Anonymous wrote:My parents didn't pay for my college and I consider it my obligation to pay for my kids' undergraduate degrees.

Same here.

I feel obligated to pay for my kid's college, but not because my parents paid. I am grateful to them, but it's even more critical today with the huge college expenses. I don't want my kid getting loans. At least not for undergrad.

Yes. It was the best gift my parents ever gave me. Attended a Big Ten school, was able to come home once per month. And when I did, my father, an electrician and machinist, would walk in the door covered head to toe in hydraulic fluid or something equally icky. Then he'd say, "this is why I'm sending you to college." My mother worked retail. They picked up the tab for undergrad and I managed to have the rest paid for.

All that to say, I'm pretty sure they'd be furious if I didn't pay for college for my kids (although they've also put away a large chunk for our kids as well). If they could do it, of course I can.

DH and I will try our best to pay for our kids' colleges. Unfortunately college for our kids will be 5x what our parents paid

Anonymous wrote:I see what an amazing gift it was to come out of college with no loans - the opportunities it afforded me- so yes- I plan to give my kids this same gift.

+1 for me and my DH and we will do the best we can to get them through undergrad. Anythjng after that is on them.

Anonymous wrote:My parents didn't pay for my college and I consider it my obligation to pay for my kids' undergraduate degrees.

+1

I actually borrowed money to my parents while going to college. But I had almost all my college paid for (tuition & dorm room/board) via scholarships, grants and work study program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...do you feel financially obligated to "pay it forward" and do so for your children?

This is one of the reasons my husband and I are both working and both saving for college. I'm curious to know if others feel this way.

Yes.

Yes, and I am trying...but not totally sure we're going to be able to pull it off...

College was less expensive when DW and I went less than two decades ago.

We'll try our best...

Yes, my parents paid. I don't feel obligated to pay it forward necessarily but I can (and am) paying private college tuition for 2 kids.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...do you feel financially obligated to "pay it forward" and do so for your children?

This is one of the reasons my husband and I are both working and both saving for college. I'm curious to know if others feel this way.

Yes.

Yes, and I am trying...but not totally sure we're going to be able to pull it off...

Yes. Our parents paid for it all including private K-12. DS goes to public for elementary (language immersion not available at private) but we plan on private schools starting in middle and plan to pay for it all including grad schools.

I don't want DC to be burdened with student loans as much as a mortgage and we can afford to pay.

Anonymous wrote:...do you feel financially obligated to "pay it forward" and do so for your children?

This is one of the reasons my husband and I are both working and both saving for college. I'm curious to know if others feel this way.

Yes absolutely. I also encourage work ethic that can earn scholarships. My brother and I both ended up with "free rides" and our parents gifted us the money they had saved upon our college graduation. That was a really nice stepping stone to have and we intend to do the same for any of our children that don't use all or a portion of their college money.

Anonymous wrote:...do you feel financially obligated to "pay it forward" and do so for your children?

This is one of the reasons my husband and I are both working and both saving for college. I'm curious to know if others feel this way.

Yes.

I absolutely plan to pay for my kids college. It is an advantage in life to have a college education as well as no student debt. Because I do not have student debt and a good HHI (thanks to the college degree), I can start saving for my kid's college education from very early in life. I can start saving very early and very nominal amounts - and this money then grows to become a large college fund.

If I do not save early in life for my kid's education, then I will have to save a bigger amount later in life, which I might not be able to.

My DH and I were saving for college for two kids even before we had kids. We are set now.

It is good financial planning and it ensures that subsequent generations are taken care of (for education) and that the parents can start saving small amounts early in life (because they have good jobs and no student debt).

I feel people who have huge student debts and struggling to pay it off are less likely to save for their kids college.

I guess our biology dictates that we give the best chance of succeeding to our offsprings.

My parents paid for mine, but my husband was responsible for a large portion of his education (he graduated with just a small loan and was able to pay it off pretty quickly). We plan to pay for our child's education up to, and including, grad school. It's one of the reasons we had one child - we knew we wanted to pay for his/her education and it would be much harder if we had more than one.

I'm incredibly grateful for what my parents did for me and hope my son will feel the same way.