Do you feel like money saved for college needs to be used for college only?

[disykat]

Yes, college generally means university here. There are two year community colleges and four year colleges or universities. Trade schools are generally referred to as technical schools.

Public schools are partially funded by the state and are less expensive than private schools. Where you live and what you want to study helps determine which you might choose, but also the prestige of the university or the size of the campuses differ greatly.

I went to a private, church affiliated school and would have loved for my kids to do the same. My oldest goes to a very large state school and is having a very different experience than I did. My younger son will go to a smaller state school but would probably have gone private if it was easier to find a good program in his major.

Often, private schools offer more scholarships than state schools do so the costs are competitive. My son who is currently choosing his school for next year just got his offers from three schools. The large state school offered him no help, the private school gave him lots of help which makes his cost the same as the large state school, and the small state school costs less and gave him some help making it quite a bit less expensive. It is the less expensive option, but also less renowned. After consideration, he's going with the cheapest but might transfer at the two year mark to the more prestigious state school.

 

[ceecee]

We plan to help DD if not pay for it all, most of it. IF she does well and focuses on school we will continue to pay. All of her college fund (except for a few thousand which is MY leftover college fund I didn't use) is in our names. This will help if she wants to apply for schloarships/grants/etc.

 

[bookgirl]

Trade School yes.

Business, maybe.

Home, nope.

 

[Colleen27]

Does "college" mean something different in the USA? It seems like people use it as a term to mean university, given what "college" costs ($40,000 a year??WOW!) Here, college programs are essentially the 9 month-2 year program, and the trades are all included.

Also, what is the difference between a public college and a private college? And lastly, why the heck would anyone pay $40,000 for a BA when they can get the same degree at a "public" college for considerably less?? lol

Four year schools here are referred to as both "college" and "university", pretty much interchangeably. Two year schools are called "colleges", never "universities".

As far as the costs, in many states public universities aren't significantly cheaper. In my state they run 20-25K/year, and frequently private universities offer more generous financial aid packages that can offset the entire difference or even make the private uni the less expensive choice. And there's a difference in the experience too. I toured the flagship public uni in my state when I was a junior because it is the school that bright kids are kind of expected to have as their top choice and I knew it wasn't for me - I sat in on a freshman comp class that had 350 students. That school has about 28000 undergrad students at any given time, and the incoming freshman class is usually in the ballpark of 5000. That was quite simply overwhelmingly big to me - I ended up at a private university that is about 1/4 the size, which was a much better fit. Of course not all public universities are that large but flagship schools do tend to be very big.

 

[AJ1983]

Yes, college generally means university here. There are two year community colleges and four year colleges or universities. Trade schools are generally referred to as technical schools.

Public schools are partially funded by the state and are less expensive than private schools. Where you live and what you want to study helps determine which you might choose, but also the prestige of the university or the size of the campuses differ greatly.

I went to a private, church affiliated school and would have loved for my kids to do the same. My oldest goes to a very large state school and is having a very different experience than I did. My younger son will go to a smaller state school but would probably have gone private if it was easier to find a good program in his major.

Often, private schools offer more scholarships than state schools do so the costs are competitive. My son who is currently choosing his school for next year just got his offers from three schools. The large state school offered him no help, the private school gave him lots of help which makes his cost the same as the large state school, and the small state school costs less and gave him some help making it quite a bit less expensive. It is the less expensive option, but also less renowned. After consideration, he's going with the cheapest but might transfer at the two year mark to the more prestigious state school.

Thank you for your response! I've always wondered that

 

[AJ1983]

Four year schools here are referred to as both "college" and "university", pretty much interchangeably. Two year schools are called "colleges", never "universities".

As far as the costs, in many states public universities aren't significantly cheaper. In my state they run 20-25K/year, and frequently private universities offer more generous financial aid packages that can offset the entire difference or even make the private uni the less expensive choice. And there's a difference in the experience too. I toured the flagship public uni in my state when I was a junior because it is the school that bright kids are kind of expected to have as their top choice and I knew it wasn't for me - I sat in on a freshman comp class that had 350 students. That school has about 28000 undergrad students at any given time, and the incoming freshman class is usually in the ballpark of 5000. That was quite simply overwhelmingly big to me - I ended up at a private university that is about 1/4 the size, which was a much better fit. Of course not all public universities are that large but flagship schools do tend to be very big.

Thank you! Great explanation!

 

[MrRomance]

Would you be open to your kids doing something else with the money?
-Buy a home
-Start a business
-Go to trade school

Or would you only be willing to let your child use it for college? And its not a choice.

I'm very opinionated on this so let me say off the bat that I don't expect everyone to agree with me and I'm sorry in advance if I offend anyone. I have 2 adopted children, both have different forms of autism and one has learning disabilities or to use her clinical diagnosis, mental retardation (I hate that term but that is the clinical term).

My wife is a teacher and I am a former teacher. These two things really shape my view on this.

One of my children will never go to college and will always need to be supported and academically will never be able to graduate high school. She will not reach independence. For her, the money we set aside will be used to give her opportunities to do things she would never be able to afford on disability payments. Our other child is very intelligent, very determined and very capable. Although she struggles socially, she excels academically and will be perfectly capable of college. For her, the money will go toward her further education or helping her create her own business if that is what she decides to do.

As teachers we have seen many children being forced into academia who simply are not cut out for it. They have different strengths and different talents. Many of the most successful and wealthiest people are high school drop outs or people who struggled through school.

The way we educate people is designed around creating good employees. People who learn their field, get a good job and make money for the organisations they work for. Some people are not cut out for that. They are cut out to be employers. People who create jobs, design things, fix things or can simple spot an opportunity to solve a problem.

Each child has their own talents and strengths, my wife and I are both academics, but many children are not but that doesn't matter, they can be successful without a college education. For me, the best thing any parent can do for their child is to play to their strengths and help them to do that. Having a fixed ideal that a child HAS to go to college and HAS to graduate can often sell a kid short.

 

[Darcy03231]

I'm very opinionated on this so let me say off the bat that I don't expect everyone to agree with me and I'm sorry in advance if I offend anyone. I have 2 adopted children, both have different forms of autism and one has learning disabilities or to use her clinical diagnosis, mental retardation (I hate that term but that is the clinical term).

My wife is a teacher and I am a former teacher. These two things really shape my view on this.

One of my children will never go to college and will always need to be supported and academically will never be able to graduate high school. She will not reach independence. For her, the money we set aside will be used to give her opportunities to do things she would never be able to afford on disability payments. Our other child is very intelligent, very determined and very capable. Although she struggles socially, she excels academically and will be perfectly capable of college. For her, the money will go toward her further education or helping her create her own business if that is what she decides to do.

As teachers we have seen many children being forced into academia who simply are not cut out for it. They have different strengths and different talents. Many of the most successful and wealthiest people are high school drop outs or people who struggled through school.

The way we educate people is designed around creating good employees. People who learn their field, get a good job and make money for the organisations they work for. Some people are not cut out for that. They are cut out to be employers. People who create jobs, design things, fix things or can simple spot an opportunity to solve a problem.

Each child has their own talents and strengths, my wife and I are both academics, but many children are not but that doesn't matter, they can be successful without a college education. For me, the best thing any parent can do for their child is to play to their strengths and help them to do that. Having a fixed ideal that a child HAS to go to college and HAS to graduate can often sell a kid short.

Great post!

 

[imsayin]

Each child has their own talents and strengths, my wife and I are both academics, but many children are not but that doesn't matter, they can be successful without a college education. For me, the best thing any parent can do for their child is to play to their strengths and help them to do that. Having a fixed ideal that a child HAS to go to college and HAS to graduate can often sell a kid short.

I am very pro college, but I agree with this 100%. Not every person is cut out for college. Set your child up for success whether that is college, trade school, etc. depends on the individual.

 

[tyzzle]

My husband became an electrician so his union paid for his four year technical training. Since he didn't go to college his parents gifted him money to use towards the down payment on our first house. I think is something I would consider.

 

[chisnpeke]

Does "college" mean something different in the USA? It seems like people use it as a term to mean university, given what "college" costs ($40,000 a year??WOW!) Here, college programs are essentially the 9 month-2 year program, and the trades are all included.

Also, what is the difference between a public college and a private college? And lastly, why the heck would anyone pay $40,000 for a BA when they can get the same degree at a "public" college for considerably less?? lol

College is used as a catch all term for university but there is also the term college that is used for each area of a university. For example, the college of arts and sciences of a university. I also understand university to mean a school that offers undergraduate and masters and Ph.D programs while a college just offers associate and bachelors degrees.

 

[ICF]

The money we have saved in their 529s is just that - for higher education (yes to trade school being included in that...) Any that isnt used by the oldest will be added to the younger ones accounts. Any left after that is for DH and I to spend as we see fit.

same here