Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I graduated from an expensive private college debt free due to the generosity of my parents. My fancy grad school debts were minimal due to a combination of scholarships, grants and some parental assistance as well. I am fortunate on that end.
We will be in a position to fully fund our children's education. However, I am not so sure on the value of going to a fancy college at a much higher cost than a good instate flagship or a lower ranked school with substantial merit aid. I have seen much of the world and worked with a wide range of people and know fully well you can go to a "lower" or state public school and still have a very successful life, and that you can go to an expensive school and have a struggling life.
In many ways I would prefer for the children to go instate at the flagship and put aside 100k for their first down payment. That would be more beneficial in the long run.
To keep my post relevant to the thread, my advice to parents and students starting the process is to go to the cheapest college option (within reason) and make that work for you. Even if you can afford full freight carefully consider the advantage of having the differential to use for graduate school or to help with the first down payment.
Just don't assume that 90-100k debt for any school, including the Ivies, will ever truly pay off. Of course if money is genuinely not an issue it's a different scenario.
Insisting on instate flagship (when money is not a huge issue) is fine if you live in Virginia or California. But if we lived in MD or PA. I’d happily pay full freight for a private if that’s what the kid chose.
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