Fully Funded College

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the posts are about VA schools. UVA is a very good school. Would you make your kid go to UMD if they got into Michigan, Tufts, Wake Forest, Carnegie Mellon or other top 30 schools? I think that where you go to college stays with you the rest of your life. Every time you give a presentation and you’re introduced your education is usually mentioned. Throughout your life probably thousands of people will ask you. Whether we like it or not, people make judgements about you based on this, whether it’s a potential employer or love interest.

I'm a female executive at an IT company and I speak all the time at conferences and events in the DC area. I'm never ever introduced and my college mentioned. Never. I went to UMASS and people cannjufge away. I think your statement is about your own insecurity, not the reality. Nobody cares about your degree beyond your first and maybe, just maybe second job. I run an organization of 1500 people and nobody is impressed of you went to Tufts. When I review a linked in profile, I rarely scroll to the bottom. I don't care when you did in 2004, let alone where you graduated from in 1998.

I’m a female executive also and I speak frequently and have attended hundreds of conferences and meetings over a 35 year career. Every speaker’s bio always includes where they went to college and or grad/law school. Most bios of board members of organizations list where they went to college. Maybe not so much in IT but most other professions. A good school is one more asset, why not give your child every possible leg up, if you can afford it. BTW - UMASS is perfectly fine. No need to feel you are being judged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the posts are about VA schools. UVA is a very good school. Would you make your kid go to UMD if they got into Michigan, Tufts, Wake Forest, Carnegie Mellon or other top 30 schools? I think that where you go to college stays with you the rest of your life. Every time you give a presentation and you’re introduced your education is usually mentioned. Throughout your life probably thousands of people will ask you. Whether we like it or not, people make judgements about you based on this, whether it’s a potential employer or love interest.

I'm a female executive at an IT company and I speak all the time at conferences and events in the DC area. I'm never ever introduced and my college mentioned. Never. I went to UMASS and people cannjufge away. I think your statement is about your own insecurity, not the reality. Nobody cares about your degree beyond your first and maybe, just maybe second job. I run an organization of 1500 people and nobody is impressed of you went to Tufts. When I review a linked in profile, I rarely scroll to the bottom. I don't care when you did in 2004, let alone where you graduated from in 1998.

What role are you in?

If degree didn’t matter, you would see lifetime earnings converge for college gradutes. Yet we know that lifetime earnings are correlated to college attended. Probably some limitation to causation there, but college is playing some role in this. To be clear, I’m not necessarily a proponent of going to the “best” school you can go to. For example, a young adult looking to go into teaching, nursing or accounting should be balancing cost against school prestige looking to achieve an optimal outcome. On the other hand, a young adult looking at high finance, elite IT jobs, big law or something similar does need to position herself to have an elite resume. For example, lawyers that speak at conferences always have their undergrad and law school mentioned.

I'm not going to out myself. There are very few women in my capacity.

There are no such thing as "elite" IT jobs. Bright people work their way into the best jobs. Brilliance and your alma matter are mutually exclusive. Our EVP of engineering, who is brilliant, holds patents, and is currently a pioneer in quantum computing did not even finish his college education. Most people cant even wrap their head around quantum compute.

And yet lifetime earnings are correlated to the college you graduated from.....

Yes, there are examples of numerous individuals who worked their way up from less than top tier schools. But Google and Facebook are dominated by a subset of colleges. In other industries, especially finance, law and medicine your undergrad is very important to your ultimate career outcome.

Again, I’m not suggesting students always pursue the most prestigious schools. I think that the vast vast majority of families should take a stronger cost benefit analysis on this topic. But pretending there is absolutely no difference between attending Harvard and LSU is silly.

Actually, they don't....and when you account for the cost and loans associated with these schools, you might make less. You, like many others on this board suffer from shared delusion, yo probably got this shared delusion from your parent or maybe a peer. That is like saying there is more of an ROI on buying a Lexus vs a Toyota. Both get you around, both are safe and reliable, but the Lexus will not benefit you more once you drive it off the lot. Nothing wrong at all with the more expensive car or education, but don't get carried away and start making things up because you happened to go and expensive school that you probably took years to pay off.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/what-is-an-elite-college-really-worth/521577/

[Anonymous]

DC is a residential student at UMD. We live nearby. Fully funded means we pay per semester, no loans.

We did not save up for DC and are paying as we go. I was a SAHM for 15 years and returned to work p/t a few years ago. My modest salary goes right to tuition. We have one more child starting college in 2 years so will do the same.

DC has to work summers and winter break. No car, although we have an extra car for borrowing while at home.

DC had to stay in-state and we only will pay for four years. Grad school or summer school or taking an extra year or two to graduate is on DC.

We live conservatively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the posts are about VA schools. UVA is a very good school. Would you make your kid go to UMD if they got into Michigan, Tufts, Wake Forest, Carnegie Mellon or other top 30 schools? I think that where you go to college stays with you the rest of your life. Every time you give a presentation and you’re introduced your education is usually mentioned. Throughout your life probably thousands of people will ask you. Whether we like it or not, people make judgements about you based on this, whether it’s a potential employer or love interest.

I'm a female executive at an IT company and I speak all the time at conferences and events in the DC area. I'm never ever introduced and my college mentioned. Never. I went to UMASS and people cannjufge away. I think your statement is about your own insecurity, not the reality. Nobody cares about your degree beyond your first and maybe, just maybe second job. I run an organization of 1500 people and nobody is impressed of you went to Tufts. When I review a linked in profile, I rarely scroll to the bottom. I don't care when you did in 2004, let alone where you graduated from in 1998.

In IT it doesn't matter. My husband went to a school no one has ever heard of and is doing well. However, I wouldn't want my doctor preforming surgery going to that school or the worst rated medical school when its life or death. It really depends on the degree and profession.

+1. In the legal profession, the school does matter (although I can see that it does not matter in IT).

I got a BA from a large state university (nothing fancy) in 1992, and then went to a Top 5 law school (1993-1996). Going to that particular law school was very transformative for my entire career and life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My brother lives in a small northern European country and has never thought of funding a college. His kid is studying engineering and he doesn't need to pay a dime.

+1. Interestingly, in Europe, most people don't have to worry about the 2 issues that are the most stressful for Americans - (a) funding health care; and (b) funding a university education. Maybe the quality of life in the US would be better if people did not need to be stressed about these things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My brother lives in a small northern European country and has never thought of funding a college. His kid is studying engineering and he doesn't need to pay a dime.

+1. Interestingly, in Europe, most people don't have to worry about the 2 issues that are the most stressful for Americans - (a) funding health care; and (b) funding a university education. Maybe the quality of life in the US would be better if people did not need to be stressed about these things.

True, but two my nephews in Germany were never given the chance and this decision was made for them at the start of 5th grade. One was sent to Hauptschulen and the other to Realschulen. Only kids who are sent to Gymnasium and pass their Abitur are given one of the coveted spots in college.

I do think there are merits to selective schooling, but can you imagine the riots in the US if we were told that our kids college fate would be determined by their performance at the end of 4th grade? Selective schooling also falls heavily along racial and economic lines of division. That is the trade off for a free education, at least how it is practiced in the EU and many parts of Asia. I did grow up in Germany and went to Gymnasium and was very very lucky to have parents with money and they allowed me to attend college in the US (met my DH there and here I still live 22yrs later, more of my life now spent in the US than Germany).

I have a 13yr old and when he was in early elementary he did very poorly on his standardized tests. I highly doubt he would have been placed in Gymnasium, he was very immature and did not care. I sometimes wondered if he was ADHD. He is now in 8th grade, taking Algebra 2 and has all honors courses. So far he is all straight As this quarter and we are so happy the student he has matured into. I feel like if he had been born in Germany, he might have been looked over, or we might have put an enormous amount of pressure on him when he was in early elementary do push himself to places he was not ready to be pushed to.

just remember, things often look great and they can be, but there is always a downside. My kids are fluent in German and we have family there and my son has already talked about going to school in Germany which would make me so happy if he was able to test in as an international student, as I know my experience as an international student in the US was incredible. I'm not sure he will be so excited when he sees that German college is all about work and no fun whatsoever. There are no sports, no clubs, no dorms, and the schools have NO FRILLS. There are no nice campuses, no beautiful gym facilities, no cafeteria filled with options. It is very much economical, spartan, and very business like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the posts are about VA schools. UVA is a very good school. Would you make your kid go to UMD if they got into Michigan, Tufts, Wake Forest, Carnegie Mellon or other top 30 schools? I think that where you go to college stays with you the rest of your life. Every time you give a presentation and you’re introduced your education is usually mentioned. Throughout your life probably thousands of people will ask you. Whether we like it or not, people make judgements about you based on this, whether it’s a potential employer or love interest.

I'm a female executive at an IT company and I speak all the time at conferences and events in the DC area. I'm never ever introduced and my college mentioned. Never. I went to UMASS and people cannjufge away. I think your statement is about your own insecurity, not the reality. Nobody cares about your degree beyond your first and maybe, just maybe second job. I run an organization of 1500 people and nobody is impressed of you went to Tufts. When I review a linked in profile, I rarely scroll to the bottom. I don't care when you did in 2004, let alone where you graduated from in 1998.

What role are you in?

If degree didn’t matter, you would see lifetime earnings converge for college gradutes. Yet we know that lifetime earnings are correlated to college attended. Probably some limitation to causation there, but college is playing some role in this. To be clear, I’m not necessarily a proponent of going to the “best” school you can go to. For example, a young adult looking to go into teaching, nursing or accounting should be balancing cost against school prestige looking to achieve an optimal outcome. On the other hand, a young adult looking at high finance, elite IT jobs, big law or something similar does need to position herself to have an elite resume. For example, lawyers that speak at conferences always have their undergrad and law school mentioned.

I'm not going to out myself. There are very few women in my capacity.

There are no such thing as "elite" IT jobs. Bright people work their way into the best jobs. Brilliance and your alma matter are mutually exclusive. Our EVP of engineering, who is brilliant, holds patents, and is currently a pioneer in quantum computing did not even finish his college education. Most people cant even wrap their head around quantum compute.

And yet lifetime earnings are correlated to the college you graduated from.....

Yes, there are examples of numerous individuals who worked their way up from less than top tier schools. But Google and Facebook are dominated by a subset of colleges. In other industries, especially finance, law and medicine your undergrad is very important to your ultimate career outcome.

Again, I’m not suggesting students always pursue the most prestigious schools. I think that the vast vast majority of families should take a stronger cost benefit analysis on this topic. But pretending there is absolutely no difference between attending Harvard and LSU is silly.

Actually, they don't....and when you account for the cost and loans associated with these schools, you might make less. You, like many others on this board suffer from shared delusion, yo probably got this shared delusion from your parent or maybe a peer. That is like saying there is more of an ROI on buying a Lexus vs a Toyota. Both get you around, both are safe and reliable, but the Lexus will not benefit you more once you drive it off the lot. Nothing wrong at all with the more expensive car or education, but don't get carried away and start making things up because you happened to go and expensive school that you probably took years to pay off.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/what-is-an-elite-college-really-worth/521577/

1. I said multiple times that for most students the more prestigious option should not be the default and prospective parents and students should seek to optimize value.

2. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/08/22/study-finds-graduates-most-selective-colleges-enjoy-earnings-payoff

3. The Lexus is better than its Toyota cousin. The question is whether the increased price is justified by the incrementally better car. In most cases, I would say that the Lexus price is not justified. But I recognize that under a certain set of circumstances, the Lexus may be the better benefit for the owner. For example, a person that regularly drives clients around may need the Lexus version of the car to impress clients.

[Anonymous]

This thread makes no sense to me. Fully funded means family money or a trust fund. Or grandparents put away a half million when the child was born for education purposes. Or it means you work for a college and your child gets fully funded tuition if admitted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes no sense to me. Fully funded means family money or a trust fund. Or grandparents put away a half million when the child was born for education purposes. Or it means you work for a college and your child gets fully funded tuition if admitted.

What if I have already put $0.5M in a 529 for my kid? How is that different than if my parents had done so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the posts are about VA schools. UVA is a very good school. Would you make your kid go to UMD if they got into Michigan, Tufts, Wake Forest, Carnegie Mellon or other top 30 schools? I think that where you go to college stays with you the rest of your life. Every time you give a presentation and you’re introduced your education is usually mentioned. Throughout your life probably thousands of people will ask you. Whether we like it or not, people make judgements about you based on this, whether it’s a potential employer or love interest.

I'm a female executive at an IT company and I speak all the time at conferences and events in the DC area. I'm never ever introduced and my college mentioned. Never. I went to UMASS and people cannjufge away. I think your statement is about your own insecurity, not the reality. Nobody cares about your degree beyond your first and maybe, just maybe second job. I run an organization of 1500 people and nobody is impressed of you went to Tufts. When I review a linked in profile, I rarely scroll to the bottom. I don't care when you did in 2004, let alone where you graduated from in 1998.

What role are you in?

If degree didn’t matter, you would see lifetime earnings converge for college gradutes. Yet we know that lifetime earnings are correlated to college attended. Probably some limitation to causation there, but college is playing some role in this. To be clear, I’m not necessarily a proponent of going to the “best” school you can go to. For example, a young adult looking to go into teaching, nursing or accounting should be balancing cost against school prestige looking to achieve an optimal outcome. On the other hand, a young adult looking at high finance, elite IT jobs, big law or something similar does need to position herself to have an elite resume. For example, lawyers that speak at conferences always have their undergrad and law school mentioned.

I'm not going to out myself. There are very few women in my capacity.

There are no such thing as "elite" IT jobs. Bright people work their way into the best jobs. Brilliance and your alma matter are mutually exclusive. Our EVP of engineering, who is brilliant, holds patents, and is currently a pioneer in quantum computing did not even finish his college education. Most people cant even wrap their head around quantum compute.

And yet lifetime earnings are correlated to the college you graduated from.....

Yes, there are examples of numerous individuals who worked their way up from less than top tier schools. But Google and Facebook are dominated by a subset of colleges. In other industries, especially finance, law and medicine your undergrad is very important to your ultimate career outcome.

Again, I’m not suggesting students always pursue the most prestigious schools. I think that the vast vast majority of families should take a stronger cost benefit analysis on this topic. But pretending there is absolutely no difference between attending Harvard and LSU is silly.

Actually, they don't....and when you account for the cost and loans associated with these schools, you might make less. You, like many others on this board suffer from shared delusion, yo probably got this shared delusion from your parent or maybe a peer. That is like saying there is more of an ROI on buying a Lexus vs a Toyota. Both get you around, both are safe and reliable, but the Lexus will not benefit you more once you drive it off the lot. Nothing wrong at all with the more expensive car or education, but don't get carried away and start making things up because you happened to go and expensive school that you probably took years to pay off.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/what-is-an-elite-college-really-worth/521577/

1. I said multiple times that for most students the more prestigious option should not be the default and prospective parents and students should seek to optimize value.

2. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/08/22/study-finds-graduates-most-selective-colleges-enjoy-earnings-payoff

3. The Lexus is better than its Toyota cousin. The question is whether the increased price is justified by the incrementally better car. In most cases, I would say that the Lexus price is not justified. But I recognize that under a certain set of circumstances, the Lexus may be the better benefit for the owner. For example, a person that regularly drives clients around may need the Lexus version of the car to impress clients.

Ok. You're a nitwit.

That's all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My brother lives in a small northern European country and has never thought of funding a college. His kid is studying engineering and he doesn't need to pay a dime.

+1. Interestingly, in Europe, most people don't have to worry about the 2 issues that are the most stressful for Americans - (a) funding health care; and (b) funding a university education. Maybe the quality of life in the US would be better if people did not need to be stressed about these things.

True, but two my nephews in Germany were never given the chance and this decision was made for them at the start of 5th grade. One was sent to Hauptschulen and the other to Realschulen. Only kids who are sent to Gymnasium and pass their Abitur are given one of the coveted spots in college.

I do think there are merits to selective schooling, but can you imagine the riots in the US if we were told that our kids college fate would be determined by their performance at the end of 4th grade? Selective schooling also falls heavily along racial and economic lines of division. That is the trade off for a free education, at least how it is practiced in the EU and many parts of Asia. I did grow up in Germany and went to Gymnasium and was very very lucky to have parents with money and they allowed me to attend college in the US (met my DH there and here I still live 22yrs later, more of my life now spent in the US than Germany).

I have a 13yr old and when he was in early elementary he did very poorly on his standardized tests. I highly doubt he would have been placed in Gymnasium, he was very immature and did not care. I sometimes wondered if he was ADHD. He is now in 8th grade, taking Algebra 2 and has all honors courses. So far he is all straight As this quarter and we are so happy the student he has matured into. I feel like if he had been born in Germany, he might have been looked over, or we might have put an enormous amount of pressure on him when he was in early elementary do push himself to places he was not ready to be pushed to.

just remember, things often look great and they can be, but there is always a downside. My kids are fluent in German and we have family there and my son has already talked about going to school in Germany which would make me so happy if he was able to test in as an international student, as I know my experience as an international student in the US was incredible. I'm not sure he will be so excited when he sees that German college is all about work and no fun whatsoever. There are no sports, no clubs, no dorms, and the schools have NO FRILLS. There are no nice campuses, no beautiful gym facilities, no cafeteria filled with options. It is very much economical, spartan, and very business like.

+1. I think it’s parhetic that the PP doesn’t realize there is most likely a barrier to entry for something that is “free.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My brother lives in a small northern European country and has never thought of funding a college. His kid is studying engineering and he doesn't need to pay a dime.

+1. Interestingly, in Europe, most people don't have to worry about the 2 issues that are the most stressful for Americans - (a) funding health care; and (b) funding a university education. Maybe the quality of life in the US would be better if people did not need to be stressed about these things.

True, but two my nephews in Germany were never given the chance and this decision was made for them at the start of 5th grade. One was sent to Hauptschulen and the other to Realschulen. Only kids who are sent to Gymnasium and pass their Abitur are given one of the coveted spots in college.

I do think there are merits to selective schooling, but can you imagine the riots in the US if we were told that our kids college fate would be determined by their performance at the end of 4th grade? Selective schooling also falls heavily along racial and economic lines of division. That is the trade off for a free education, at least how it is practiced in the EU and many parts of Asia. I did grow up in Germany and went to Gymnasium and was very very lucky to have parents with money and they allowed me to attend college in the US (met my DH there and here I still live 22yrs later, more of my life now spent in the US than Germany).

I have a 13yr old and when he was in early elementary he did very poorly on his standardized tests. I highly doubt he would have been placed in Gymnasium, he was very immature and did not care. I sometimes wondered if he was ADHD. He is now in 8th grade, taking Algebra 2 and has all honors courses. So far he is all straight As this quarter and we are so happy the student he has matured into. I feel like if he had been born in Germany, he might have been looked over, or we might have put an enormous amount of pressure on him when he was in early elementary do push himself to places he was not ready to be pushed to.

just remember, things often look great and they can be, but there is always a downside. My kids are fluent in German and we have family there and my son has already talked about going to school in Germany which would make me so happy if he was able to test in as an international student, as I know my experience as an international student in the US was incredible. I'm not sure he will be so excited when he sees that German college is all about work and no fun whatsoever. There are no sports, no clubs, no dorms, and the schools have NO FRILLS. There are no nice campuses, no beautiful gym facilities, no cafeteria filled with options. It is very much economical, spartan, and very business like.

Thank you. It's so frustrating when people go on about the amazing European systems and they simply ignore these issues. I did badly on early testing (they told my mother I was probably "retarded," as they said in those days) and then went on to be a National Merit Scholar (I just didn't see the point of working too hard on those early tests). I, too, wonder what would have happened to a late bloomer like me in a system like Germany's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure what people mean by fully funded. Our financial planner advised us to not over save in a 529, so we have stopped contributing for now.

Different financial goals. We fully fund the 529s to create tax-free generational wealth. Our grandchildren can use the 529 money leftover after our kids’ college and grad school costs.

Interesting idea. It has to be used for educational expenses, unless you want to pay the tax penalty on the earnings.

Sure. We’re banking on grandchildren and those grandchildren having educational expenses sometime from K through grad school.

I don’t want to put the of grandchildren on my own kids, and I’d rather build wealth that doesn’t have strings attached, but I can see that this would be an appealing strategy. I will ask our financial adviser about it.

Why wouldn't you try to use a Roth IRA to build generational wealth that has no strings attached?

Our advisor has recommended against Roths for us, so we do traditional IRAs. I just want to ask what he thinks of over-funding 529s for a future generation to use.

Kids have to have earned incomes to have ROTH IRAs. Inherited roths have required distributions, but 529s continue to grow with earnings not being taxed, ever. Over funding 529s to have them benefit grandkids is a great option for people who can afford it.

ROTH IRAs are great but if you have traditional IRAs then you can't do a ROTH conversion in a worthwhile way, and if your income is low enough that you can deduct IRAs then that may make more sense for your personal situation. There are a lot of reasons to do ROTHS but your advisor knows your personal situation and what makes sense for you.

Most 529s have limits on how much you can put into them. They're set by the states, but I think the max is $380,000.

[Anonymous]

Fully funded to me means that with conservative growth assumptions, our current balances will be able to cover 4 years of tuition, room and board. We have 2 kids and there will be 1 year they are both in college. We are budgeting for 1 kid to go to a private college full pay and 1 to get merit aid or go to a VA in-state. If they both go private, we’ll have to cover the difference or find a way to spread the burden across both kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This thread makes no sense to me. Fully funded means family money or a trust fund. Or grandparents put away a half million when the child was born for education purposes. Or it means you work for a college and your child gets fully funded tuition if admitted.

What if I have already put $0.5M in a 529 for my kid? How is that different than if my parents had done so.

Agree. I had enough in both my kids accounts to pay 4 years of tuition. That means fully funded to me. We saved, and the accounts grew. No family money or trust fund. Maybe the PP means someone else was funding college? But that was not the OPs question.