How do you grapple with the cost of expensive colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have $180,00 saved for each child. One leaves for college in 2 years and the other child in 5 years. Anything beyond what we saved they will to take out student loans.

How the hell does a middle class family save this much money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's amazing to me that some are paying yearly for k-12 what I clear in a year.

It's hard to believe. There are worse this going on in the world, but it is weird.Several of my family members pissed away 100-150k on basket weaving degrees like art and sociology. They don't make Jack and are burdened by their student loans. Several of my other family members didn't go to college and make excellent money(IT, real estate, sm biz). My parents and aunts were obsessed with everyone going to college, and this really pisses them off jajajaja.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people automatically write off OOS schools? Some are the same cost or possibly even a bit less than some VA state schools.

Which out of state school will cost less than your Virginia options? UVA (30K), Virginia Tech (26K). A quick comparison of some out of state schools for Virginia residents: Penn State (50K), Ohio Sate (44K) and Maryland (47K). Virginia has wonderful affordable options.

We ended up st the University of South Carolina. They gave us the in-state tuition rate b/c of DD's academics. We will pay $23K tuition, room and board. N state in VA would've run about $30K.

[Anonymous]

I have a hard time believing that potential Ivy/Stanford admits are being counseled into UVa and UM due to cost. It does seem that earnings between about $150K and $230K are basically confiscated by the schools, because we put 3 kids through very expensive privates on a $120K income and received about 60% grant aid doing so. We also did a $220K cash-out refinancing of our mortgage to pay the bills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing that potential Ivy/Stanford admits are being counseled into UVa and UM due to cost. It does seem that earnings between about $150K and $230K are basically confiscated by the schools, because we put 3 kids through very expensive privates on a $120K income and received about 60% grant aid doing so. We also did a $220K cash-out refinancing of our mortgage to pay the bills.

I see it quite a bit. People concentrate on those for graduate school rather than undergrad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people automatically write off OOS schools? Some are the same cost or possibly even a bit less than some VA state schools.

Which out of state school will cost less than your Virginia options? UVA (30K), Virginia Tech (26K). A quick comparison of some out of state schools for Virginia residents: Penn State (50K), Ohio Sate (44K) and Maryland (47K). Virginia has wonderful affordable options.

We ended up st the University of South Carolina. They gave us the in-state tuition rate b/c of DD's academics. We will pay $23K tuition, room and board. N state in VA would've run about $30K.

I wouldn't send my kids there even with full rides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have $180,00 saved for each child. One leaves for college in 2 years and the other child in 5 years. Anything beyond what we saved they will to take out student loans.

How the hell does a middle class family save this much money?

They don't, in general.

We have saved the same amount, but we are not middle class - our HHI is $220K.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing that potential Ivy/Stanford admits are being counseled into UVa and UM due to cost. It does seem that earnings between about $150K and $230K are basically confiscated by the schools, because we put 3 kids through very expensive privates on a $120K income and received about 60% grant aid doing so. We also did a $220K cash-out refinancing of our mortgage to pay the bills.

Well, believe it. It is true.

Half of the Blair SMAC magnet goes to UMD-CP every year. Do you think none of those students are qualified to attend Ivies and the like? They go to Maryland because their parents are in the donut hole and cannot afford $70K/year X multiple kids, and because many of them receive a free ride at UMD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing that potential Ivy/Stanford admits are being counseled into UVa and UM due to cost. It does seem that earnings between about $150K and $230K are basically confiscated by the schools, because we put 3 kids through very expensive privates on a $120K income and received about 60% grant aid doing so. We also did a $220K cash-out refinancing of our mortgage to pay the bills.

I see it quite a bit. People concentrate on those for graduate school rather than undergrad.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing that potential Ivy/Stanford admits are being counseled into UVa and UM due to cost. It does seem that earnings between about $150K and $230K are basically confiscated by the schools, because we put 3 kids through very expensive privates on a $120K income and received about 60% grant aid doing so. We also did a $220K cash-out refinancing of our mortgage to pay the bills.

Well, believe it. It is true.

Half of the Blair SMAC magnet goes to UMD-CP every year. Do you think none of those students are qualified to attend Ivies and the like? They go to Maryland because their parents are in the donut hole and cannot afford $70K/year X multiple kids, and because many of them receive a free ride at UMD.

This is us (but not from Blair). Kid is @ UMD on a full ride. 529 money will be used for med school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How the hell does a middle class family save this much money?

They don't, in general.

Exactly. Most of the folks on this thread are not middle class.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/28/how-much-you-have-to-earn-to-be-considered-middle-class-us-cities.html

Washington, D.C.
?Household of one: $28,802 to $86,406
Household of three: $49,886 to $149,659
Household of five: $64,403 to $193,209

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing that potential Ivy/Stanford admits are being counseled into UVa and UM due to cost. It does seem that earnings between about $150K and $230K are basically confiscated by the schools, because we put 3 kids through very expensive privates on a $120K income and received about 60% grant aid doing so. We also did a $220K cash-out refinancing of our mortgage to pay the bills.

Well, believe it. It is true.

Half of the Blair SMAC magnet goes to UMD-CP every year. Do you think none of those students are qualified to attend Ivies and the like? They go to Maryland because their parents are in the donut hole and cannot afford $70K/year X multiple kids, and because many of them receive a free ride at UMD.

This is us (but not from Blair). Kid is @ UMD on a full ride. 529 money will be used for med school.

Congrats on the full ride to UMD. Did he get into an elite school?

The half of the students going to College Park or VT or UVA from Blair or TJ are mostly not going to get into the Ivies+. Too many of their classmates with better scores and grades are already going to the elites and leave little room for them. Given the yields (and financial aid) at the elite schools, it is highly unlikely (but not unheard of) for a student to turn them down for a state school. I would not believe my neighbor claiming his VT bound CS student turned down Carnegie-Mellon and Harvard unless he has acceptance letters and then think he was dumber than he looks.

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing saving $180K per kid was the result of some windfalls and smart investing. We're a classic doughnut hole family with no debt and a much more modest lifestyle than anyone we know, and we're lucky to have saved a fraction of that while still saving for retirement, etc.

It seems the wealthier families we know also have a lot of family assistance. Unfortunately, that is not the case here. And we're too risk averse to invest.

To those just joining us, this thread is another iteration of people justifying paying a lot for college and justifying not paying a lot for college.

Here in the doughnut hole, I'm grateful my kids have good state colleges to turn to, and time to figure out at what point paying a premium for education makes the most sense. For my first, undergrad is not that time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing that potential Ivy/Stanford admits are being counseled into UVa and UM due to cost. It does seem that earnings between about $150K and $230K are basically confiscated by the schools, because we put 3 kids through very expensive privates on a $120K income and received about 60% grant aid doing so. We also did a $220K cash-out refinancing of our mortgage to pay the bills.

Well, believe it. It is true.

Half of the Blair SMAC magnet goes to UMD-CP every year. Do you think none of those students are qualified to attend Ivies and the like? They go to Maryland because their parents are in the donut hole and cannot afford $70K/year X multiple kids, and because many of them receive a free ride at UMD.

This is us (but not from Blair). Kid is @ UMD on a full ride. 529 money will be used for med school.

Congrats on the full ride to UMD. Did he get into an elite school?

The half of the students going to College Park or VT or UVA from Blair or TJ are mostly not going to get into the Ivies+. Too many of their classmates with better scores and grades are already going to the elites and leave little room for them. Given the yields (and financial aid) at the elite schools, it is highly unlikely (but not unheard of) for a student to turn them down for a state school. I would not believe my neighbor claiming his VT bound CS student turned down Carnegie-Mellon and Harvard unless he has acceptance letters and then think he was dumber than he looks.

I am here to tell you that it happens routinely among Blair SMAC students.

There are a lot of them, as well, who do not even apply to Ivies and the like, because their parents know they cannot afford them.

We are in this latter group. I have a UMD-CP (full ride) sophomore who graduated from the a Blair SMAC program. DC had straight As through high school and perfect SAT scores. He earned straight 5s on 11 AP exams. DC was and is qualified to attend an elite school. With our donut hole status, however, those schools were not under consideration because we knew we couldn't pay for them. So, he did not apply.

DC is happy and doing well at UMD and will have a lot of money for grad or professional school after finishing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a hard time believing that potential Ivy/Stanford admits are being counseled into UVa and UM due to cost. It does seem that earnings between about $150K and $230K are basically confiscated by the schools, because we put 3 kids through very expensive privates on a $120K income and received about 60% grant aid doing so. We also did a $220K cash-out refinancing of our mortgage to pay the bills.

Well, believe it. It is true.

Half of the Blair SMAC magnet goes to UMD-CP every year. Do you think none of those students are qualified to attend Ivies and the like? They go to Maryland because their parents are in the donut hole and cannot afford $70K/year X multiple kids, and because many of them receive a free ride at UMD.

This is us (but not from Blair). Kid is @ UMD on a full ride. 529 money will be used for med school.

Congrats on the full ride to UMD. Did he get into an elite school?

The half of the students going to College Park or VT or UVA from Blair or TJ are mostly not going to get into the Ivies+. Too many of their classmates with better scores and grades are already going to the elites and leave little room for them. Given the yields (and financial aid) at the elite schools, it is highly unlikely (but not unheard of) for a student to turn them down for a state school. I would not believe my neighbor claiming his VT bound CS student turned down Carnegie-Mellon and Harvard unless he has acceptance letters and then think he was dumber than he looks.

He had pretty good offers to choose from but it was hard to turn down a full ride from UMD. It's a pretty sweet deal. The worst part (or should I say the most difficult part) has been the comments from other parents (he did all that work for that?? kinda comments). His sister (who also got a full ride from UMD) is finishing off her PHD program at a top tier engineering program. So, "UMD for undergrad for free and a top tier school for grad school (for free) or med school" approach has been working for us.