Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College is such a ripoff. Forget loan forgiveness, how about everyone put pressure on these universities to come back to reality. They are solely responsible for the crippling debt kids find themselves in.

College is crazy expensive, but people like OP constantly make their own beds and then down the line will cry about it. She is barely upper income for this area, she is NOT middle class and has a lot of opportunity however she is planning on squandering it on a school her kid has no business at. If parents didn’t behave like the OP and refused these obscenely expensive schools they can’t even afford, then these prices would not exist.

Americans need to take responsibility for their financial stupidity.

She is upper income. Be real. Many of us managed to save for state college on 1/2 that income.

I said upper income, did I not?

Stop being such a wretch. It’s a bad look. I’m sorry you are so bitter about saving for state school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College is such a ripoff. Forget loan forgiveness, how about everyone put pressure on these universities to come back to reality. They are solely responsible for the crippling debt kids find themselves in.

College is crazy expensive, but people like OP constantly make their own beds and then down the line will cry about it. She is barely upper income for this area, she is NOT middle class and has a lot of opportunity however she is planning on squandering it on a school her kid has no business at. If parents didn’t behave like the OP and refused these obscenely expensive schools they can’t even afford, then these prices would not exist.

Americans need to take responsibility for their financial stupidity.

The prices would still exist because there are plenty of people who make what OP makes and have been putting away aggressively since birth, there are people who make what OP makes, but in region where a LOL col would allow them to pay the tuition out of salary, and there are people who make more than OP who are happy to take OP's kid's spot and pay the tuition

You don't get it. They're not saying people who can afford it shouldn't go. Instead of raiding her retirement, she needs to tell her daughter either she is going to a cheaper school or DD is taking on debt. Seems like the obvious answer is cheaper school. Could DD defer enrollment and do a year a community college? There are lots ways to do this without spending $75/year.

PP literally said "If parents didn’t behave like the OP and refused these obscenely expensive schools they can’t even afford, then these prices would not exist." These prices will exist and will go up because there are for more people willing to pay them than seats available

More info needed. What year is your child currently? How much money do you save each month now?

Anonymous wrote:Op - unless you post your net and your monthly expenses, I’m not sure this post is helpful.

OP is currently not budgeting. Thus, she cannot pay for this. There is the answer.

Op - unless you post your net and your monthly expenses, I’m not sure this post is helpful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College is such a ripoff. Forget loan forgiveness, how about everyone put pressure on these universities to come back to reality. They are solely responsible for the crippling debt kids find themselves in.

College is crazy expensive, but people like OP constantly make their own beds and then down the line will cry about it. She is barely upper income for this area, she is NOT middle class and has a lot of opportunity however she is planning on squandering it on a school her kid has no business at. If parents didn’t behave like the OP and refused these obscenely expensive schools they can’t even afford, then these prices would not exist.

Americans need to take responsibility for their financial stupidity.

The prices would still exist because there are plenty of people who make what OP makes and have been putting away aggressively since birth, there are people who make what OP makes, but in region where a LOL col would allow them to pay the tuition out of salary, and there are people who make more than OP who are happy to take OP's kid's spot and pay the tuition

You don't get it. They're not saying people who can afford it shouldn't go. Instead of raiding her retirement, she needs to tell her daughter either she is going to a cheaper school or DD is taking on debt. Seems like the obvious answer is cheaper school. Could DD defer enrollment and do a year a community college? There are lots ways to do this without spending $75/year.

What does the student plan to study ?

Which college or university (so options can be suggested as well as value) ?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College is such a ripoff. Forget loan forgiveness, how about everyone put pressure on these universities to come back to reality. They are solely responsible for the crippling debt kids find themselves in.

College is crazy expensive, but people like OP constantly make their own beds and then down the line will cry about it. She is barely upper income for this area, she is NOT middle class and has a lot of opportunity however she is planning on squandering it on a school her kid has no business at. If parents didn’t behave like the OP and refused these obscenely expensive schools they can’t even afford, then these prices would not exist.

Americans need to take responsibility for their financial stupidity.

The prices would still exist because there are plenty of people who make what OP makes and have been putting away aggressively since birth, there are people who make what OP makes, but in region where a LOL col would allow them to pay the tuition out of salary, and there are people who make more than OP who are happy to take OP's kid's spot and pay the tuition

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why did you not save more? State school.

It sounds like OP is a single parent

A single parent making $270K. Unless they just went from $100K-270K in last 6 months, they likely have had the means to save more. Unless they can adjust their budget to cash flow $50K+/year, they need to consider state schools or privates where they can "search for merit". They only have ~$20K/year. I'm assuming 4 years, because there is no guarantee your kid gets out in 3. Put that with student loans and they have ~$25K paid for each year. Kid can earn ~$10K/year. So figure out what the parent can afford/year to cash flow, add it to $25K and that's the most you can pay for college. IMO, you should search merit and find somewhere that's only $25-30K max/year.

Anonymous wrote:OP, depending on your fixed expenses, you can cash flow that our of your income if you live very cheaply for the 3 years your kid is in college. If you can get a year jump on that, even better. 6 month jump would of course help too.

There is absolutely no way. What is her income after tax? She would have to go from spending almost all her post-tax income to spending half of it. i.e. she would have to cut her spending in half.

There is no way.

People in this situation should be telling their kids to apply to not only in-state options but TONS of OOS and private options where they have a good shot at merit scholarships.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:College is such a ripoff. Forget loan forgiveness, how about everyone put pressure on these universities to come back to reality. They are solely responsible for the crippling debt kids find themselves in.

College is crazy expensive, but people like OP constantly make their own beds and then down the line will cry about it. She is barely upper income for this area, she is NOT middle class and has a lot of opportunity however she is planning on squandering it on a school her kid has no business at. If parents didn’t behave like the OP and refused these obscenely expensive schools they can’t even afford, then these prices would not exist.

Americans need to take responsibility for their financial stupidity.

WELL SAID. Best answer on this forum. FINALLY someone who understands the problem.
Markets operate within the laws of supply and demand. Prices always rise to the level that consumers are willing to pay.
When consumers are no longer willing to pay, prices drop.
As long as parents will be willing to pay $75k like OP, schools will keep increasing prices.
As long as parents will be willing to jeopardize their retirement to pay these obscene tuitions, prices won’t go down.

Parents and students need to wake up and realize that their obsession to pay whatever is asked is fueling this ripoff.
Schools will not drop prices unless they feel the pressure.

-Your child should absolutely be planning to take federal loans (which as pps have said, are capped)
-You are not in a place financially to spend 225k on your child's education, meet with a financial advisor and figure out what a reasonable contribution is for you that will not endanger your retirement
-Have a conversation with your child. They need to understand that in-state may be their only good financial option
-Check out the book, The Price You Pay for College. It's a book that has strategies for middle and high income families that cannot easily pay high college costs. There are a lot of strategies for families in your situation-I'm not going to outline them, just read the book!

Another mention about federal student loans: if you don't take advantage of their offer the first year, it goes away after that. In other words, they assume if you don't need it for your freshman year, you won't need it after that so you don't get it offered on your FAFSA. So just good to be aware that if you plan to use that cumulative $27k, accept it from the get go.

None of the above. Go to the best option that is instate or offers merit.

Also your kid likely won’t finish in 3 years.