Reply to How do most middle to UMC families pay for college?

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "How do most middle to UMC families pay for college?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I for the life of me do not understand how this country let college cost be determined by parent income.  Middle class and [b]UMC are in no more financial position to pay for college than those making 50-60k a year[/b], unless those MC and UMC forewent houses, cars, etc. - which would undermine a large portion of the economy.  The fact that the equity in my home is considered accessible to pay for college is ludicrous.  The whole system is broken, very broken.[/quote]

This is ludicrous, as it relates to UMC families.  We are UMC, and have saved more than $300k in various 529s for our rising senior's college tuition and other college expenses.   That's sufficient, when including available cashflow, for one kid to attend a private college, or two to attend state schools.  And that was not, by any means, the limit to what we could have saved; we stopped dedicated college savings a few years ago and redirected to a taxable account, to provide more flexibility.

It requires planning, and dedication to savings, but UMC families can (and should, in my view) absolutely pay for their children's college.  Or are you one of those people who whines that you shoudl get financial aid on your $350k income because you have overspent for decades?

Also, please tell us why why home equity shouldn't be included in financial aid calculations, and if it isn't, how abuses can be curtailed.

[/quote]

You are the exception. You still are not in a position to pay full freight at Gettysburg College or Washington and Lee without an impact on you. But in the latter, a kid’s whose parents make $80k or below goes for free.

The system also does not account for the fact that people make more money as their kids grow up, so capturing the income made the year prior to college is just a snapshot.[/quote]

Nobody pays full freight for Gettysburg.  Literally everyone gets some merit aid.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics