I really appreciate all of the different viewpoints and advice. Thanks!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't you encourage your kids to get scholarships and financial aid? Unless you are RICH, you won't be able to afford it.

It's not that easy. My parents earned about $50k/year combined when I went to college. They had car loans, credit card debt and zero savings. You know what I qualified for in aid? Subsidized loans. No grants or scholarships. And I had 4.0 and a 1500 SAT.

I hate when people say this. It's not that easy, unless you play sports of course.

I attended a private university my freshman year. I got $8k in an academic scholarship. It brought my tuition to $28k. I took a subsidized loan, my dad paid the rest of that year and told me there was only a set amount of money for my college and beyond that I would have to figure it out. I transferred out for the rest of my degree to a state school. Tuition was $16k. I took loans and worked full time. All together, my parents were able to contribute $40k and I took care of the rest. I paid my loans off in 4 years before starting grad school. Having your child take on some of the financial burden of their education will not ruin their futures. Don't stress if you can't put away the full amount.

Anonymous wrote:Why wouldn't you encourage your kids to get scholarships and financial aid? Unless you are RICH, you won't be able to afford it.

It's not that easy. My parents earned about $50k/year combined when I went to college. They had car loans, credit card debt and zero savings. You know what I qualified for in aid? Subsidized loans. No grants or scholarships. And I had 4.0 and a 1500 SAT.

I hate when people say this. It's not that easy, unless you play sports of course.

Anonymous wrote:GMU tuition is roughly $10,000. So is every other VA public college.

Do NVCC and GMU cost the same?

I'll have overlap in years 7 & 8. After year 8 I'll (hopefully) have one in school and one with a degree.

Anonymous wrote:Let's say it's roughly 45 - 50K a kid to go these schools. My kids are 12 and 14 (6th and 8th grade). Let's assume 95K as a ballpark.

How much would I have to save per month if I started to save this month? I would PREFER no loans. And I can not assume that they will get scholarships. I do think that they could both get a B average in community college based on their current performance in school now.

Assume they will live at/commute from home.

What I need to save per month is a little confusing to me because the oldest will be in college in 4 years, the youngest will graduate from college in another 10. So I will have 10 years to fully pay the 95K.

Use the link provided above. $810 a month to save 100,000 in ten years