College student spending money....

[BubMunkeyBles]

Originally Posted by MrsPete

No, mandatory summer classes aren't a typical thing -- at least not for most majors. Some of the big-deal scholarships offer paid travel opportunities during the summer, but that's not really a widespread thing. My daughter is a nursing major, and she'll have a mandatory summer school class at the end of the summer before she begins her student nursing as a junior; however, it's a five-week course, leaving more than half the summer free.

Interesting. In most (maybe all, I'm not sure of the regulation) state of Florida public universities 9 credit hours of summer classes are required for graduation. It's a way to try to get students to graduate on time.

[westjones]

Originally Posted by NJOYURLIFE

It is tough being fair to both children when they are the same or close in age.

Anyway, just thought I would share what is working for us.

Thanks for sharing what you guys are doing. That is a good idea. And yes, it is very tough being fair when they are in two different situations.

But it is good to hear how others are handling things to give us some ideas of what to do.

Today was their birthday, so for now, they both have some money, so we have a little time to figure this out.

[westjones]

Originally Posted by BubMunkeyBles

Interesting. In most (maybe all, I'm not sure of the regulation) state of Florida public universities 9 credit hours of summer classes are required for graduation. It's a way to try to get students to graduate on time.

How can summer classes be required? Can't people take off a semester now and then and then pick back up, like if they wanted to work or do an internship or something?

Now here they are tried something new this year and discounted the summer tuition to try to get people to take courses then. But it isn't required.

[4HppyCamprs]

Originally Posted by westjones

How can summer classes be required? Can't people take off a semester now and then and then pick back up, like if they wanted to work or do an internship or something?

Now here they are tried something new this year and discounted the summer tuition to try to get people to take courses then. But it isn't required.

Graduation on time rates are down so they are really pushing summer classes here as well. They did discounted courses but they are not required. What most people do not know is that in order to graduate in 4 years more than 12 credit hours per semester are going to need to be taken or summer school. My degree is 126 credit hours and each class is 3 credits. It has always been in the fine print but now they are pushing 4 years and out.

[Marionnette]

Originally Posted by 4HppyCamprs

Graduation on time rates are down so they are really pushing summer classes here as well. They did discounted courses but they are not required. What most people do not know is that in order to graduate in 4 years more than 12 credit hours per semester are going to need to be taken or summer school. My degree is 126 credit hours and each class is 3 credits. It has always been in the fine print but now they are pushing 4 years and out.

Okay, so how many kids are out there paying full-time tuition and only taking 12 credits? None of my kids have ever taken such a light course load. Most semesters were 16-18 credits with a couple being as many as 20 credits! No wonder it's taking kids 5-6 years to complete a 4-year degree!

[punkin]

Originally Posted by Marionnette

Okay, so how many kids are out there paying full-time tuition and only taking 12 credits? None of my kids have ever taken such a light course load. Most semesters were 16-18 credits with a couple being as many as 20 credits! No wonder it's taking kids 5-6 years to complete a 4-year degree!

I think the issue is being locked out of some required sequence classes due to overcrowding.

In any event, if you go in the summer, don't you have to pay extra? I'm not sure how this works because DH, my DD, and I all went to schools which did not count credits - only classes. So full time was 3-4 classes. You could get permission to take 5 if you had a good reason. If you took 4 classes each semester, you would graduate on time in 4 years.

DD is a double major, so she took some classes this summer (abroad) so she could graduate in 4 years anyway. We paid extra for the summer (or rather DD did - I only signed up for 4 years. Anything else is her responsibility).

[MrsPete]

Originally Posted by westjones

I guess I want her to learn to be 'frugal' but also let her have a little fun.

That's my goal as well, and at this point I'm pleased with how my oldest daughter's doing.

Originally Posted by westjones

How can summer classes be required? Can't people take off a semester now and then and then pick back up, like if they wanted to work or do an internship or something?

As a general rule of thumb, you're exactly right. Taking a semester or the summer off is a student's choice, not something dictated by the university. I remember one college friend who dropped out spring semester when her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer; she went home and took care of her mother, and I'd never say she was wrong to make that choice -- she didn't whine about delaying graduation because it was the right decision for her at that point.

Exceptions do exist, however. For example, I mentioned earlier that my daugther will be required to take a 5-week summer class (not the whole summer, more like 1/3 of it) just before she begins student nursing as a junior. No one can begin student nursing without it, and it is only offered in the summer. But this is a rarity. And it's only one class, which we know about two years in advance.

[MrsPete]

Originally Posted by 4HppyCamprs

What most people do not know is that in order to graduate in 4 years more than 12 credit hours per semester are going to need to be taken or summer school. My degree is 126 credit hours and each class is 3 credits. It has always been in the fine print but now they are pushing 4 years and out.

I think people know it -- they just don't always push themselves to take as many classes as they can, or they don't plan well. They hear "12 hours is considered full-time" and they figure 12 is a reasonable number. It'd be a rather dismal college student who couldn't divide 126 credit hours by eight semesters and figure out that 15-16 hours per semester would be required to graduate on time.

Originally Posted by punkin

I think the issue is being locked out of some required sequence classes due to overcrowding.

I can only address my daughter's experience with this: She knew well in advance that freshmen would be allowed to register on a certain day in May. She picked her classes ahead of time and got up early that day to register online. She got everything she needed -- even a good schedule with no one-hour wasted timeslots. In contast, most of her friends waited. The ones who registered within a week or two of the opening date got everything they wanted, though as the days clicked by, they were forced into less-popular timeslots. Those who waited a long time couldn't get into important core classes, and they were forced to fill their schedule with more electives than they wanted. So they're going to be in just the type of trouble you're describing. They may face the choice of summer school vs. difficult semesters later vs. staying in school more than four years.

Just as the early bird gets the worm, the prepared student gets the classes she needs.

[punkin]

Originally Posted by MrsPete

I can only address my daughter's experience with this: She knew well in advance that freshmen would be allowed to register on a certain day in May. She picked her classes ahead of time and got up early that day to register online. She got everything she needed -- even a good schedule with no one-hour wasted timeslots. In contast, most of her friends waited. Many of them couldn't get into important core classes, and they were forced to fill their schedule with more electives than they wanted. So they're going to be in just the type of trouble you're describing.

Just as the early bird gets the worm, the prepared student gets the classes she needs.

Like I said, I have no personal experience with any of this. DD has been able to get every class she wanted and actually every section of every class she wanted. All I know is what I read in the newspapers and they are saying that it is a problem for a lot of majors in a lot of schools (particularly state schools). I am glad your DD got the schedule she wanted.

[Green Tea]

When a meal plan is included I am giving $200 per month.

[westjones]

Originally Posted by MrsPete

Exceptions do exist, however. For example, I mentioned earlier that my daugther will be required to take a 5-week summer class (not the whole summer, more like 1/3 of it) just before she begins student nursing as a junior. No one can begin student nursing without it, and it is only offered in the summer. But this is a rarity. And it's only one class, which we know about two years in advance.

Wow, that is sneaky...only offering it in the summer. I don't think it is bad to go to school in the summer. One of my daughters wants to take online classes next summer and is hoping to work at a summer camp at the same time....now sure how well that will work, but we will see.

I know 4 year graduation is a factor they look at for colleges and it is a goal to try to get them out in that amount of time. My husband works at a university and that is one of the things that is looked at annually by the state for their funding (to see if students are graduating in 4 years).

Of course, going in the summer is kind of 'cheating' if they are trying to compare how students graduated in 4 years in the past with summers off.

My DD with the learning disability, we have already decided that if she needs to spread out her courses and do them over 5 years we would rather her do that than have a course load that is too heavy. Our other DD we would like to see her finish in 4 years and am hoping she considers the masters degree offered in her program at our university. That would extend her to 6 years of college, but I think graduate degrees are worth it.

But I do think we will see more of a trend of college students taking summer courses as a way to graduate in 4 years. But I would hate to see it required that you go year round. People need to be able to take time off if things come up in their lives and then return to school to finish.

One of my DDs wants to do the Disney College program and that will mean she will take longer to graduate, but it sounds like a wonderful experience if she can do it.

[fae]

I'm in school all year round. Students at my university generally do not have summer breaks. My boyfriend's college is the same.

We live in a city with a very, very high cost of living. My local Stop n' Shop's prices are about 20% higher on average than my parent's local Stop n' Shop and we live in the same state. I do not have a meal plan, but do have a kitchen. I spend about $30-$50 a week on groceries and I give myself $50 a week for incidentals (entertainment, restaurants, bars). Plus, $100 a month for sorority dues. So I probably spend about $100-125 a week on average.

[MrsPete]

Originally Posted by westjones

Wow, that is sneaky...only offering it in the summer.

Well, it's one of those things that really can't be helped -- and it is unique to the nursing program:

At her school -- like all the big schools around us -- no freshman or sophomore is actually a nursing major (they may say they're nursing majors, and no one's going to question them, but they really mean they intend to become nursing majors once they're juniors). After the sophomore year, they take a standardized test, which I believe is called the TEAS test. Based upon that test and their freshman-sophomore grades, the school chooses only 40 students to become official nursing majors. In the fall, these 40 begin student nursing, but they must become certified as CNA-1s before they can do that. So they're in a pickle:

They cannot take the TEAS test until they're done with sophomore year -- well, I suppose any of us could pay to take a standardized test any old time we choose, but they need to have completed their sophomore classes before they take the test.
They cannot be admitted into the nursing program until they've taken the TEAS test.
They cannot begin student nursing until they've become certified as CNA-1s.
They're required to complete X number of hours in the hospital, so they cannot afford to give up class time to earn the CNA-1 in the fall semester.

When could they do it except summer school?

The real irony is that my daughter is already a CNA-1 . . . but her certification'll run out just when she reaches that point in her college career, so she'd need to take the class anyway.

But this is an oddity, something unique to a small group of students -- not the whole school.

[xCourxCorex]

I think it depends on her needs. I worked part-time year-round in college, and saved up to give myself a weekly "allowance". I lived on campus my first three years, and had my car with my sophomore and junior years (needed it to drive myself to nursing clinicals) so I did have to pay for gas, plus "extras" like dining out, going to the grocery store for food for my room, clothes, toiletries etc.

My parents paid a good portion of my tuition and board (in addition to my scholarship, grant and my loan), so they did not pay for these extra things.

If she is staying and eating at home mostly, she would likely only need money for "going out" .. dinners, movies, concerts, shopping etc. I'd talk to her and be realistic about her plans, and what you are comfortable giving her. Then on her breaks she could get a job (maybe even something as casual as babysitting) to save up for future semesters.

[westjones]

Originally Posted by xCourxCorex

If she is staying and eating at home mostly, she would likely only need money for "going out" .. dinners, movies, concerts, shopping etc. I'd talk to her and be realistic about her plans, and what you are comfortable giving her. Then on her breaks she could get a job (maybe even something as casual as babysitting) to save up for future semesters.

Around here it just isn't all that easy to get a job for just the Christmas break (which in 1 month), even a min wage part time job. But she can try.

Summer will work out fine because she won't be taking classes then. And in the mean time....for this year....we will just have to figure out something.