s/o Is everyone on DCUM planning to pay for their kids college?

[Anonymous]

I'm saving for it, but a lot will depend on whether I think my child will benefit from us paying for some or all of it.

I don't want to raise an entitled child who doesn't understand the value of a dollar.

[Anonymous]

$2 million HHI. We expect our DC to pay for it just like we did.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$2 million HHI. We expect our DC to pay for it just like we did.

Apples and oranges.

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/04/the-myth-of-working-your-way-through-college/359735/

[Anonymous]

Yes, I definitely plan to pay most if not all of it. I was fortunate to get a full scholarship and would hope my children are just as fortunate but just in case I don't want them having to deal with a mountain of debt right at the start of adulthood.

My husband has a good bit of student loan debt and it's been a hassle to pay it off and I definitely think those who start off without student loan debt have a leg up in life. I rather my kids use their money to further their life goals over enriching a bank or loan company.

[Anonymous]

A college education is not spoiling. Ours are reasonable minded, average acting, young adults. And they've earned it.

[Anonymous]

I'm the previous poster whose kids are 15 and 17 and will be paying for it all (we have the means to do so, and I couldn't live with myself if I didn't).

To all of the previous posters who think that paying for an education is going to "spoil" your child -- for better or worse,once your kid is 18, the die is already cast. If you've raised a spoiled brat up to age 18, withholding college costs isn't going to magically turn them into a responsible adult. Conversely, if you've raised a grounded and reasonable 18 year old, then paying for the education isn't going to "spoil" them.

[Anonymous]

Sales, high income. Will pay 100% in state. We live in Virginia and unless my kid gets into MIT or Stanford, not going to be supportive of the finding themselves to the tune of 250k, even if we have it. Im not big on wasting money just because we have it.

[Anonymous]

you ok with Radford, ODU, VCU?

[Anonymous]

In all likelihood, we won't have enough savings to pay for college completely. I'd like to cover undergrad tuition at the very least, taking out more loans ourselves if necessary. but the kids may have to take on some debt and/or get a job to cover the rest. if we win the lottery between now and then, we'll cover college expenses as long as they appear to be working hard and taking advantage of college life.

[Anonymous]

DH and I received no help from our parents, not because they were unwilling but because there were no funds available. One of us got a full academic scholarship, one took out heavy loans; we both went into debt for phases of graduate school. It was all worth it, because we now work in satisfying and well-compensated fields. Basically, we clawed our way into the middle class.

This is also how I know what a burden large student loans are. We manage ours, but they pushed to to have children later, to pick a smaller home, and numerous other adjustments.

If at all possible, we will cover our child's college expenses in full in order to ensure that he graduates without loans. It would give him a foot up that we didn't enjoy. That's how economic mobility works, right? We may not be able to cover every possible choice he could make. But I think it's reasonable for him to expect his parents to at least have the cash on hand for the state university system. If he got into a really wonderful program costing 60k, I'd certainly try to find the funds.

I do like the suggestions upthread to make sure students have some skin in the game, or enough life experience to understand the value of their tuition. But not at the cost of crippling debt, if debt can be avoided. Ideally, the "skin in the game" would be commitment to working hard, however, not to taking jobs strictly to pay the bills. Better to select the activities, part-time jobs, and summer internships that are most strategic.

[Anonymous]

Yes, we are planning to pay for it or at least help pay the loans. Already saving, but plan is to squeeze ourselves into small paid off apartment we have and use big chunk of our income to pay for college. We are low maintenance and should have plenty left for his college monthly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:you ok with Radford, ODU, VCU?

Why wouldn't I?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unsure. I graduated debt-free, which I realize was a gift, but that made me refuse graduate school b/c my parents didn't plan on paying for that and I was terrified of going into debt. I was incredibly uncomfortable with that. But I'd probably be better off financially if I'd just done it.

This seems like an illogical reaction to me. If the fear of debt kept you from attending grad school, then the solution to that isn't to pile on additional undergrad debt.

Sure, not saying it's logical. But I think that had I been a little more comfortable with the idea of debt, it may not have seemed so terrifying. Of course, I could've freaked outa bout piling it on, but I'm not sure. Maybe if my parents had had an in depth conversation with me about debt I could've made a decision informed by facts and odds instead of just fear of any debt.

There's an entire generation who believed in higher education and took on too much debt to pay for it and will suffer for it for the rest of their lives. They are delaying home ownership, marriage and having children. Grad school and college can open a lot of doors, but not when you're saddled with crushing debt for the rest of your life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$2 million HHI. We expect our DC to pay for it just like we did.

Your income impacts the extent of aid your DC gets, which, in this case, likely to be 0. So at a minimum you owe him that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$2 million HHI. We expect our DC to pay for it just like we did.

ha! easy to say on an anonymous forum. I went to an Ivy and the few kids whose parents had that type of HHI looked shell shocked at the idea of getting a job without the help of mom and dad (let alone working their way through college).