My parents paid for my undergraduate degree (history) and my graduate degree (education). DH's parents, though they had the money, did not pay for any of his college education. He was a Merit Scholar and had a full ride for his undergraduate degree (business) and just finished up his MBA using the tuition reimbursement offered from his job.
We will be working our behinds off to provide for our children's college education and it WILL happen one way or another. I am in the camp that I refuse to allow my child to start their adult independent life with massive amounts of debt. We have 529s for them and once they all start going to school full time, I'll be returning to the workforce. DH's income pays our bills so my income will be for savings... college, vacation, future weddings (mom of 3 girls here!!), etc.
There will be limits to that aid though. More than likely, we'll only be able to afford a local, state school & won't be able to pay for room & board. So they can pick any of the fine state schools that are within driving distance of our house & live at home. We're fortunate that we live in an area where there are multiple schools that fit this criteria. They'll also be expected to work hard in school and earn as many scholarships in high school as possible. I'll also encourage them to do post-secondary in high school to earn college credits for free.
We hope as fellow entrepreneurs that our kid will work 80 hours for themselves to avoid working 40 hours a week for someone else!
Just goes to show you how many different perspectives there can be. MY hope for my children is that they put in as few hours in the office as humanly possible while still being able to provide for themselves & their family. My dad & my FIL were two of those guys that were at work before the sun came up, came home after their kids went to bed and then worked even more at home. While I appreciate everything my father sacrificed to provide for his family, I would have much rather had him home more often with us. I want my children to be able to be present in their children's lives instead of always working, even if that works is for themselves. Family, friends & life experiences are for richer and more rewarding to me than any professional success.
I REFUSE to put myself into debt for my children. If I can afford to pay for a class or two with no hardship, I will, but I will not get loans or give them a "full-ride" through college. If they are determined enough to go to college, they can get a job and go part-time. I've seen too many parents waste their money on their children's education, just for them to get married and not work, or quit school.....or graduate, only to get a minimum wage job, and not exert themselves to do any better....and the parents are stuck paying the bills for years.
I'm one of those people. Parents paid for undergrad & grad school and I am a SAHM. I have no regrets and my parents aren't disappointed in my decision. There's plenty of years for me to use my degree (and there are no teaching jobs to be had around here currently anyways) but my babies are only young once. I won't get that time back. And my mom can attest (she's over every day helping me with my twins)... raising these two tiny holy terrors is FAR, FAR more difficult than any office job, lol.
At the risk of getting totally flamed, I just want to add that saying things like "We planned to have only the number of kids we could afford , including the costs of sending them to college" or something along those lines sounds a little snarky. Just remember, "things" happen in life. You can try to plan your life, including your financial life, but it doesn't always work out like you planned for a multitude of reasons.
Lol, I hear ya!! From the day DH & I first had a talk about our future family, we have always, always planned on having 2 children. Because that's what we could comfortably afford. But then life happened and our second little bundle of joy turned into two bundles of joy. And it is most definitely more of a struggle to take care of a family of 5 than it is a family of 4. We were definitely right in only planning for two!
But I take no offense by the comment.
My spouse and I are looking forward to marriage 3.0 and have no problems traveling the world while our kid struggles after leaving home. I don't understand where this notion came that a parent should delay their retirement or borrow on behalf of their children and go into debt to do it.
Wow. Just, wow.
I don't think I have it in me to sit back and allow my children to struggle if I have the means & ability to do something about it. And I certainly wouldn't be flaunting the fact that I could help them but choose not to in their faces like that.
