.

Again, my husband went to Columbia. It does not open doors outside the Northeast. He was glad to go there and proud to call it his alma mater, but he said going into big debt isn't worth it.

I went to Columbia, as well. It did open doors outside the NE for me, but I wouldn't have been able to walk through them if I was lugging $100k in debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People make the best decisions they can, so I would never begrudge a family that decided they couldn't afford the difference.

But, Columbia has very generous financial aid and it is less expensive than public colleges, including UVA, for almost everyone who is not in the top 20% of incomes. Columbia also has a no loan policy in their financial aid packages. Nor does it include retirement plan assets in calculating expected financial contributions.

So many of these posts are deeply misunderstand how much financial aid is available at Columbia and similar institutions. It would be a shame if others did not consider Columbia because of misinformation.

A "DCUM lower middle class family" earning $150,000/year with $150,000 in home equity and $20,000 in cash/marketable securities would have to contribute about $34,000 at Columbia. That's a relatively small difference from UVA's $30,500 cost of attendance.

Is that $34K per year? That's still insane to any non-rich person from outside of the northeast bubble. This is the only place on earth where people think it's normal for non-millionaires to spend six figures on each child's college education.

This is misleading. If you are admitted to Columbia, a more selective school than UVA, you will almost certainly qualify for serious merit aid from UVA. And you have to factor in the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition. And some states have MUCH more affordable schools. I know they are not in the same league as Columbia, or even UVA, but those are flagship state schools whose full freight tuition is 1/10th the cost of most privates.

This is the kind of basic misunderstanding people are spreading. UVA does not offer merit aid, except for a very small number of students who get the Jefferson Scholarship. UVA without financial aid costs $30,500/year. Unless you make well over $200,000/year, you won't pay $70,000 at Columbia. 50% of Columbia students get financial aid and their average grant is $47,500/year. Columbia does not do student loans as part of financial aid, while nearly all state schools have make students take loans first before they offer any grant aid. Columbia and the other elite colleges are almost always less expensive that state schools (even considering merit aid) for those earning less than $100,000 "outside the northeast bubble."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to UVA for undergrad and law school. It's an awesome school. If my kid gets into Columbia and UVA, I would pay for Columbia, bc Columbia is a better undergrad than UVA. Columbia opens doors that UVA does not. How could you ever say you wouldn't pay for the better school? I could pay cash for her tuition, but even if I couldn't -- if I was the poors -- I would take out loans, beg on the street, I would do ANYTHING to get the $. That so many would be unwilling to do so is a terrific indication of why you are middle class in the first place -- you will not do whatever it takes to get to the top. Sad you condemn your kids to your life of meritocracy.

Ditto. And I am a poor

[Anonymous]

I'm from a family of Columbia grads (parents, grandparents, some aunts, uncles, cousins). Like anywhere, it's opened doors for some and not for others---some are successful, some are not. All smart and decent people but Columbia was not some magic bullet.

[Anonymous]

I know a woman who lives in this area who attended Columbia college (didn't to any post grad anywhere) and she is the biggest loser I have ever met. She got her job through her dad's contacts and managed to lose it because she is incompetent. She has a horrible personality and is really creepy and overbearing.

I was literally astonished, like jaw on the floor when I found out she had got in, and not been thrown out.

[Anonymous]

Don't go into debt. What matters is what you do in college, not what college you got into.

I went to a Midwest big public university and have done very well in life that I can afford to pay for DC private UG and G.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely, 100% not. And I say this as an Ivy grad. Under no circumstances is an undergraduate degree is worth that much debt.

[Anonymous]

Are there REALLY college-educated, professional adults who work full-time who cannot afford $6k a month to pay for their kid to go to an Ivy League school? Unless you got stuck with a stay-at-home or have 5 kids, this is unfathomable to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are there REALLY college-educated, professional adults who work full-time who cannot afford $6k a month to pay for their kid to go to an Ivy League school? Unless you got stuck with a stay-at-home or have 5 kids, this is unfathomable to me.

Is this a joke?