Is it really worth the money for your child to choose a college away from home?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a value to moving away from home.

What exactly is the value of CRUSHING debt,
and NOT being able to get MARRIED or buy a HOUSE?

Not everybody didn't save for college.

Not everyone is rich. Most kids have crushing debt.
Hey, can you please pop your little bubble?

NP: About 70% of kids take on student loans. Their average student loan debt is under 30k. Manageable student loan debt is considered 1 year of starting salary or less. Most college graduates have a starting salary > than 30k. So I think it's mistaken to say that most kids have crushing debt.

Link to your theory?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College costs are unsustainable.

It's smart to consider the costs and evaluate the type of salary you anticipate your kid will likely get in their chosen field.

VA has a great program where the student can do to 2 years at NOVA and then transfer to another VA school. To me that's pretty savvy on the part of the student and the parents to take advantage of this and not take out a lot of loans to cover the costs for 4 years.

I also see where that takes discipline on the part of the student and it's not ideal, but I've long thought my kids won't have the same college experience I had.

This exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College costs are unsustainable.

It's smart to consider the costs and evaluate the type of salary you anticipate your kid will likely get in their chosen field.

VA has a great program where the student can do to 2 years at NOVA and then transfer to another VA school. To me that's pretty savvy on the part of the student and the parents to take advantage of this and not take out a lot of loans to cover the costs for 4 years.

I also see where that takes discipline on the part of the student and it's not ideal, but I've long thought my kids won't have the same college experience I had.

This exactly.

My kids are still pretty young, but ideally this is what we want to do. I don't see how we can afford 3 in college if we don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College costs are unsustainable.

It's smart to consider the costs and evaluate the type of salary you anticipate your kid will likely get in their chosen field.

VA has a great program where the student can do to 2 years at NOVA and then transfer to another VA school. To me that's pretty savvy on the part of the student and the parents to take advantage of this and not take out a lot of loans to cover the costs for 4 years.

I also see where that takes discipline on the part of the student and it's not ideal, but I've long thought my kids won't have the same college experience I had.

This exactly.

My kids are still pretty young, but ideally this is what we want to do. I don't see how we can afford 3 in college if we don't.

+1. Every day I wake up thankful that we have such wonderful public opportunities in the Commonwealth of Virginia. We sent all three children to public universities. The last one is finishing at UVA now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a value to moving away from home.

What exactly is the value of CRUSHING debt,
and NOT being able to get MARRIED or buy a HOUSE?

Not everybody didn't save for college.

Not everyone is rich. Most kids have crushing debt.
Hey, can you please pop your little bubble?

NP: About 70% of kids take on student loans. Their average student loan debt is under 30k. Manageable student loan debt is considered 1 year of starting salary or less. Most college graduates have a starting salary > than 30k. So I think it's mistaken to say that most kids have crushing debt.

Link to your theory?

The numbers I cited are just the numbers on percents and undergraduate student loan debts. The advice of acquiring loans of 1 year of starting salary or less is was the rule of thumb our fee-only financial planner gave us as we were considering colleges. Other advice I've seen (e.g. here: https://studentloanhero.com/featured/real-life-advice-financial-planners-student-debt/) is it's ideal to keep your annual student loan repayment 10% of your gross income at a 10 year term. So if the usual starting salary is around 40k, you'd want annual repayment 4k or less, so under 333/mo. At current interest rates, the average student loan amount falls below that.
I'm not saying it's not a pain to have student debt (I just paid mine off!), but 1/3 of college grads don't have any, and the remainder have debt that is less than 10% of the average college grad salary so it seems hyperbolic to say MOST students have CRUSHING debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's a value to moving away from home.

What exactly is the value of CRUSHING debt,
and NOT being able to get MARRIED or buy a HOUSE?

Not everybody didn't save for college.

Not everyone is rich. Most kids have crushing debt.
Hey, can you please pop your little bubble?

NP: About 70% of kids take on student loans. Their average student loan debt is under 30k. Manageable student loan debt is considered 1 year of starting salary or less. Most college graduates have a starting salary > than 30k. So I think it's mistaken to say that most kids have crushing debt.

Link to your theory?

The numbers I cited are just the numbers on percents and undergraduate student loan debts. The advice of acquiring loans of 1 year of starting salary or less is was the rule of thumb our fee-only financial planner gave us as we were considering colleges. Other advice I've seen (e.g. here: https://studentloanhero.com/featured/real-life-advice-financial-planners-student-debt/) is it's ideal to keep your annual student loan repayment 10% of your gross income at a 10 year term. So if the usual starting salary is around 40k, you'd want annual repayment 4k or less, so under 333/mo. At current interest rates, the average student loan amount falls below that.
I'm not saying it's not a pain to have student debt (I just paid mine off!), but 1/3 of college grads don't have any, and the remainder have debt that is less than 10% of the average college grad salary so it seems hyperbolic to say MOST students have CRUSHING debt.

*Meant to say debt repayments that are less than 10% of average college grad salary

[Anonymous]

It's all about what you can afford OP. I grew up with 8 kids in my family. So, as middle class kids, we received no funds from our family or the government...no loans, etc. I took 2 buses to get to college and 2 to get home. No fun whatsoever. I only had 1 kid so that I could send her away to the best college money could buy (HYP).

You do what you have to do, but just no it is no fun to be a commuter.

[Anonymous]

What you “should” earn vs what you “will” earn
after college graduation are two different things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
What you “should” earn vs what you “will” earn
after college graduation are two different things.

Well the numbers are based on actually means not on vague promises. But, yes, you should look at your own earning potential and do the things that make becoming employed more likely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What you “should” earn vs what you “will” earn
after college graduation are two different things.

Well the numbers are based on actually means not on vague promises. But, yes, you should look at your own earning potential and do the things that make becoming employed more likely.

You’re a scam artist.
You want people to make huge financial decisions four years out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What you “should” earn vs what you “will” earn
after college graduation are two different things.

Well the numbers are based on actually means not on vague promises. But, yes, you should look at your own earning potential and do the things that make becoming employed more likely.

I think the point of the standard (i.e. limit loans to no more than 1 yr's average salary for that type of degree) is that you can take more loans if your income is going to be greater (i.e. a doctor or an accountant vs. a preschool teacher). Of course, there are doctors who work for nonprofits making $40K, and there are child dev. majors who nanny for rich people. But, on the whole, the standard is meant to encourage kids to think about the value that the marketplace puts on a specific type of degree.

I think the standard is a good general benchmark and helps parents and students think about limiting debt. They used to say "educational debt" is "good debt" --- until people started realizing that having $100K debt for a criminal justice degree is just another way to ruin your future.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What you “should” earn vs what you “will” earn
after college graduation are two different things.

Well the numbers are based on actually means not on vague promises. But, yes, you should look at your own earning potential and do the things that make becoming employed more likely.

You’re a scam artist.
You want people to make huge financial decisions four years out.

Huh? I want people to make reasoned financial decisions. Earning a college degree improves your lifetime earning potential. This is well-established. Debt can be a tool to make that happen but you shouldn't take on too much debt. One rule of thumb is salary. You can get a 30-40k/yr job working at Target so I doubt many college graduates are going to be crushed by the average student loan debt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What you “should” earn vs what you “will” earn
after college graduation are two different things.

Well the numbers are based on actually means not on vague promises. But, yes, you should look at your own earning potential and do the things that make becoming employed more likely.

You’re a scam artist.
You want people to make huge financial decisions four years out.

Huh? I want people to make reasoned financial decisions. Earning a college degree improves your lifetime earning potential. This is well-established. Debt can be a tool to make that happen but you shouldn't take on too much debt. One rule of thumb is salary. You can get a 30-40k/yr job working at Target so I doubt many college graduates are going to be crushed by the average student loan debt.

Your limited experience is astounding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
What you “should” earn vs what you “will” earn
after college graduation are two different things.

Well the numbers are based on actually means not on vague promises. But, yes, you should look at your own earning potential and do the things that make becoming employed more likely.

You’re a scam artist.
You want people to make huge financial decisions four years out.

Huh? I want people to make reasoned financial decisions. Earning a college degree improves your lifetime earning potential. This is well-established. Debt can be a tool to make that happen but you shouldn't take on too much debt. One rule of thumb is salary. You can get a 30-40k/yr job working at Target so I doubt many college graduates are going to be crushed by the average student loan debt.

Your limited experience is astounding.

Not sure how you're getting to this claim as you know little about my experience. I am merely arguing that the statement "most kids have crushing student loan debt" about undergraduate student loans is not well-supported by the facts. Of the 70% of grads that have undergraduate student loan debt (so 30% don't have any at all), the average amount is not "crushing" on the average salary of a college grad. It's manageable. Now does that mean that some students don't take on too much debt? No. Does that mean some students don't find well-paying jobs? No. Does it mean society might not benefit from more progressive loan policies? No. Does it mean that taking some more personal responsibility on loans wouldn't help? No. But it's not that hard to repay the average undergraduate student loan debt in 10 years with a pretty run-of-the-mill post graduate job that's below the average salary (I've had to do it myself--my starting salary post college was only about 2k more a year than my undergraduate loan balance).

[Anonymous]

Is this a parent who doesn’t want to pay for college and is looking for support to convince their child to live at home?