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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Who exactly should pay for your kids' education if not the parents? Sure, it would be great if tuition were lower or if we have a national plan to subsidize it for everyone, but we don't. So today, who should pay? If you've really got millions in retirement, why shouldn't you be expected to draw down some of that? The rest of us don't have that much because we set some aside for our kids. Shouldn't those people get financial relief before you? What about people who started out at the starting line, while you were already on second base because your parents were able to put you through college without saddling you with loans like the rest of us? How about everyone whose parents paid for their wedding, or even chipped in? How about everyone whose parents helped them afford to buy a house before the prices shot through the roof? How about married couples where one spouse got to stay home and not work for money? Why should they qualify for more aid than the families where both parents tried their best to earn and save? Maybe these people should step aside till everyone else gets a break finally?

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OMG to 2:44. This is 21:26 back. You’ve made a lot of assumptions. Let me debunk them. First, we were planning (and still will) sell off some 401k to fund college. The point is, dear alma mater would give us nothing. We don’t expect to spend down all of the accounts, but the financial aid process is so hurried and stressful that I was never able to explain that, and I’m not sure it would have mattered to them. They have their secret “formula,” their calculations from the CSS, and the formula is not transparent. In fact, the financial aid rep said, “I’m so sorry. You did everything right. You remind me of my family, in the same situation.” Did you know that some couples in NY and the good old tri-state area are divorcing, so that they can collect financial aid for their kids’ college expenses?

Second, why do you assume I started on second base? I was a first gen student (as was my husband). We both came from lower income, working class families and no one paid for anything for us. I did thankfully benefit from financial aid and academic scholarships, but stool graduated with more than $20k in student loan debt - back in the ‘80s. What’s more, since neither of us came from wealth, we ended up paying to help support our aging parents - more thousands that were not available for 529s.

Please reconsider how you judge people. There are plenty of people like me out there - sure, some became incredibly wealthy, most improved their lot in life, thank God, but we can’t easily afford sky high tuition. My first DC ended up at a much lower ranked university (think in the 200s) and is now trying to transfer out to a better institution. We can afford the $75k for two years but not four.  [/quote]

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