Reply to $80K+ tuition

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Reply to "$80K+ tuition"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think it matters what your financial situation is. We are in our 50s with over $6M in invested assets in addition to the college fund for our oldest with $400k set aside. We want her to go somewhere she feels good about and cost isn't really the primary consideration.  If cost is a consideration, then it's a conversation with your kid and partner as to how to make the decision. I don't think it's as easy as saying it's worth it or not based on the college ranking. Ultimately, we know from the studies that college is what you make of it. But if your kid is happy there, isn't that worth something?[/quote]

You can afford it.  You are set for retirement and have SMARTLY saved and can easily afford an $85K/year college.  However, the OP cannot.  If it requires more than the $27K total over 4 years of undergrad of federal loans, then it is NOT a smart thing to attend.  Especially when their kid wants to attend med or law school (or something like that).

So no kid's happiness is worth going into massive debt.  Their kid will be happy at other schools as well, if they decide to be.

However, if you have the money (like you do), then it is totally good to let your kid pick the best fit/what makes them happy.  My own kid chose between 2 schools ranked 30-45.  Very similar schools, both in locations that make them "not somewhere many want to be for 4 years"(put both schools in Boston or Chicago and they'd have single digit acceptance rates not 30%) so they are a Target for many kids with resumes for T20 schools. One gave my kid $168K over 4 years (basically 50% of the total cost freshman year of $85K, it would be less as prices go up).  The other school isn't known for merit and my kid got none.  We let them pick and while they liked the school with merit, it wasn't their top choice, the other school was a much better "fit"---I could see that and knew that.  We told our kid to pick without worrying about money. And we are now paying $85K/year and my kid loves it.  Best decision ever.  
However, if we didn't have a 529 with $350K+ and a net worth higher than yours (so we can easily cash flow any extras without much impact) we would have pushed them towards the school with merit and they would have come to love that school too---I mean they did choose to apply there (and it was my kid who added it in to apply, initially they didn't want to but researched more and realized it was a good fit for them).

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