College....How do people afford it??

[The Mystery Machine]

This is one of the best kept secrets that few people realize. Many parents discourage their kids from looking into pricier private universities because they assume they can't afford it. If your child has their eye on such a school...apply! My sons got more scholarship money from the most expensive school they applied to. It was cheaper for them to attend the private University than attend our state school!

Yes, I have heard this. So what was their scholarships based on?
Was this "Merit Aid" from the school itself?

 

[MELSMICE]

DH & I are going through the college process with our oldest right now. We started saving the day our DD's were born. At this point, I feel you just can't save enough.

DD has decided that she prefers a local private college to one of the state schools. She will be getting about 1/2 in scholarship (20 more pts. on that darn SAT would have gotten her $3,500 more a year - UGH - but I'm trying to look past that.)

Anyway, even with 1/2 in scholarships we'll need to come up with about $14,000 per year - she's not even dorming - that would be $10,000 more per year!!! Like I said, you just can't save enough. We won't be getting much, if any, financial aid, but we'll still fill out the FASFA & keep our fingers crossed.

Could I force her to go to the state school - probably, but at what cost emotionally for her? This college is better suited for her, it's smaller & just a better fit for her. I wouldn't want to put her through 4 years of college that she wasn't going to enjoy - regardless of the money we saved. Plus, it's the college DH attended & really is a great school.

The plan was to have our home paid off by the time she went to college, but our plan was "derailed", as DH says, a few years ago. We're back on track & it should be paid off by the time our twins go. With 3 in college at the same time we should get some financial aid also (I sure do hope so).

All DD's will have some financial responsibility towards their schooling, however, we are hoping that we will able to relieve this burden for them when all is said & done by having saved enough money so that by the time they are done we will pay off all loans. We will not tell them this, however, as I believe it's important that they feel some sort of ownership in their education.

Gosh - that was a long post!!!!!

 

[MELSMICE]

This is one of the best kept secrets that few people realize. Many parents discourage their kids from looking into pricier private universities because they assume they can't afford it. If your child has their eye on such a school...apply! My sons got more scholarship money from the most expensive school they applied to. It was cheaper for them to attend the private University than attend our state school!

I do have to say that even though we'll still be paying a "pretty penny" at the private school DD will be attending, I had never dreamed that just because of her grades & SAT scores, she would be getting the scholarship that she is. Without that, it would not be possible at all to send her there.

So yes, definitely look into private schools. It may be an option you had never though you'd have.

 

[Saphire]

Yes, I have heard this. So what was their scholarships based on?
Was this "Merit Aid" from the school itself?

The school never specified, but a large portion of the award was labeled "Scholarship". I assume it was given on merit, because the school wanted them, but calculated on need. I can't begin to understand the formulas they use.

 

[EthansMom]

DH and I just finished paying off his student loans this summer (about 10 years after he finished his Masters). We are currently maxing out Education Savings Accounts for both of our kids, though that is not likely to cover all expenses by the time they go to college. With a bit of luck, we may have our mortgage paid off about the time our first hits college, so that would free up more money.

Honestly, I think it's best to be up front with your DD about the financial end of the equation. Encourage her to apply to some local colleges as well as some "dream" colleges in order to keep her options open. Be willing to help pay for the application fees for her. Let DD know that you will have enough money to pay the equivalent of tuition and books/fees, but that if she lives away from home, she may need to get a job and/or take out loans to pay for some of her own expenses.

The first two years of college are mostly spent fulfilling core classes and could be done more cheaply at a local university and then DD could transfer out of town to finish the last two years at a savings of approximately $20k. If we live near good universities when my kids are ready for college, I would encourage them to do just that!

If your daughter chooses to go someplace more expensive then she should look into the student loans that are in the student's name and can be deferred (loan doesn't earn interest or require payments) until the student is done with all schooling.

Good Luck!

 

[Snowysmom]

My older son will be graduating from a state university in May. We were able to pay for all of it but did take out a loan for part of it. He is planning on medical school in the fall and that will be for him to pay. If we have any extra cash just hanging around in a few years, we will help him pay off some loans. Younger DS will be going to undergrad in the fall at a large private university. We told him we would pay for the in state university which he did get into, but he prefers the private college. We did tell him that we will pay up to what the state university costs and then he is responsible for the rest. I always file the FAFSA and now the CSS Profile so hopefully we will get some aid. Older DS did have a tuition waiver for the in state school which was about 10% of the total cost but any help is great. Younger DS qualified for the same tuition waiver but still wants the private college. We want him to be happy where he goes to college so we are not pushing the state university, which by the way is a great school.

 

[disykat]

We live pretty frugally on one income. Currently I work part time, but will increase my hours as their college years get closer. Most of my income goes into IRA's for me and dh that can be used for education costs. We'll also have the house paid off by the time they go and can use that money. Although they will hopefully have scholarships, grants, and probably a small loan, we plan to pay much of their costs out of pocket.

We don't go to WDW often (my kids have been once - 5 years ago and we'll hopefully hit DL on a road trip this year), my kids don't have all the lastest gadgets, they're not getting cars, but we feel it is worth it to know we'll be able to afford to help them with educational path they choose.

 

[disney4us2002]

My parents refinanced to send me thru school 20 yrs ago. I don't think we'll have to do that for ds who goes to college next year. He's just a bit better than average student. Very bright, but lazy. We told him point blank that he'll be staying in state and close enough for us to check in with him. I was okay with the idea of him going to community college for the 1st two years but dh believes a kid needs the full college experience of being on his own. If he were a better student, I'd feel a lot better about spending 20k a year for this "experience". All the schools that we've looked at here in MD offer a 10-month payment plan so it's not like we have to write a check for 20k in mid-August. The payment plan is interest free and is just about what our mortgage payment is. We don't have cc bills, currently no car loans, so this isn't a real stretch financially for us. I'm going to be praying it's not for naught though!

 

[Miss Jasmine]

Well my mom blew my money on a stupid business decision. I got through college this way:
The first two years my mom helped with grant and work-study assistance.
The second two plus years I handled it with grants, loans and work-study.

 

[barkley]

it's not what dh or i believe/feel but-we know lots of parents who want their kids to go to whatever college they desire to-and in some cases it makes no rhyme or reason why the kid picked that college nor the cost. in some of these cases the parent's take on the entire financial cost/in some it's shared with the student. some parents end up despite putting money away for years having to mortgage their homes to the hilt, or obligate themselves to student loans they will be paying off well into retirement (if they can afford to when the time comes). i know students/parents who have spent/owe close to 100K in loans because they passed on local colleges to go to out of area ones that afforded them 'space' to be 'on their own/independant'.

again not something dh or i beleive is fiscaly responsible, or is something in some cases that will ever be re-coup'd earnings wise by virtue of the student's attendance at one school over another (which we believe is something a student should understand and consider in making a choice of the college they will attend) but 'their kids/their choice'. some of the ways parents we know have done this-refi their homes, take out loans, drain retirement savings-and in one case the mom quit her well paying job with one employer to take a much lower job at the private college her kids wanted to attend so she could qualify for dependant tuition discount (which did'nt make much sense to us-the savings in tuition they projected would occur would'nt come close to the initial loss in earnings she would experience during her employment-not even taking into consideration what her seniority at the other employer could have led her to).

 

[kathy387]

Snowysmom...what is the CCS Profile?

 

[golfgal]

Yes, I have heard this. So what was their scholarships based on?
Was this "Merit Aid" from the school itself?

It can be both, it really depends on the school and the child. In my case I had both need and merit based aid and ended up paying about $1000/year out of pocket, not including student loans, to attend a private college. My loans when I graduated were about $200/month and we paid them all off in about 5 years.

 

[Pigeon]

The OP sounds almost surprised at the costs of college. We've been saving to send our dds to college from the time they were a year old.

We'll be paying for the cost of the state's excellent public university system. If our dds apply to private schools and get scholarships equivalent to the cost of the public institutions, that's fine, but I'm pretty skeptical of that happening, based on the experiences of my 19 neices and nephews.

I work at one of our public universities. If your child plans to take a large number of credits at a cheaper place and transfer them to save money, I would recommend researching this very carefully first. Some schools will accept only a very small number of transfer credits or very specific courses and the last thing you want to do is pay for these classes twice.

We will not be having our children take out loans unless they decide to go to private institutions without scholarships. I feel very strongly that it is hard enough to get started without being in the hole for student loans.

 

[jodifla]

The OP sounds almost surprised at the costs of college. We've been saving to send our dds to college from the time they were a year old.
.
.

That's what I was thinking!!!! Why are parents so unprepared for the cost of college?

We've been saving since DS was born.

 

[ilovejack02]

That's what I was thinking!!!! Why are parents so unprepared for the cost of college?

We've been saving since DS was born.

My dss is 17.5 and the plan was always that the state would pay for his schooling. Its free to go to college here in Louisiana as long as you keep a certain grade point average 2.5 last time i checked and have a decent ACT score . His parents were teenagers when he came along and so funds were VERY VERY tight, they were worried about eating and not a college fund.
Once I came along DH was in a better place, but paying all that child support and funding college wasnt in the cards , plus you can go to school here FREE soo we never considered having to pay it all. Dss was always good student, well fast foward to this yr and he has let his grades bomb and now he has lost the ability to get a tops scholarship. We dont think its our responsibility to cough up all that money just cuz he decided to play this yr. He knew what the rules were and he lost out. With that being said we will help him some, but by no means pay it all.
DS4 has and education fund for private school ( public schools are bad here) and or college. It will most likely be used for private school. It was started by my parents and we do contribute a small amount each month. The grandparents dump a bunch in there at birthday and holidays. He will most likely have to get some loans/scholarships to go to college , but we will also help but not pay it all. I am a product of not appreciating a education that was handed to me on a silver platter so i believe in having to work for it a bit.

 

[snowwite]

That's what I was thinking!!!! Why are parents so unprepared for the cost of college?

We've been saving since DS was born.

Sometimes circumstances change. I had started saving for the kids college in a joint retirement acct w/EX spouse and when we divorced he got the acct and me and the kids got the house (which we still owe a hefty mortgage on) so that wiped out the funds. We had credit and debt issues and bank said refi not an option because of debt to income ratio. So, that leave student loans,scholarships and monthly payments as our only options. Not everyone makes enough to save especially when some tuition is higher than salaries!

 

[Pigeon]

Not everyone makes enough to save especially when some tuition is higher than salaries!

That's why it makes sense to start saving on a regular basis when the child arrives, not wait until the child is a senior in high school. I think everyone decides for themselves what constitutes a priority. We take vacations very rarely (much as I'd like to go to Disney every year), for example, because providing an education for our children is a high priority for us.

 

[snowwite]

That's why it makes sense to start saving on a regular basis when the child arrives, not wait until the child is a senior in high school. I think everyone decides for themselves what constitutes a priority. We take vacations very rarely (much as I'd like to go to Disney every year), for example, because providing an education for our children is a high priority for us.

My kids will still get a college education it just will not be at a school which charges 40-60k per year. It will be state school for more like 6k/yr. Longevity does not run in my family. Most grandparents have not lived to retirement. I plan to spend time with my kids now making memories they will have when we are gone. We scrimp all yr so we can do disney trip once a yr and I LIVE for that trip. Nothing would ever make me give up that precious family time.

 

[lisajl]

Loans, scholarships and cash.

Our DD is still living at home, working and going to school.

I have a friend whose DD went to the expensive school my DD wanted to go to. She confided that when her DD graduates their savings will be depleted and they still have 4 other young kids to get through school.

 

[Tiggeroo]

there are alot of reasons parents are unable to save for college. Illness, career reversals, buisness fails, etc.
I can't read all these replies but i've skimmed them. Your dd needs to accept what you can help with or pay for it on her own. Unfortunately it's not just that simple. There are loan limits unless a student has a co-signer or has established credit, which most 18yo's don't.
If you can afford the tuition she should be able to borrow enough to cover housing. Tell her it's debt or local school. Her other option was to get the grades in hs to qualify for academic scholarships. If she didn't get that she needs to work within her limits.
Another option is to go to CC for two years. If you are a merit scholar there for two years in my state you are eligible for good scholarships to transfer to a four year state school.