10K at year at UMD for my son who works and gets his room free, best deal ever!

We are able to combine partial merit scholarships, DC Tag plus one child is a RA to have almost full rides. No loans.

Our daughter receives 7,000 from us for the yearly balance. She has a academic scholarship and is an RA (2nd year) at a private institution. Our son has a large private merit scholarship, a smaller academic scholarship from his university plus the DC Tag. He has a $3000 yearly balance at a large public institution. It is his first choice.
Our daughter has always been the better student and we allowed her to attend a college of her choice as a reward even though she received better offers from other schools. Becoming an RA was part of our agreement. We actually would have paid for the school even if she did not agree to becoming an RA but we wont tell her until she graduates next year.

Anonymous wrote:Son is on a full ride at Maryland (College Park) and we are paying $20,000/year for his sister, also at Maryland. We definitely chose the best economic option and the kids are getting an excellent education.

You are money smart!

Son is on a full ride at Maryland (College Park) and we are paying $20,000/year for his sister, also at Maryland. We definitely chose the best economic option and the kids are getting an excellent education.

$63k/year for a college that's consistently in the top 5 in the country. Not sure we'd spend that much otherwise. We're middle class, but we saved, and we're getting help from the (wealthy) grandparents.

In order for us not to borrow for college, our kids will have a budget of about $40K each. That much will come from current earnings + savings. It covers most state schools and many privates that give merit aid. Graduates these days can't count on having a job that pays enough to service student loan debt, and we are trying to save for a modest retirement while funding college - so we are avoiding student loans. I think we'll all be happy with this choice when all the kids graduate with no debt and we are then able to shovel the same amount into retirement savings!

Our oldest gets some financial aid and we pay the rest (around 35k including room and board). For our two kids still in high school we are counting on some assistance from my employer (a university) that has a tuition reimbursement benefit. Frankly, it's one of the biggest draws of my job. My salary is pretty modest but the tuition benefit makes up for a lot!

I don't have a kid in college yet, but I was reading the USNWR college guide. They were profiling a student from North Carolina. He is going to Wake Forest on a full ride. He turned down Harvard because they only offered him enough money to cover half. He also turned down Duke, Cal Tech, UVA, UNC Chapel Hill, Cornell, and U Penn. it seems like more and more people are choosing colleges that offer a better economic deal.

$65k/year for DD. well worth it considering she got an offer from Barclay's 6 months before graduation.

We were very lucky. Our kids are on scholarships.

DS - ROTC Scholarship. 100% of his tuition, books, food, and housing covered. Plus he gets a monthly check for extras.
DD - National Merit Scholar. She had schools throwing money at her. Everything except meals is covered under her scholarships.
DD - Partial scholarship for academics. The rest is a rowing scholarship.

We didn't get any need based scholarship even with three in college. We've been tell g the kids since middle school that they were going to have yo get scholarships to help with the cost of college.

DD1 is $32000 total per year at OOS public. DD2 is applying early decision at a college that will be $60,000 per year. Hopefully both will graduate in 4 years and both will likely go to grad school. And we'll pay for that. DH and I were so burdened with school loans that we planned to pay all education costs so they won't have school debt.

We figured we could pay $40K a year per child without borrowing, so that's where we set the budget. That allows for an in-state school, or most out-of-state schools, or some privates that grant merit aid. That gives us a range of schools to choose from and means we won't be borrowing for undergrad.

Anonymous wrote:Title says it all.

Currently paying $28k for first year at public OOS (that's frankly not worth it).
Hoping to work out a plan to pay $14k next year and $10k each for junior and senior years.

So, $62k when it's all said and done.

What OOS school is $28,000? Does that include room and board or just tuition?

Currently paying $58k/year. Paid whatever full tuition was the first two years. Next year will have two in college so planning on $120k.

Title says it all.

Currently paying $28k for first year at public OOS (that's frankly not worth it).
Hoping to work out a plan to pay $14k next year and $10k each for junior and senior years.

So, $62k when it's all said and done.