Is anyone not saving to pay for all of their kids' college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My sister and BIL are not. I think they secretly hope BIL’s parents will cave and pay for it but SIL would rather stay home and drive a fancy car than save for her kids college.

Ehh. See nothing wrong with this.

It is crappy if a parent does not contribute the EFC. You are really screwing over your kid.

[Anonymous]

We didn't.

We gambled on us making enough money to cover tuition for in-state.

And it's worked pretty well. Our oldest is taking about $5K in loans annually for each school year and we've been paying cash for the rest. She will graduate with about $20K in debt which I don't think is horrible and gives her some skin in the game. We are covering everything else with cash.

[Anonymous]

I think parents who drive luxury cars and live a lavish life in other ways but don’t even offer to pay in-state college costs for their kids are really low class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think parents who drive luxury cars and live a lavish life in other ways but don’t even offer to pay in-state college costs for their kids are really low class.

Does that even happen? We drive luxury cars and our kids go to private school and I can’t imagine parents who are already paying 45kyr for an independent school are going to stop at college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:no. They can join the military

Great advice. My brother did that, though he went to the naval academy and the military paid for it. He then returnd the payment when he was in a helicopter and got shot down in Afghanistan and repaid the military with his life.

Not sure people really understand what “joining the military” means.

And my DH got free college through ROTC, a MS degree while still earning his full salary, was a military engineer and never deployed once. It can be a great deal.

If 1st PP is RM’s sister, we miss him, too.

God Bless you and your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think parents who drive luxury cars and live a lavish life in other ways but don’t even offer to pay in-state college costs for their kids are really low class.

I know someone like this. Spends money on things like Tumi luggage and Manolos, but didn't save a cent for two DCs' college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid also got NMS scholarship of $4K at the in-state flagship. Some schools will give the entire tuition, room and board, stipend to NMS semifinalists. That is an option.

If your kid earns a NMS scholarship, there are plenty of private colleges they could attend for 75% tuition or more as merit. Not elite universities, but great schools that will give merit awards to attract good talent like that. There are choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Speaking of CC’s, the first 2 years at CC becomes irrelevant because the last 2 years of college (transfer into a university) is where you get the degree.

Emphasizing this as well. DS has just completed 2 years of CC and is transferring into a state university this fall with all his general ed CC courses completed and credited toward his 4-year degree. When DS graduates in the spring of 2024, we'll have spent $60K total to get him a degree from a 4-year state university; $10K for 2 years of CC, $50K for 2-years of tuition, R&B at the state university. Worst case scenario and DS doesn't graduate (b/c lets be honest, kids drop out of college all the time in the first 2-years), he'll still at least have an associates degree, which at least is more than a high school diploma.

I will also note I was a single parent and wasn't able to start saving until DS was 10-years old. For the past 10 years I've put aside $200/month without fail, and have been able to save enough to pay for a year and a half of state university. And that's with only get a small rate of return on my investments in a 529. Everything else I have been (or plan) to pay as I go. Worst case scenario, if I'm short, I'll ask DS to take a small $5K federal loan, since the interest rate is lower than a Parent Plus loan, and then make the payments for him (or pay it off entirely) once he graduates.

Anyways, all my way of saying is that college is still entirely doable w/o needing to set aside a significant sum of money every month from birth, and perhaps a little compromising a bit on the path to the 4-year degree. IMHO, those families that sock away $200K or more for a 4-year degree (which often can take more than 4-years) are the real financial fools. There are plenty of avenues to a college degree that are less costly and have the same return on investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people can't afford to save anything. I'm a single parent and a teacher and I took on 2 second jobs just to save anything at all. I might have around $20k saved by the time she starts college next year.

If you pick the right school, with your income, she will get a ton of financial aid. So pick a school that fully meets need, ideally one that uses grants after the basic ~$5k in student loans, so you don't need to do parent loans. Find a school where she is at 75% and the acceptance rate is over 50%. She will likely get grants/merit so that you only need to pay a minimal amount each year (ie. probably less than $10K).

You can also target more elite schools with an income level like that, unless the other parent has to be considered on Financial Aid (which may be the case).

Either way, pick a school that meets need/good merit aid and where you DD is at 90% (and acceptance rates over 50%) and your kid could get significant merit aid. So affordable college is possible, it just may not be a "T20" school.

There are affordable options for everyone, you just have to search and not be obsessed with rankings. Find the place that will pay for your DD to attend.

She isn't that good of a student for an elite school and the schools where she is above 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates. I won't take out any parent loans.

Then I guess she needs to look at CC for the first 2 years. Work part time during the school year, live at home those 2 years and work full time during summer and all breaks. Then transfer to a state school for the final 2 years. Or other choice is "where she is above the 75% of crappy schools with low graduation rates". I agree that you cannot afford to take out parent loans. So in order for her to do this, she needs cheap, affordable college. So that means CC and transfer or continue to look for lesser known schools where the graduation rate is acceptable to you and find one that will give financial aide and/or merit.

Just curious, what is her GPA (W and UW) and SAT/ACT? And what might she want to study? There is a huge range between "elite qualified" and "really crappy grad rate schools". You'd be surprised that there are a ton of colleges out there, so with a bit of searching you might find the right one. And with lower income, you may be able to get application fees waived, which would allow her to apply to a few more schools in the search for the right financial aid package. Don't give up---there are affordable colleges out there.

As far as "crappy graduation rates", be sure to look into the "real graduation rates". What is the 5/6 year graduation rate vs 4 year. For a school that has a high rate of first generation or lower income students (not mutually exclusive), their rates are often somewhat lower, as those kids might take breaks to help family, because they need to work to have $$ for the next semester or for whatever reasons as navigating college when you don't have family to help you can be challenging. Most schools provide the data somewhere and if you delve deep into it, you find that there can be a 5-10% difference in graduation rates for first gen students and everyone else at many good schools---no matter how much assistance the school provides, there are still issues outside of their control (finances often being a large part of it). Since you are not first generation and your DD has you at home to help her navigate, her experience would be different, I suspect.

Her GPA is a 3.3 unweighted and maybe 3.5 weighted. She goes to a private school on a mostly full scholarship. I pay a few thousand per year. Her school only reports unweighted. She's interested in business. We will look at the in-state options (Towson, UMBC, SMCM). I don't want her to go to community college.

I'm curious what you have against community college? MD has some great CCs and it is an awesome way to get part of college completed at a much more affordable rate. If you won't take parent loans, she just might not be able to attend college without other financial aid/merit aide. An 18yo cannot take more than the ~$5K in federal loans. It just isn't a possibility; and that's a good thing as no 18 yo should really be signing away more than $20K for college.

However, could she live at home and attend Towson or UMBC? Or do you want her to have the "full college experience"---because that will cost a lot more.

CC tends to be drop-out factories. Why would I want my kid to go to school there? She can live at home and go to school nearby. I took out the max amount in student loans and so will my daughter. I had no issues paying them back either. I took out loans for grad school too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Speaking of CC’s, the first 2 years at CC becomes irrelevant because the last 2 years of college (transfer into a university) is where you get the degree.

Emphasizing this as well. DS has just completed 2 years of CC and is transferring into a state university this fall with all his general ed CC courses completed and credited toward his 4-year degree. When DS graduates in the spring of 2024, we'll have spent $60K total to get him a degree from a 4-year state university; $10K for 2 years of CC, $50K for 2-years of tuition, R&B at the state university. Worst case scenario and DS doesn't graduate (b/c lets be honest, kids drop out of college all the time in the first 2-years), he'll still at least have an associates degree, which at least is more than a high school diploma.

I will also note I was a single parent and wasn't able to start saving until DS was 10-years old. For the past 10 years I've put aside $200/month without fail, and have been able to save enough to pay for a year and a half of state university. And that's with only get a small rate of return on my investments in a 529. Everything else I have been (or plan) to pay as I go. Worst case scenario, if I'm short, I'll ask DS to take a small $5K federal loan, since the interest rate is lower than a Parent Plus loan, and then make the payments for him (or pay it off entirely) once he graduates.

Anyways, all my way of saying is that college is still entirely doable w/o needing to set aside a significant sum of money every month from birth, and perhaps a little compromising a bit on the path to the 4-year degree. IMHO, those families that sock away $200K or more for a 4-year degree (which often can take more than 4-years) are the real financial fools. There are plenty of avenues to a college degree that are less costly and have the same return on investment.

Great way to find affordable college!!! More families should do what you are doing. I'd argue your son should takethe $5K in student loans each year if possible. Then let you help him pay them back afterwards.

However there is no need to insult parents who choose to save $200K for this kids education. If you value education and can afford to save it's definately the smart thing to do. I personally wanted my kid to have the option to attend a 4 year college and get the "full college experience" of living on campus. I can afford it because we saved over $300K for each kid (and can cash flow grad school if needed). My retirement is fully funded, my vehicles are fully paid for, my 2 homes are fully paid for, and I can afford to take most vacations that I wish to take. I'm blessed to be in a good financial position.

But once we realized that we would make too much for our kids to get financial aid (that was apparent in our 20s before we even had kids), we both felt it was our responsibility as parents to save so our kids would be able to attend a good college if they chose to. So we chose to save diligently for education.

As someone previously stated, at a minimum parents should strive to meet the EFC for their kids if at all possible. I tend to agree with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We didn’t save. We prioritize our retirement funds. However, DH made it a goal to work in a university early on to get free college tuition for my DD. He did get a job at a university so my DD’s tuition will be covered. We just have to cough up board/lodging since she doesn’t want to commute. Our house is 30 minutes away.

Most universities do not offer tuition remission for employee's dependents. Even professor's kids. Ask me how I know (sigh).

[Anonymous]

Can the “no one paid for me to go to college and I fine” crowd please admit the costs have gone up tremendously?? I too did not have parents who paid for my college but my instate tuition was like $3k and I worked and took out a small loan. But times have changed so we have saved for college so our kid is not $200k in debt when she graduates.

[Anonymous]

My parents didn’t help me at all with college and it was very stressful. I worked a lot to keep my loan amounts down, but I still came out of school in debt.

And it has gotten so much more expensive.

This is precisely why I save for my kids college. If we can’t pay all their tuition and rent, we’ll help them pay off the loans. I want them to know they are supported.

[Anonymous]

Not saving, but spouse works for a university that covers 30K. So with DC's 10K = 40K/year. That is enough for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think parents who drive luxury cars and live a lavish life in other ways but don’t even offer to pay in-state college costs for their kids are really low class.

Does that even happen? We drive luxury cars and our kids go to private school and I can’t imagine parents who are already paying 45kyr for an independent school are going to stop at college.

Yes, it does and you are extremely wealthy so you have no concept of what OP is saying. The discussion is really about lower income, under $110K a year - basically what you pay for two kids to go to the private school. Its just not possible to save after taxes.