My dd will have a 7k fed loan and my ds will have a 15k fed loan, I don’t like it but think that is manageable. I had an unforeseeable drop in income lady year which necessitated it.

Mine took out a subsidized loan for the last two years. I paid them off by the first payment 6 months after he graduated. I needed it because the tuition kept going up so much each year.

Anonymous wrote:What if merit isn't enough? How are you handling it?

Absolutely no way my kids are getting a loan.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how a parent can "make" their child take out loans...?

They refuse to pay, like my parents. Not only did they refuse to pay; they refused to fill out the FAFSA for me.

But they didn't MAKE you take out loans. You could have attended a community college. You could have waited to attend until you had money saved up. But just because a parent does not pay does not mean their child is FORCED to take out loans. Sheesh.

Free agency. It's a real thing.

This is ridiculous. Not paying is one thing, but parents who refuse to fill out the FAFSA are completely screwing over their kids. This is not about “choosing” to be an adult. The government deems an 18 year old to be a dependent for college tuition purposes and their parents’ income is attributed to them, whether they think you’re a “free agent” or not. If the student is under 24, and a parent refuses to fill out the FAFSA, they are ineligible for aid, and it is difficult to be declared independent. The criteria are things like: your parents are incarcerated, you don’t know where they are, you’ve left home due to abuse….

Yes, you can wait until you’re 24 to go to college, but that doesn’t mean that your parents aren’t absolute jerks.

Graduating with zero student debt is a massive privilege that most families in America won't be able to offer their kids. OP, there's no shame in having a student understand the cost and sacrifices associated with financing a college degree, including having some skin in the game.

Never. I paid every penny of my college with no loans and several jobs. I commuted. So, I paid 100% of my kid's college. I only had one kid so I could pay 100%. I would not have a kid if I couldn't pay for their college.

Never. Twice I have had colleagues say that they feel their kids need to have "skin in the game." I don't understand this at all. We have been saving for years. There is also no sin in going to community college and then a flagship state school for the last two years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I showed my kids how taking out the subsidized loans helped their credit. They did so. I'll pay them off three months after graduation. When they'll have credit at 720plus.

They've also had Roths since they were babysitting at 13/14 years old.

I'm big about financial literacy

That's a lot to pay for credit. I'd rather my kids just build their own with responsible use of credit cards - free way to build credit.

+1

Our DC had no loans and built fantastic credit through judicious credit card use in college and in the year since graduation. Credit rating is excellent and not a single loan. Full disclosure, we were fortunate to be able to afford DC's preferred SLAC using savings plus 529 plus other money, but if we hadn't had enough, we would have found it in other ways and still not taken out, or had DC take out, any loans.

My own mom, decades ago, was determined that I not have debt when I graduated from college and she saved very hard to ensure that, for which I'm still eternally grateful. DH and I wanted the same for our DC--not starting life after college with debt.

Anonymous wrote:What if merit isn't enough? How are you handling it?

Merit wasn't enough at the college they chose. We paid the difference.

Anonymous wrote:If you are talking about in-state public schools, you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do. If you are talking about OOS or private, if we couldn’t afford the school without loans, I’d tell them to pick a cheaper school.

Two years at community college is a good option. Student loan debt is not good

No loans - student or parent.

We’ve talked about the finances and schools as well as what we’d like to fund towards grad school. How much is based upon where they choose to go to undergrad.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how a parent can "make" their child take out loans...?

They refuse to pay, like my parents. Not only did they refuse to pay; they refused to fill out the FAFSA for me.

But they didn't MAKE you take out loans. You could have attended a community college. You could have waited to attend until you had money saved up. But just because a parent does not pay does not mean their child is FORCED to take out loans. Sheesh.

Free agency. It's a real thing.

18 year olds do not understand this

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how a parent can "make" their child take out loans...?

They refuse to pay, like my parents. Not only did they refuse to pay; they refused to fill out the FAFSA for me.

But they didn't MAKE you take out loans. You could have attended a community college. You could have waited to attend until you had money saved up. But just because a parent does not pay does not mean their child is FORCED to take out loans. Sheesh.

Free agency. It's a real thing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand how a parent can "make" their child take out loans...?

They refuse to pay, like my parents. Not only did they refuse to pay; they refused to fill out the FAFSA for me.

This was me too. They thought I could "figure it out" when I was 18. I transferred twice because I ran out of money and didn't have any useful financial advice. I got into a big ten school for my junior year a year older than my peers, and I actually begged (I remember the meeting so well) for them to let me be considered an adult so financial aid would be on my (bartending) income.

For the love of god and all that's holy, don't do this to your kid. I have been saving for college since my kids' birth. It's my biggest fear to not be able to afford college, and also will be my biggest moment of joy if I can cover theirs.

No loans here as we don’t want our kids to face hardships associated with student debt. We have 529s for each of them and we make up the difference based on what we can afford. However before kids went to college we told each of them exactly how much we could pay per year and told them to pick schools based upon thst. If they chose a more expensive school they have to make up the difference with scholarships, jobs, and loans. None of them took out loans and all of them have contributed from internship and job money.