Reply to If you are not financially well off, should you discourage moving away for college?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We would not be able to afford without saving, things like flights home nor are we financially in a place to add an additional vehicle for taking to school.

Would you discourage going away for college? [/quote]

I would highly suggest that if you are financially precarious, as we have been previously (not have 6mo emergency funds, possibly living paycheck to paycheck) that you NOT commit to a college that you cannot reasonably drive to in the car you own at the time.

So no, do not commit to a school that you cannot easily fund (without hardship) getting that kid back in an emergency situation.  Covid, injury, natural disaster or more mundane things like a kid’s poor planning, lack of friends near you for rides, insane fuel costs driving up bus prices- these all affect you financially in an unpredictable way.

However, there are high-end schools with great financial aid programs that can include stipends for traveling to and fro (whether they cover the actual cost or just lump you some random amount is another story.). So don’t cross anything off the list until you see the offer but also don’t get your kid’s hopes up.

We are a $200k earning household in a low cost of living area (so “rich” for here) and are sending our kid a plane-ride away to a school that considers our income to be “low” enough for ~50% off aid but not low enough for travel stipends.  This travel will be adding a few thousand dollars a year that we cannot use a 529 plan to pay.  With everything having increased in price ~100% in the last 5 years this “few thousand” that should be no big deal has been added to by the “few thousand” increase in our car ins & home ins, joined by the “few thousand” increase in food costs and the “few thousand” increase in gas costs and now we are at an increase in spending of ~ $15k a year.

We are old, so we cannot assume that our income will increase over his college journey if you are young maybe that is another factor to consider.[/quote]

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