“Fully Funded College”

[Anonymous]

I see a lot of people reporting their children college is already fully funded.
How much money do people mean exactly? Full instate tuition, Fully out of state tuition, full cost of attendance (including room/board)?

[Anonymous]

For us it means enough in savings to pay all the costs (including R&B) for a private university, with just a small amount left that we can pay outof our regular income.

[Anonymous]

Your closest friends would probably answer if asked. Acquaintances will want to leave the details out, leaving you to think the best.

[Anonymous]

For me, it means $260k invested in Coverdell and 529 plans for my 12 year old DD. Plus, we contribute $5k a year. That should be enough for full pay just about anywhere she would like to go.

[Anonymous]

My goal is fully pay for instate. My hope would be we could pay some out of pocket plus child contribution through work/study or part time job, so something can be left for grad school.

[Anonymous]

To us it means enough for full pay private in a 529.

To my SIL’s family it means fully prepaid in-state tuition.

So it depends.

[Anonymous]

For us, it meant we could pay the cost of an in-state public University. My kids went to high school in Florida and so far have all qualified for Bright Futures. College has been nearly free for our kids thanks to generous merit aid plus bright futures scholarships. They are using leftover funds for grad school.

[Anonymous]

I have Irish twins. One just finished his freshman year at UVA and the other is going to William and Mary in the fall. I drilled it in my kids heads that we expected them to go to state schools because that is what we saved for. We did the 529 prepaid for each and have 100k in the invest for both to split. So far I have not had to touch the invest and thankfully didnt in 2017 or thr first half of 2018 as had the money in growth funds. Any extra that is needed will come out of pocket.

[Anonymous]

For us it meant full cost of attendance at a private or OOS college. We didn’t quite have that, especially for kid 2 but just paid some out of pocket. We had about $60k leftover for kid 1 and $75k leftover from kid 2 that they have used/will use for grad school.

[Anonymous]

Just for reference sake. The university my husband and I attended cost $60k this year. By the time our ten year old is going to colleg, it’s earimated to cost $84k per year. I hope people are estimating for tuition increases.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just for reference sake. The university my husband and I attended cost $60k this year. By the time our ten year old is going to colleg, it’s earimated to cost $84k per year. I hope people are estimating for tuition increases.

Yeah, my Alma mater increases 3.5% per year.

For us fully funded means having $300k+ in savings, stock, and 529 to pay and any extras being paid with income or investment dividends. Unless all goes south in the next 5 years we’ll be good.

[Anonymous]

In state tuition and room and board for four years.

[Anonymous]

We have enough in a 529 to pay for a higher-end out of state public or a lower-end private. There is additional set aside in a savings account that could cover the difference if they really want a more expensive school, or could go toward their first down payment or something. I didn't want to tie that extra up in an education-specific account, though. I wanted some flexibility in case they get scholarships and/or choose one of the many excellent moderately priced colleges out there.

[Anonymous]

We will cover the tuition and room and board at an in-state school or an equivalent priced school - maybe slightly more for the right place. For now, I estimate we can cover approximately $35K per year for our current 10th grader.

We have $125K saved up in his 529 plan plus we plan to pay $4K out of pocket per year to take advantage of the American Opportunity Tax Credit. If a school is slightly more, and there's a good reason for him to go there, then we will pay from our regular savings/income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have Irish twins. One just finished his freshman year at UVA and the other is going to William and Mary in the fall. I drilled it in my kids heads that we expected them to go to state schools because that is what we saved for. We did the 529 prepaid for each and have 100k in the invest for both to split. So far I have not had to touch the invest and thankfully didnt in 2017 or thr first half of 2018 as had the money in growth funds. Any extra that is needed will come out of pocket.

I had planned for state schools as well but my son got in to Princeton. The school will provide some support, thankfully, but not enough to offset the difference. We will find a way for him to go there.