Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have about the same for our two HS kids. Our plan is to pay out of pocket for remainder. Also, we are still putting in $2000/month. Once the older one starts college we will use that to pay tuition instead.

$2000/month!?!

The funny/sad part is 2,000 a month won't fund even some in state colleges

Most state schools are $20K for instate. $2K a month with that amount is great. We stopped at $150K as Dad will be retirement age so we can pull from those accounts.

I wouldn't count on financial aid for that income.

We aren't fully funding but we did a prepaid and did $100K in the 529. We have told ours that they can go to a state school in less we can afford more or they get aid, which I doubt they will get. I have talked a lot about it and said we have two options - one pay for a private which may or may not be better or the second is to use the extra money (plus more) to pay for graduate school. I hope they choose graduate school. People pushing for privates who cannot afford it don't make sense to me. Our goal is not the name of the school but best fit and loan free.

OP, this doesn’t help you now, but to answer your question, I opened 529s for each of my two young kids (now 6 and a baby) when I was still pregnant, and gradually increased the monthly amount we put in each, as we’ve gotten raises, etc. Now we put in a little over $40K/year, because I want them to have the option of going out-of-state or to a private college with no loans (and if they go public or service academy, great, they’ll have money for grad school and/or I’ll save for grandkids). DH and I both went to a pricey private college and also got grad degrees from private universities, and paid for it all ourselves through a series of scholarships and a lot of loans (now all paid off!), but it was stressful. It’s really important to me that my kids have the freedom of not having student loans, and I’m grateful that we can hopefully provide that option for them someday.

I think you’ll be fine, though you might have to have the one who wants to go out-if-state weigh the perceived value of whatever school that is against having student loans.

The other thing to consider is that, if your kids do not plan to live in DC, NYC, or Boston or aspire to a career in legal, finance, or consulting, there's no need to go into debt for a brand name school and a lot of state schools or "lesser" privates have substantial alumni networks, too. I didn't grow up here, most of my high school classmates went in-state to a Virginia school, and, shockingly, most of them are productive, successful adults who manage to build careers, families, and a nice life for themselves without an elite education. The antipathy for state schools isn't really a thing outside the northern part of the East Coast.

Anonymous wrote:People sending their kids to private college make more than $200k or get merit aid. To get substantial merit aid, you often have to be willing to go to a “lesser” school than your highest ranked school. Ie: you get into Duke with no merit aid, but Vandy offers a substantial scholarship.

In our neighborhood of 2 fed families or equivalent salaries, most kids go instate.

Bahaha more like Denison or American for a substantial scholarship. Nothing wrong with those schools, but you’re not getting a “substantial scholarship” from Vandy.

Grandparents for sure.

In case it's helpful to know, I have a senior with a 3.17 GPA and a mediocre ACT, and I am surprised at the number of colleges that seem to be pursuing him and offering merit aid. These are not "top schools" but they are colleges that seem like fine places to go. So I haven't entirely found it to be the case that there is absolutely no merit aid available. (We have fully funded 529s and are UMC and so would not expect any aid.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have about the same for our two HS kids. Our plan is to pay out of pocket for remainder. Also, we are still putting in $2000/month. Once the older one starts college we will use that to pay tuition instead.

$2000/month!?!

The funny/sad part is 2,000 a month won't fund even some in state colleges

It will if you start early enough. Our kids are 9 and 12 and already have enough for in state. We will continue to save enough for private. Currently doing $1600 a month, split evenly. If the end up instate or with scholarship they can use it for grad school or we will granger the accounts to our grandchildren.

People sending their kids to private college make more than $200k or get merit aid. To get substantial merit aid, you often have to be willing to go to a “lesser” school than your highest ranked school. Ie: you get into Duke with no merit aid, but Vandy offers a substantial scholarship.

In our neighborhood of 2 fed families or equivalent salaries, most kids go instate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have about the same for our two HS kids. Our plan is to pay out of pocket for remainder. Also, we are still putting in $2000/month. Once the older one starts college we will use that to pay tuition instead.

$2000/month!?!

The funny/sad part is 2,000 a month won't fund even some in state colleges

Anonymous wrote:We have about the same for our two HS kids. Our plan is to pay out of pocket for remainder. Also, we are still putting in $2000/month. Once the older one starts college we will use that to pay tuition instead.

$2000/month!?!

We have about the same for our two HS kids. Our plan is to pay out of pocket for remainder. Also, we are still putting in $2000/month. Once the older one starts college we will use that to pay tuition instead.

Anonymous wrote:Op here - These are helpful responses, for the most part. We are in MD, so I'd love for both kids to go to UMD, but older one is already expressing interest for out of state somewhere. I'd like to cover their undergrad expenses and am pretty sure I can for in-state based upon what I've read on UMD's, Towson's, etc., websites. Based on what posters have said, it sounds like for out of state and private, my kids just need to apply and see what aid is offered if they're accepted, then decide if it's financial advisable. We've come into some financial challenges and I'm not sure I can continue to fund them beyond what's currently in there, and I don't expect much additional growth since they're both near maturity, i.e., 2021 and 2024 life cycle funds.

Purdue, Clemson, Pitt would be in budget most likely, but not, say, Umich.

Op here - These are helpful responses, for the most part. We are in MD, so I'd love for both kids to go to UMD, but older one is already expressing interest for out of state somewhere. I'd like to cover their undergrad expenses and am pretty sure I can for in-state based upon what I've read on UMD's, Towson's, etc., websites. Based on what posters have said, it sounds like for out of state and private, my kids just need to apply and see what aid is offered if they're accepted, then decide if it's financial advisable. We've come into some financial challenges and I'm not sure I can continue to fund them beyond what's currently in there, and I don't expect much additional growth since they're both near maturity, i.e., 2021 and 2024 life cycle funds.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure I understand the question.

When my kids were born, I assumed private college would be around 350-400k all in for each of them.

So we figured out the monthly contribution plus a little extra from investing it.

How lovely.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure I understand the question.

When my kids were born, I assumed private college would be around 350-400k all in for each of them.

So we figured out the monthly contribution plus a little extra from investing it.

Well then you are quite wealthy. The vast majority of families cannot provide this. Your "I'm not sure I understand" is tone deaf.