Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids don't know about their trust funds, so we plan to have them take out a portion of their educational costs in loans. Assuming they graduate and do well, the loans will be paid off (but they don't know that). A little skin in the game, whether real or perceived, is a good thing, I think.

This is brilliant. I am going to suggest to DH that we do something similar.

So this is an entirely different situation than 99% of people are facing. My hope would be to raise a kid who understands that understands that she has "skin in the game" because it's her education/life and I would consider it a great blessing if she could make her decisions without the overhang of educational debt. I'm not going to treat my kid graduating college like a toddler.

Presumably they are taking out the loans or weighing their educational options as high school juniors and seniors, not 21 or 22 year olds graduating. I will absolutely treat my 16 and my 22 year old differently as far as what information I give them.

My kids did 2 years at community college, then transferred to UVA (older DD) and GMU (younger DD). They graduated with less than $25K of debt. We did not pay a cent.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids don't know about their trust funds, so we plan to have them take out a portion of their educational costs in loans. Assuming they graduate and do well, the loans will be paid off (but they don't know that). A little skin in the game, whether real or perceived, is a good thing, I think.

This is brilliant. I am going to suggest to DH that we do something similar.

So this is an entirely different situation than 99% of people are facing. My hope would be to raise a kid who understands that understands that she has "skin in the game" because it's her education/life and I would consider it a great blessing if she could make her decisions without the overhang of educational debt. I'm not going to treat my kid graduating college like a toddler.

And that's great! I'm not going to tell my 18 year old that they have a trust fund. I don't consider that making them like toddlers, I think that until you are in that position as a parent you really have no idea what you would do. We all do our best. That's great that your hypothetical 18 year old with a hypothetical trust will be so mature.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our kids don't know about their trust funds, so we plan to have them take out a portion of their educational costs in loans. Assuming they graduate and do well, the loans will be paid off (but they don't know that). A little skin in the game, whether real or perceived, is a good thing, I think.

This is brilliant. I am going to suggest to DH that we do something similar.

So this is an entirely different situation than 99% of people are facing. My hope would be to raise a kid who understands that understands that she has "skin in the game" because it's her education/life and I would consider it a great blessing if she could make her decisions without the overhang of educational debt. I'm not going to treat my kid graduating college like a toddler.

Anonymous wrote:Don't get me wrong, we are putting away $$ in a 529... but neither my nor my husband got our degrees without some debt. Is everyone planning to cover the cost for their kids or is there still something to be said for a kid having a part in paying for their education?

Yes. Funding a public, in-state college, living on campus. That's what we can afford.

Anonymous wrote:

Here is how you will do it:

You will save as much as you can

You will encourage your child to perform at the highest possible level given his capabilities

You will consider in-state options

You will consider out of state options, public and private, that offer merit aid. The key will be identifying schools for which your child is very well-qualified by a large margin, e.g. schools in which your child is in the top 25% of admitted freshmen. Those are the schools that will award your child big merit scholarships. This part of the exercise entails losing whatever attachment you may have to brand names, because brand-name schools do not, by and large, award any merit aid at all.

Buy the book The College Solution and read it cover to cover. Then apply its strategy.

Good advice. We did not read the book but did all the things you listed. At a 300K HHI, we are not paying anything for our students undergrad degree, every thing was paid by merit scholarship. All the money saved, will now go for graduate or professional school.

Anonymous wrote:We hope to have 1/2 saved in a 529, pay for 1/4 outright, and have our child take a loan for the remaining 1/4.

We are not saving for college per se, but investing in RE such that hopefully its rent would pay for (most) of the college costs at that time.

We hope to have 1/2 saved in a 529, pay for 1/4 outright, and have our child take a loan for the remaining 1/4.

We did not pay for our kids to attend college. We told them they had to get scholarships or go to community college and work part time to cover it. We do not live a lavish lifestyle, but we have always been savers and had enough to cover in state for both kids. It turns out they didn't need it.

They were both RA's (free room and board) and had on campus jobs, they both got several scholarships (the little ones add up) and were very resourceful to get the money they needed. My son who majored in computer science at GA Tech had his entire junior and senior year covered after a summer job at CSX (the train company) turned into a permanent job offer with full benefits and tuition reimbursement.

It's shocking what you can do when you think you have to. I will add that we did end up giving them both pretty large financial gifts upon graduation.

Anonymous wrote:Our kids don't know about their trust funds, so we plan to have them take out a portion of their educational costs in loans. Assuming they graduate and do well, the loans will be paid off (but they don't know that). A little skin in the game, whether real or perceived, is a good thing, I think.

This is brilliant. I am going to suggest to DH that we do something similar.

I wish, but we just can't swing it. Not with 3 kids all 2 years apart. We are aiming to save $100k for each child, so that we can cover at least half - or two years of college. And if one of them decides not to go to school, or gets a scholarship then maybe we'd have enough to foot the bill for the other two. We're totally ok with this. If they don't want to accrue debt, then can go to CC for two years, then use our money to finish up at a 4-year school. And we'll explain to them that mom & dad did the best they could.

Anonymous wrote:My parent paid some, but gosh I don't know HOW in this day and age my husband and I will ever be able to do it! We are 4 years away from our first going, and it looks nearly impossible even now! I had jobs, worked on campus for few room and board, yet still I had 10k in loans. And thats nothing compared to what my kids are going to be saddled with. It's definitely a haves versus have-nots world.

Here is how you will do it:

You will save as much as you can

You will encourage your child to perform at the highest possible level given his capabilities

You will consider in-state options

You will consider out of state options, public and private, that offer merit aid. The key will be identifying schools for which your child is very well-qualified by a large margin, e.g. schools in which your child is in the top 25% of admitted freshmen. Those are the schools that will award your child big merit scholarships. This part of the exercise entails losing whatever attachment you may have to brand names, because brand-name schools do not, by and large, award any merit aid at all.

Buy the book The College Solution and read it cover to cover. Then apply its strategy.

Anonymous wrote:Our son went to a top quality private college on the GI Bill. Most private schools have the "yellow ribbon" program which picks up whatever the GI Bill doesn't cover in tuition. Our daughter did Americorps, which paid part, got scholarship from school and we paid the rest.

That is fine, and I applaud you and your kids.
But some (I think most) here do not wish to take chances of our door bell ringed by two solemn uniformed officers.
And that is our choice, and also a major reason why some of us came to this country.

Our son went to a top quality private college on the GI Bill. Most private schools have the "yellow ribbon" program which picks up whatever the GI Bill doesn't cover in tuition. Our daughter did Americorps, which paid part, got scholarship from school and we paid the rest.

Anonymous wrote:Nope. My kids can pay for their own college. It certainly won't kill them, and it will make them appreciate it more. Nothing is free in this world. Why should they begin their adult lives thinking that college is?

It might kill them, actually. They will be in debt for a long, long time if they have to pay for it on their own.

Note that they cannot take out loans above the federal maximum ($5500 the first year, going up to $7500 the fourth). So you'll need to take out Parent Plus loans for them, if that is the route you go.