Reply to How did your child pay for undergrad without going to bank of mom/dad/trust fund?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It was a bit ago, but I had a parent who wouldn't pay who made too much to qualify me for aid.  He'd worked his way through college in the 70s and thought I should do the same, with zero recognition of how things of changed.  We also lived in a low tax state without a reasonable public option.  Living at home wasn't an option as we didn't live near a college.

I got into a T10 but attended a tier 4 university for the merit scholarships.

I also got significant outside scholarships, e.g., Goldwater and local scholarships

I took out loans (the max Fed Direct loans an undergrad was allowed to take).

I worked three on campus jobs to afford living expenses, health insurance and car insurance, but still struggled to afford food.  Often attended on campus events for the free food.[/quote]
Your parent is awful.

My parents have a HS/MS education (immigrants), and while we did not have much  money, they helped a bit -- a few hundred dollars every semester. I worked, got pell grants.  No loans.  Went to a C rated state u and commuted (though I did stay in an off campus apt the first year, which parents did help pay for).  I worked a lot, to the detriment of my grades and any kind of social life.

When I went back to college away from home for a different degree, they were doing a bit better financially, so they sent me like $300 every month.

A few years later, I got a good paying job, and paid them back.  I started making six figures a couple years later.  I continued to send them more money for years, and now that they have been retired for many years, living on a fixed income, I pay for some of their living expenses.

I'm very grateful that my parents believed in me.   My kids have a 529, one in college, and everything is paid for.

DH went to college in another country when tuition was either free or at very low cost.  The government gave DH some aid for  living expenses, but DH did also work a bit PT.  When we had kids, we were talking about college, and DH said that since his parents didn't help him, the kids can work like he did.  I had to remind him that while he did work, his tuition was practically free since the government provided financial aid.  Oh, yea... he said.  Plus, college costs today are so much higher than when we went, and wages have not kept up with those cost increases.

I don't understand why parents don't help pay for some of the college costs if they can.  Sure, it's good for kids to have skin in the game, but not paying for anything if you can seems cruel.
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