Reply to 31% of millionaires think they're middle class

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's all relative but many of you are correct- you can't afford the things that you think you are entitled to. I grew up in the 80s and my parents were upper middle class but they encouraged us to go in-state or go where we got the most merit aid. All 3 of us did that and got undergrad degrees with no debt. My parents had a mortgage and needed to save for retirement. Nothing wrong with it.[/quote]

This is the problem though--the 5k my parents paid a semester for tuition for an in-state school in the 1990s, isn't 5k anymore. So a state school doesn't make it affordable necessarily.[/quote]

Almost every state has schools that are $25-35K, all in.  So instead of the $10K per year your parents put in, let's say $20K from parents (from savings and cash flow). If kid works summers, breaks and PT while in college (10 hours/week) they can earn 10K (or more).  Take the $5.5K in federal loans and you are there for most state schools.

So for UMC that is doable and for MC that is likely also doable, might just need a bit more in parent loans if parents cannot pay $20K/year.
And many state schools (outside the top flagships) will offer a bit of merit for good students, so $2-4K in merit at minimum.  Or find private schools that are more affordable.  It is possible for MC/UMC to do college with only $80K or less from parents total over 4 years. 
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Or live in a state like GA, AL, FL (among others) which give free tuition to kids with high scores. I have a family member going to Ga Tech for about $15,000 a year. [/quote]

Or if your kids are "college ready" in HS, have them do DE and get their AA while in HS.   Most places this only costs books and lab fees, and of course transportation to the CC campus for classes. But for a smart kid who is organized and ready for AP courses, they could do junior and senior year and earn their AA for less than $2K total.  Then they need 2-2.5 years typically for their four year degree (engineering might take 2.5 to 3 if not well planned AA degree).  But then you only have 2 years of college costs.

Fact is there are affordable ways to get a degree. It will not be a T50 school for very many people, but there are excellent schools out there that can be affordable, even to the donut hold/UMC/MC families.  You just have to seek it out and make affordability a key factor in the decision process. 
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