making $250-$400K in NW DC and paying for college out of Wilson High school or similar

[Anonymous]

Everyone doesn't live in Virginia!! Do you realize both PItt and Penn State cost $30,000 to their in-state residents?

[Anonymous]

We are in that boat and our DD is a senior. We've been paying private school tuition all along so we've saved less than others but enough to knock the cost of college down to what we're already accustomed to paying ($40K/year) with private school. It would be great if she got a merit scholarship and we ended up paying less over the next four years but if she chooses a higher ranked school that doesn't have merit money we can make it work. I say this because my thought is that a lot of these families OP mentions might be able to afford the top tier schools but have had conversations with their kids about whether an undergrad degree is really worth that much and whether it makes a lot more sense to use savings for grad school instead.

One thing we are discovering with our DD is that she loves the second tier schools almost more than the top ranked ones and we know she would be incredibly happy at them. I was trying to push ED and higher ranked schools but she is just as interested in ones that are less prestigious, where she will likely be top of the class with money to spare. I'm guessing that the neighbors of OP have kids that felt the same way and that's a great thing for kids who are self confident already and don't care about the school "brand" but rather about the faculty in their major and the experience they will have on campus. They may also want to get away from the east coast and experience a more laid back area of the country like the midwest, as our DD is hoping to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is no different than it's ever been. I had acceptances from Princeton and Dartmouth (mid-90s) and went to a teens-ranked school instead with a bunch of merit aid. It was a dream experience for me AND my family came out financially ahead.

Same here from the mid-80s. I got in to my top choice school, but at the end of the day, we couldn't afford the package they offered, and I chose a lower-ranked school that we could afford. I ended up in the exact same job as my ivy-league DH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:what it also means is that there is a terrifically smart cohort of kids who are going to 2nd, 3rd tier colleges simply because of finances. can't rest on your ivy league laurels.

Ding ding ding!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is no different than it's ever been. I had acceptances from Princeton and Dartmouth (mid-90s) and went to a teens-ranked school instead with a bunch of merit aid. It was a dream experience for me AND my family came out financially ahead.

Actually, it is dramatically different from how it used to be. When I graduated from high school in 1979, my expensive private SLAC cost about $8K the first year for tuition, room and board. The same school costs $67K now. I saved about $2K from working that summer, which I handed to my parents towards the expense. They paid the rest from the family income.

Proportionally speaking, a student at the same school now would have to hand her parents about $15K from summer earnings to help reduce the cost. And the parents' portion would eat up much more of their HHI today than it would have in 1979.

Similarly, at that time a student attending an in-state public school could pay his/her own way by working a minimum-wage job part-time. This is no longer possible.

The costs of higher education are nothing like what they were decades ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone doesn't live in Virginia!! Do you realize both PItt and Penn State cost $30,000 to their in-state residents?

In-state tuition plus room and board and fees at William & Mary is $32k now. UVA is a bit less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a weird question, OP, because it sounds like you are trying to imply that your income level is not that high or at least not high enough to be putting any money away for this purpose, such that you deserve some kind of financial break. To which I have no choice but to seriously side eye. If you've been saving all along, as you say you have been, then you already know the answer: a combination of savings, cash flow, and loans (if the student is unlucky). So why ask the question then?

Anyway assuming this is a genuine q, the general rule of thumb is to save 2/3 up front and cash flow the rest.

12:37 here.

I don't read OP's question as having that implication at all. I read it as, how do people who are rich but not 1%'ers afford to pay tuition that is currently $65K/year/kid and rising faster than inflation? Or do they not pay it, and choose a cheaper option?

We have saved but cannot pay full freight at top-tier schools, nor do we qualify for FA.

We have 2/3rds saved (as of now; tuition increases outpace inflation) but there is no way we could cash flow the rest. Moreover, we are older parents (DH is 64) and one of us will likely need to retire while our second is still in college.

Families like us are in the "donut hole." We can neither pay full sticker price, nor qualify for FA. Children of families like ours are therefore increasingly attending state schools (hence the rise in UMD's competitiveness), or going to second and third tier schools with big merit scholarships.

+1. Same boat as OP- 3 kids. All public in DC. We had our own loans to pay off first, and while we've saved a lot, we do not have enough for 3 kids full freight. We have about 40K a year for each, so they go to state schools, and one receives merit $ as well. We have two in at once and no break for 9 years. I resent when people think we should have saved enough for full freight because of our HHI. Our HHI has not increased in years; it's actually decreased, and we have done the best we can. I have no issue with state schools, second or third tiers either. You send them where you can afford to send them. They'll survive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a weird question, OP, because it sounds like you are trying to imply that your income level is not that high or at least not high enough to be putting any money away for this purpose, such that you deserve some kind of financial break. To which I have no choice but to seriously side eye. If you've been saving all along, as you say you have been, then you already know the answer: a combination of savings, cash flow, and loans (if the student is unlucky). So why ask the question then?

Anyway assuming this is a genuine q, the general rule of thumb is to save 2/3 up front and cash flow the rest.

12:37 here.

I don't read OP's question as having that implication at all. I read it as, how do people who are rich but not 1%'ers afford to pay tuition that is currently $65K/year/kid and rising faster than inflation? Or do they not pay it, and choose a cheaper option?

We have saved but cannot pay full freight at top-tier schools, nor do we qualify for FA.

We have 2/3rds saved (as of now; tuition increases outpace inflation) but there is no way we could cash flow the rest. Moreover, we are older parents (DH is 64) and one of us will likely need to retire while our second is still in college.

Families like us are in the "donut hole." We can neither pay full sticker price, nor qualify for FA. Children of families like ours are therefore increasingly attending state schools (hence the rise in UMD's competitiveness), or going to second and third tier schools with big merit scholarships.

+1. Same boat as OP- 3 kids. All public in DC. We had our own loans to pay off first, and while we've saved a lot, we do not have enough for 3 kids full freight. We have about 40K a year for each, so they go to state schools, and one receives merit $ as well. We have two in at once and no break for 9 years. I resent when people think we should have saved enough for full freight because of our HHI. Our HHI has not increased in years; it's actually decreased, and we have done the best we can. I have no issue with state schools, second or third tiers either. You send them where you can afford to send them. They'll survive.

This is ridiculous. You obviously feel wronged being asked to pay full freight at an income level that is several times higher than the national median. You do know that a private college education is a luxury not a human right, yes? So save in advance or don't, it doesn't change the basic rules of the game and matters to me personally not one iota. The OP asked a question and I answered. People do this at YOUR income level by saving 2/3 up front over the course of 18 years and cash flowing the rest, using loans as a last resort.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is ridiculous. You obviously feel wronged being asked to pay full freight at an income level that is several times higher than the national median. You do know that a private college education is a luxury not a human right, yes?

No idea where you got this from what PP wrote. back at you.

[Anonymous]

You will be looking more at merit aid. Top schools don't really offer much of that.

[Anonymous]

Here's the problem:

1) If you are medium HHI and living in a less expensive area, you aren't expected to make any sacrifices to send your kid to a private.

2) If you are high HHI and living in a high cost area, you are expected to make tangible sacrifices to send your kid to private. And you are expected to subsidize #2.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem:

1) If you are medium HHI and living in a less expensive area, you aren't expected to make any sacrifices to send your kid to a private.

2) If you are high HHI and living in a high cost area, you are expected to make tangible sacrifices to send your kid to private. And you are expected to subsidize #2.

Edit: subsidize #1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a weird question, OP, because it sounds like you are trying to imply that your income level is not that high or at least not high enough to be putting any money away for this purpose, such that you deserve some kind of financial break. To which I have no choice but to seriously side eye. If you've been saving all along, as you say you have been, then you already know the answer: a combination of savings, cash flow, and loans (if the student is unlucky). So why ask the question then?

Anyway assuming this is a genuine q, the general rule of thumb is to save 2/3 up front and cash flow the rest.

12:37 here.

I don't read OP's question as having that implication at all. I read it as, how do people who are rich but not 1%'ers afford to pay tuition that is currently $65K/year/kid and rising faster than inflation? Or do they not pay it, and choose a cheaper option?

We have saved but cannot pay full freight at top-tier schools, nor do we qualify for FA.

We have 2/3rds saved (as of now; tuition increases outpace inflation) but there is no way we could cash flow the rest. Moreover, we are older parents (DH is 64) and one of us will likely need to retire while our second is still in college.

Families like us are in the "donut hole." We can neither pay full sticker price, nor qualify for FA. Children of families like ours are therefore increasingly attending state schools (hence the rise in UMD's competitiveness), or going to second and third tier schools with big merit scholarships.

+1. Same boat as OP- 3 kids. All public in DC. We had our own loans to pay off first, and while we've saved a lot, we do not have enough for 3 kids full freight. We have about 40K a year for each, so they go to state schools, and one receives merit $ as well. We have two in at once and no break for 9 years. I resent when people think we should have saved enough for full freight because of our HHI. Our HHI has not increased in years; it's actually decreased, and we have done the best we can. I have no issue with state schools, second or third tiers either. You send them where you can afford to send them. They'll survive.

This is ridiculous. You obviously feel wronged being asked to pay full freight at an income level that is several times higher than the national median. You do know that a private college education is a luxury not a human right, yes? So save in advance or don't, it doesn't change the basic rules of the game and matters to me personally not one iota. The OP asked a question and I answered. People do this at YOUR income level by saving 2/3 up front over the course of 18 years and cash flowing the rest, using loans as a last resort.

No one has expressed any feeling remotely like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem:

1) If you are medium HHI and living in a less expensive area, you aren't expected to make any sacrifices to send your kid to a private.

2) If you are high HHI and living in a high cost area, you are expected to make tangible sacrifices to send your kid to private. And you are expected to subsidize #2.

Edit: subsidize #1.

How so?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the problem:

1) If you are medium HHI and living in a less expensive area, you aren't expected to make any sacrifices to send your kid to a private.

2) If you are high HHI and living in a high cost area, you are expected to make tangible sacrifices to send your kid to private. And you are expected to subsidize #2.

Edit: subsidize #1.

How so?