It was a bit ago, but I had a parent who wouldn't pay who made too much to qualify me for aid. He'd worked his way through college in the 70s and thought I should do the same, with zero recognition of how things of changed. We also lived in a low tax state without a reasonable public option. Living at home wasn't an option as we didn't live near a college.

I got into a T10 but attended a tier 4 university for the merit scholarships.

I also got significant outside scholarships, e.g., Goldwater and local scholarships

I took out loans (the max Fed Direct loans an undergrad was allowed to take).

I worked three on campus jobs to afford living expenses, health insurance and car insurance, but still struggled to afford food. Often attended on campus events for the free food.

Saved and budgeted to be able to pay for ivies. No regrets the schools have been well worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would any responsible parent in VA not get the prepaid plan and send their kid to UVA/W&M? VA parents can't complain.

Well the program ended six years ago, so these days many responsible parents could not do this.

We have the MD plan and tuition hasn't gone up that much so it really wasn't worth it.

Anonymous wrote:Why would any responsible parent in VA not get the prepaid plan and send their kid to UVA/W&M? VA parents can't complain.

Well the program ended six years ago, so these days many responsible parents could not do this.

Anonymous wrote:Why would any responsible parent in VA not get the prepaid plan and send their kid to UVA/W&M? VA parents can't complain.

Do you understand how hard those two schools are to get into from NoVA?

529 plus Johns Hopkins staff tuition benefit.

Hopkins pays 50% of the amount of Hopkins freshman tuition directly towards any other accredited school’s tuition for each kid per year as long as kid stays full time and in good academic standing. It makes a huge difference.

If you can't/won't pay and they aren't getting need based aid or merit based scholarship, send kid to community college for first two years and then nearby state school and let them live at home.

Anonymous wrote:Did they get loans to start and suplement with part time or summer work? Did they take year off from school to work?

We didn't want any hardship to sidetrack kids so paid from savings and bonuses, even took some out from Roth IRA. They did earn some merit scholarships.

I help low income students with college applications. Even in this group, parents try to help as much as they are able + the kids work during HS. Beyond that, they are paying for college with some combination of...

Need-based aid
Loans (many take too much IMO)
Working as much as they can (which risks not doing as well as they might in classes or engaging as much in extracurriculars)

or, if they can't make it work with those, living at home and doing CC->local university so they can live at home. Between Pell grant, the basic federal student loans, and PT work, that is generally doable.

Anonymous wrote:The relative cost of going to college has increased exponentially over the years. Unless a kid is getting amazing merit/need based aid they aren't going to be paying for it themselves without loans. The "I worked to pay my way through college" is from another era unless they qualify for significant assistance. So if parents don't have 529s or other means to pay the options are - loans or community college. Depending on where they want to go loans could be massive and should really be approached with caution.

Agreed.

We did: 529s, started around the time they were born.
-- Aimed a little low, academically: They picked state schools or private colleges where they were strong enough students to get significant merit aid.
-- They took out the $5,000 loan that pretty much most people take out.
-- They got a couple of local-level scholarships ... these won't get you through college, but they do help.
-- The kids paid $1,000 per year.

I think that paying for college education (tuition, room, board, fees) is a parent responsibility so I saved accordingly. I expect my child to earn for extras like spending money.

College scholarships covered most of tuition, additionally grants from school for housing. Work study and RA positions went toward tuition too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saved since birth, state college.

What kind of job did they do as an infant?

They along with us made sacrifices. Crummy small, cheap house, no vacations, no fancy meals, etc.

The infant avoiding fancy meals and refusing vacations. Bravo, infant.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s wrong with the bank of mom and dad paying for college, if they are able to? My mom and dad put me through college. (My dad literally retired the day after paying for my last semester.) I got a good job and put myself through professional school at night. We are paying DC’s college. Nothing wrong with that, in our opinion.

Donut hole families are in the worst situation. Can't get any fin aid, and not enough for full pay.
Agree nothing wrong with parents paying for kids' college. A 529 account is the best way to handle this tuition. Any responsible parents should do it.

You make lifestyle choices. Calling your self a donut hole is a joke. We make less than most people who claim it but we made choices to allow to save.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Saved since birth, state college.

What kind of job did they do as an infant?

They along with us made sacrifices. Crummy small, cheap house, no vacations, no fancy meals, etc.