Large Families - how do you cope with college expenses?

[disykat]

Yes there are lots of jobs available on campus, but the problem is that the times the jobs are available, most students aren't. DS did get a job one time opening and closing the pool since he was a lifeguard, only problem was he had to be there at 5am and then again at 1am. It wasn't real practical for him.

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I was the one who originally brought up the student working to contribute, so I'll address this.

My children have worked at some times and not at others. Our expectation is that they will work when they can. My older son has worked 4 out of the 5 summers since he turned 16, and and held an on campus job 4 out of the 7 terms he's been at school. Our younger son has worked 2 out of the 3 summers since he turned 16 and 0 out of the 1 term he's been at school. They've easily been able to cover their own entertainment, transportation, etc.

There's a big difference between expecting some contribution and expecting no contribution. It seems like a lot of people take an all or nothing approach. We expect our kids to contribute as they can, and they do.

 

[Pooh2]

Our kids all commuted 45 minutes to the nearest 4 year state university.

We have a community college that is only 10 minutes away but they got a couple of thousand dollars in merit scholarship money for all 4 years at the 4 year school and had programs more geared toward their interests.

One concern was whether or not the credits would all be accepted if they went to community college first. You may not save much if the student needs to take extra classes when transferring to a 4 year school.

Another concern was being the new student in the program if they came in at year 3. Glad we went with the 4 year school. All three kids found work right away and are working on grad degrees being paid for by their employers.

Good luck! Not an easy time financially!

 

[powellrj]

I was the one who originally brought up the student working to contribute, so I'll address this.

My children have worked at some times and not at others. Our expectation is that they will work when they can. My older son has worked 4 out of the 5 summers since he turned 16, and and held an on campus job 4 out of the 7 terms he's been at school. Our younger son has worked 2 out of the 3 summers since he turned 16 and 0 out of the 1 term he's been at school. They've easily been able to cover their own entertainment, transportation, etc.

There's a big difference between expecting some contribution and expecting no contribution. It seems like a lot of people take an all or nothing approach. We expect our kids to contribute as they can, and they do.

These are on-campus jobs I am talking about. My kids have always have jobs during school and during breaks. My middle son always worked summers as a lifeguard and parking cars at our local concert venue and then worked at local restaurants and bars during the school year.

DD is still in HS and works at a local pizza place who has already told her she has a job available whenever she is home.

Like I said, this was on campus jobs my post was talking about because a pp had said on campus jobs are always available.

 

[powellrj]

Our kids all commuted 45 minutes to the nearest 4 year state university.

We have a community college that is only 10 minutes away but they got a couple of thousand dollars in merit scholarship money for all 4 years at the 4 year school and had programs more geared toward their interests.

One concern was whether or not the credits would all be accepted if they went to community college first. You may not save much if the student needs to take extra classes when transferring to a 4 year school.

Another concern was being the new student in the program if they came in at year 3. Glad we went with the 4 year school. All three kids found work right away and are working on grad degrees being paid for by their employers.

Good luck! Not an easy time financially!

My oldest DS found this to be true. He paid out of pocket for his cc classes because he is on the GI bill and once you start to need to keep taking your classes. He was still recovering from injuries and needed to stop and start classes a lot. Once he started using his GI bill money, even though he was told his classes would all transfer because he was taking core classes, many didn't.

 

[disykat]

These are on-campus jobs I am talking about. My kids have always have jobs during school and during breaks. My middle son always worked summers as a lifeguard and parking cars at our local concert venue and then worked at local restaurants and bars during the school year.

DD is still in HS and works at a local pizza place who has already told her she has a job available whenever she is home.

Like I said, this was on campus jobs my post was talking about because a pp had said on campus jobs are always available.

Oh, sorry! I guess we're in agreement. My younger son hasn't found an on campus job yet. (And I've been watching the job website too so I know what's available!) Off campus jobs in his area are too far to walk or ride his bike to effectively.

My post was really meant to others - with the idea that expecting them to work doesn't have to be some sort of "I don't care how busy you are, get a job!" thing. You can be flexible and still have expectations that they will contribute.

Our kids don't work all the time, but the times they're not, they're using savings from the times they were.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Very few benefit from your stated scenario. Educational debt is the biggest problem to those graduating. The jobs are not there for them to start paying on these loans. And guess what? When they do get a job the employer could care less if they went to a private or state school.

You can't take everything you read here as true for all schools.

Yes there are lots of jobs available on campus, but the problem is that the times the jobs are available, most students aren't. DS did get a job one time opening and closing the pool since he was a lifeguard, only problem was he had to be there at 5am and then again at 1am. It wasn't real practical for him.

Don't limit yourself to state schools. My DD is going to a private school and once she gets all of the scholarship money, it will cost less than our cheapest state school. They just called yesterday and because she retook the SAT and raised her score enough she will be getting even more money.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

There are educational plans at community colleges that have all transferable classes. I am a professor at one. This is better than in years past so you would not waste time or money. I have many students go on and our last gradating class had over 3000 students transfer. There are even honors programs.

Exactly. And if the student knows exactly what major they want, there are direct transfer programs from the CC straight into the state school where every class is accepted and they are immediately accepted into the program at the university level.

 

[disykat]

Very few benefit from your stated scenario.

That depends on your definition of "very few" I guess. There are many private schools that will give scholarships that bring costs to that of their highest state school. I can think of several that start that at 3.4 GPA. Then there might be additional money for high SAT scores etc. If your child is a good student, it's definitely worth looking into.

We told our kids we were only paying state school costs, but knew they would have options open to them if they wanted to go private. Their offers proved it out.

In our community, our community college is an excellent choice for B/C students to get their first two years done and then move on. However, I'd recommend that A/B students seek out four year options that are affordable to them such as less selective private schools or try to move on to a community college in a bigger city. I'd only be willing to let my A/B student go to our community college if it was what they really wanted or it was absolutely necessary - it wouldn't be my recommendation for them.

I think part of affordability is taking your particular student into account. My straight A student is at our straight flagship, my A/B student is at a less selective state school where he still got some scholarship money for his grades. My friend's B/C student started at our community college and then moved on to a small, less selective private school.

 

[DebMcDonald]

Our's is in her second year at a state school at about $21,000 for a teaching degree, she looked at the private college at $50,000 which we discouraged as her salary will be based on experience vs. college. We are having her take out the student loans that she can and are paying the difference, this year she became an RA so that helped. We unfortunately didn't get any aid at all and are not in a financial situation that we we can really afford it either, typical middle american with two working parents.

 

[JillyBean1899]

Like I said, this was on campus jobs my post was talking about because a pp had said on campus jobs are always available.

If you're referring to my post, I said that there are a ton of jobs, not that they are always available. Although, depending on what you mean by "always available", that may be true. At my school, there are posts up on the message boards all semester long with departments looking for students. The nice thing about student jobs is they are much more agreeable to working around your schedule. Take the job I have, for example. I'm a note taker and tutor for the disability services team. We give our scheduler our class schedules for the semester, and she compares that to the classes that have a student requesting a note taker. If one matches (like my government class this semester), she assigns us to it (bonus ... I'm now getting paid to attend class and take notes which I'll be using, too ). Whatever is left over she assigns based on what class blocks we have said we are available for. If we don't have classes assigned to us, we can spend time in one of the three tutoring rooms, helping students that come in (we have a room for languages/social sciences, another for literature/composition/reading, and one for math/science).

I also know that students staff the library, the bookstore, tutoring rooms, and pool/gym on our campus, plus a few more, I'm sure. Since all of these are open the same hours (or more) than classes are going on, it's fairly simple to find a job that works around your class schedule.

 

[HopperFan]

DH and I both paid our own way through college (and he for grad degree) by working fulltime during the day and going to school fulltime at night (private college) while living at home. When we got married we both had one year left to go. We didn't play sports, join clubs or have the "college experience". We did not want to take that off the table for our kids yet we also were not going to go into debt either. We currently have two in college....BOTH will graduate DEBT free and we will have not gone into any debt for it either. Both have substantial funds still in their college accounts from the grands that they plan to use for Grad School.

DS toured a few and decided on the in-state liberal arts school that is a beautiful college setting, small in size in a small town. After a couple years he decided to go a different direction academically and had tired of the small town so transferred to a major state college 45 minutes from home. He lives at home, commutes and has a couple part time jobs - one of which will lead into his career (lots of networking).

DD was an athlete, had planned on playing in college (with scholarship hopes) but had severe injury. She chose to graduate a year early. So we had the double whammy of no athletic scholarship and less a year to prepare. She toured 12 colleges, applied to 8 (unsure due to her age) and was accepted at all and offered well over $250,000 in scholarships. She finally decided to attend the same college as her brother but living there. Ironically the coach heard about her and invited her on the team. After a year she decided if she was going to work that hard she'd like to get a paid job. This college was not her least expensive option. She has been an asst manager at a restaurant and leasing agent at her apartments. She is currently working for the college's athletic dept in marketing which goes with her studies.

What we told our kids was that we would help with Housing, Food, Books, Car expenses, Clothes etc within reason - but they were responsible for Tuition. That is the one thing that they had control over. They could get athletic or merit scholarships, they could fill out applications for hundreds of other scholarships, they could get jobs and save their money or they could be get loans. The loan was a safe idea because our income would be included in the determination - they were offered very little loan money. Knowing that the tuition was on them, they chose very wisely which schools to attend.

Big lesson I learned reading - don't blow a huge amount of money on your undergrad degree. So many jobs now basically require a Grad degree to get ahead or even in for the interview so if that is something you are considering, try to budget for that as well. Mine both plan on Grad School.

Suggestions:

1) READ and do your homework - I felt so much more in the know after reading.
- Go to the library and get "Princeton Review: Paying for College", "How to go to college almost for free", "The Scholarship Scouting Report" and "Winning Scholarships for College".
- BUY the book, "The Ultimate Scholarship Book 2014" and each year after. It lists every scholarship you can imagine, billions of dollars worth. Go through it, each one that applies, have them apply. It is worth the time, and it is worth the lesson to the student to know there are options.

2) Don't rule out private schools as many have foundations for scholarships that far exceed public. They also have the ability to give it out as they choose if they really want your student. My DD applied at a top private school in a neighboring state. They offered her a large scholarship and when she wasn't sure, they upped the amount. All the privates offered her substantial scholarships.

3) Don't rule out-of-state. One major SEC school in another state would have cost less to attend than our own in state school. Her scores (average student) waived the out-of-state tuition and got her two more scholarships. Go on their websites, jump to financial aid and read through all their scholarships. Many will offer them to out-of-state to keep a diverse mix of students from around the country.

4) DH did the CC college route, then private 4 year for his BA and MBA. The core classes are just as good at CC and cost less, especially if living at home. There is considerable money for transfer students because you have already proven you can handle college academics. Keep your GPA as high as possible for more options. There are CC that are live on campuses and many are very nice. Check them out. If you are an athlete then really check them out, there is lots of athletic scholarship money in the junior college association. Do well and transferring with athletic money is very possible.

5) Check with your HS college office for any scholarship through the community, the PTA, the State or Regional PTA, local businesses etc. Many of these are small offerings that don't get printed but are there for you if you ask. My DD actually entered a local business arts competition with a sculpture and was given $750 scholarship that covered her first year's books. Check with your company, many corporations offer employees children the ability to apply for money.

6) Any College Fairs close by or even a short drive. We drove an hour to a big one with each. Sat in on seminars about financial aid. Better yet it is where we found out about several small colleges that offered plenty of money options and we even visited a few of them. I work in a business where I have to explore colleges throughout the US for regarding sports and I have found so many awesome colleges that makes me want to go back to school. You can get incredible personal educations at the smaller schools but often you've never heard of them. The internet has made all this info attainable.

7) Online are a few places that help you work through process:
http://www.thecollegesolution.com/
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/
http://collegecost.ed.gov/scorecard/index.aspx
http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

8) Fill out FAFSA even if you are sure, like us, you don't qualify. They will use this to determine all other options. Once at a college apply for all the scholarships they have EVERY year. Have them ask about on campus jobs, work/study or not. The plus for them is they don't let them work too much.

9) After Freshman Year, the RA is a good option. My DS did do it for a year and it paid for all of his housing. That was a nice savings.

10) If you are looking at schools that base some scholarships on the SAT/ACT scores, take them multiple times. Start them right off in 9th grade (my DS took his first in 7th). The more you take the more relaxed you become and you can focus better. Both of my kids jumped the last couple times. My DD jumped her last year and the scholarships then jumped as well.

11) Cruise the Scholarship search engine sites - NEVER PAY a fee for scholarship search help. All you need is free online.
TOP RANKED WEBSITES:
www.fastweb.com
www.scholarshipexperts.com
www.scholarships.com
www.upromise.com
NEWER OR LOWER RANKED WEBSITES:
www.cappex.com
www.collegescholarships.org
www.finaid.org

GOVERNMENT SOURCES:
Federal Student Aid / US Dept of Education http://studentaid.ed.gov/
U S Department of Education http://www.ed.gov/
U S Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/index.html
FedMoney.org - private site that can guide you to obscure Federal money

Again, two kids graduating debt free from under-grad school with us working together, budgets, watching what we spend once in college etc. Good Luck to you!!!

 

[patsal]

My DD earned half in Presidential Scholarships, and the other half we are splitting. She took out loans for her half and I mortgaged the house for the other half.

 

[amyy]

I think it is wonderful you are thinking about how they will pay for college. Absolutely wonderful. I am an only child and basically paid my own way. For a semester or two my parents paid my tuition and the final 6 months of my graduate program my mother paid my rent. I worked almost full-time while getting my AA and BA because that is how it was. When I went for my MA I needed to put everything I had into my studies. It all works out. If my parents had been able to pay for my college I suppose my life would be different in someways. Luckily I had 1/2 of my MA loans paid off through a government loan repayment program for working in a low income area. Even though I will probably pay on my loans for a total of 20+ years I still have a good life. It is what it is

 

[lisaross]

Lots of information - I have 4 years to keep discussing with my son. Besides the tuition unpay to the school, about how much more do u pay for the school year - either u or the child - books, food, spending, travel etc

 

[eliza61]

Lots of information - I have 4 years to keep discussing with my son. Besides the tuition unpay to the school, about how much more do u pay for the school year - either u or the child - books, food, spending, travel etc

So my little minon is out of state (Cincinnati oh) and we live in South Jersey. So we did have to take in travel expenses. So far we budget us about 1400 bucks a year. He flies home at Thanksgiving, Christmas and spring break (so far we've been getting flights around the 280 mark) and usually end of year some one goes and gets him in a van. We're lucky that he has tons of uncles and adult cousins that have been more than happy to take a "road trip" to get him.

Now usually he works during the summer and saves a bunch for spending. Next year is going to be interesting because he's applying for an internship at a couple of newspapers (one in London) and if he gets any of them he will not be working. So I'm torn between letting him accept them and knowing I'll be giving him an allowance next year. But many times internships lead to job offers after college or at the very least look good so not sure which way we'll go.

HIs book cost actually have not been outrageous, so far this year he only spent 400 bucks on books (for both terms).

 

[Southernmiss]

Lots of information - I have 4 years to keep discussing with my son. Besides the tuition unpay to the school, about how much more do u pay for the school year - either u or the child - books, food, spending, travel etc

That's really hard to say.

Dss school is an hour away. The greatest expense we/he has is auto insurance, gas and maintenance. All of that is not easily predictable and has many variables. Over Christmas vacation we paid $100 for 2 tanks of gas for him and $2000 for a new transmission! Yikes! Ds works on campus and off as a soccer referee and over the summer as a lifeguard. He pays most of his day to day expenses through that or scholarships. He's definitely a poor college student.

It's also going to depend on what your child is a part of at school. For ds it's a fraternity and ultimate frisbee and honors classes and student government(all out if his pocket). There are expenses there that I don't even know about.

There are many travel (study abroad) and other opportunities through school that he'd love to take advantage of if he had the $$. But he can't do it all on our/ his budget.

 

[Marionnette]

Lots of information - I have 4 years to keep discussing with my son. Besides the tuition unpay to the school, about how much more do u pay for the school year - either u or the child - books, food, spending, travel etc

For our daughter, the commuter, a parking pass was an unexpected cost. And since she was commuting from home, the insurance on her car did not go down like it did for our boys who went away for school.

Books can be all over the map when it comes to costs. The latest trend is toward renting e-books because it's easier to carry your books around if they're on your digital tablet.

A newer laptop is essential, either before they start college or at some point while they are in school. Aside from the changes in technology that make a computer obsolete in a short period of time, there is also the unfortunate fact that laptops that get shoved in a backpack on a routine basis tend to suffer from wear and tear much faster than one that is sitting at home on a desk.

A record of up to date immunizations is pretty much required by all schools, and some vaccines that were elective when they are teens become necessary when they are college students. Getting those immunizations, a physical and taking care of any health/dental/vision needs prior to their departure for that first year can be pretty expensive.

Dorm supplies (bedding, reading lamps, power surge strips, a decent pillow, etc.) can really add up.

Most schools charge a student activity fee regardless of whether the kid is part-time or full-time, on-campus or a commuter. It will be on the bill for tuition, room and board.

Science and technology students tend to pay more for "lab fees" on top of their tuition.

Our state flagship school charges more for juniors and seniors than they do for freshmen and sophomores. I guess they figure by that point in your college career, you're not going to transfer out, so they've got you where they can charge what they want and you have no choice but to pay it if you want to graduate.

"Semester abroad" programs cost additional money. They're great experiences if your child can participate but getting them to their "abroad" school can be pricey. Tuition is the same as their home school but the living expenses can be outrageous!

My kids' schools also made us prove to them that the kid was already covered by a health insurance policy. If we did not provide verifiable documentation, the cost of a health insurance policy was automatically added to their tuition bill. If your child is in a position where they are not covered by insurance because you have elected to pay the IRS penalty (or is it a tax?), then you may end up facing that unexpected cost.

 

[4forMe]

OP here. I just wanted to thank everyone that has contributed to this thread. Thanks also to the posters who provided links regarding discounted books, college searches, scholarship info, etc.

I realize everyone's family situation is different. I also agree college may not be for everyone. I have a child who struggles with learning disabilities, and DH and I will see in the future if he may be better off learning a trade, etc.

For our family situation, commuting to a 4 year university will not be an option. DH and I met at our college where he commuted his first year. On a good day, the drive was well over an hour. He begged his parents to live on campus the following year as he felt the commute was too difficult. We will be having our kids live on campus as we currently live far away from the nearest 4 year university.

Regarding community college, I have no issues with any of my children attending the first 1-2 years. We also have an excellent community college near our home. However, I believe that if my child wanted to pursue a certain major (ie. engineering), he would probably be better off going straight to the 4 year university that accepted him into the engineering program. If I'm not correct on this, please share - this is just my understanding.

We will continue to be very open with our children about our college budget. I also will not be encouraging my children to apply to colleges that are very expensive with no chance of merit scholarships. We just had friends go through this situation where their daughter was accepted into her dream school (with a 62K price tag) and could not attend due to the price.

 

[imsayin]

We will continue to be very open with our children about our college budget. I also will not be encouraging my children to apply to colleges that are very expensive with no chance of merit scholarships. We just had friends go through this situation where their daughter was accepted into her dream school (with a 62K price tag) and could not attend due to the price.

Parents, don't do this to your kids! Figure out what you can afford and let your kids know before they apply to schools. Every college has a financial calculator on it. You can plug in your numbers and they will tell you what your EFC (expected family contribution) will be.

 

[MrsPete]

There are tons of grants and scholarships out there to help bring costs down too.

Not really. The vast majority of my high school students -- even the ones with top grades -- do not get scholarships. Search for them, try for them, but also make plans for what you can afford if nothing comes through.

That depends on your definition of "very few" I guess. There are many private schools that will give scholarships that bring costs to that of their highest state school.

Having taught high school for 20+ years, I used to see this "private school cheaper than public school" thing happen to 2-3 kids per graduating class -- I have never known of it being true for "many" students. In the last two years, I've not known a single student who's received such a deal (of course, having said that, I bet we'll have 5 in this year's graduating class!). It's largely an urban legend.

If your heart is set of a certain private school, TRY for this deal. But at the same time, apply to an affordable school that you can manage without any financial help -- that way, if it doesn't work out, you're not in a bad position.

Also, be SURE that the money will keep coming year after year. Some private schools do this to lure kids in for the freshman year, then they have to decide whether to pay $$$$ or transfer.

Our's is in her second year at a state school at about $21,000 for a teaching degree, she looked at the private college at $50,000

Yeah, you have to ask, "After graduation, will this student be more employable if she's attended a $50,000 private school?" For a teacher, the answer is solidly NO. For most jobs, the answer is solidly NO.

Lots of information - I have 4 years to keep discussing with my son. Besides the tuition unpay to the school, about how much more do u pay for the school year - either u or the child - books, food, spending, travel etc

Good point. College doesn't cost tuition and nothing else! Things to consider, some repetitive from other posters:

- Laptop -- an absolute necessity these days
- Printer -- again, a necessity
- Books -- my daughter's school includes book rental in tuition, which is such a sensible solution that I think every school should be forced to adopt it!
- Specific (and expensive) necessities for the major -- Everyone knows that art majors and architecture majors spend regularly on supplies, but lots of majors have "added" costs. The guy I dated in college was studying Biology, and he spent a ton on lab fees. When my nursing-major daughter begins Nursing Clinicals next fall, she'll be required to wear bookstore-purchased scrubs . . . with her name embroidered on the shirt, meaning she can't buy them used and can't resell them later! Student teachers are required to dress professionally and have transportation to their schools. Think ahead about what your student's major will "cost" above and beyond tuition.
- Acceptance fee -- I was surprised that we had to make a downpayment on the next fall's tuition on the day that my daughter officially "accepted" her school. I understand they don't want kids "accepting" half a dozen schools to keep their options open, and I think the acceptance fee was only $200, but I didn't know it was coming!
- Orientation fee -- Mandatory overnight at the school, during which the students register, meet their advisors, etc. I think it cost $150 or so, which did include food.
- Dorm room set-up -- We didn't go all-out, but we did buy new sheets, a mattress pad, a lamp and a few other things. Some people really go overboard.
- Move-in -- Yeah, it ends up being more expensive than you expect: A hotel room for the parents, meals, gas.
- Visits -- It's not all that much, but it does add up!

We will continue to be very open with our children about our college budget. I also will not be encouraging my children to apply to colleges that are very expensive with no chance of merit scholarships. We just had friends go through this situation where their daughter was accepted into her dream school (with a 62K price tag) and could not attend due to the price.

Good advice. Don't dangle the carrot that you know is completely impossible . . . or impossible without big loans. Every year I see it: Students who fall in love with a particular school, then they find out that scholarships aren't as numerous as they'd thought and financial aid not so generous as they'd hoped -- and they end up "forced into" what they now see as a second-rate school.

Don't start out with the "the world is your oyster!" concept; rather, start with what you can really afford. If you think money may appear from elsewhere, peek over the hedge at the high-dollar places, but be crystal-clear from the beginning: This can only happen if some scholarship money comes through!