Stimulus check and college kids - who gets it

[kymom99]

Mine would never ask but I’m giving it to him. He is 21, graduating in may, summa cum laude. This will help him add to his little bit of savings to get started into true adulthood. Yes we have paid for almost all of his expenses to this point and he graduates debt free. Of course no one is expected to give it to their dependent adult child, but if you want to, go for it. If not tell them to go pound sand.

 

[beanjean]

If my son or daughter said it like that then no they wouldn't be getting anything.

 

[Wendy1985]

My son has asked about his check? He’s an 18yr old college freshman that has all his expenses covered. I keep explaining he’s a dependent and that’s his contribution to the “family total”. He showed me an article talking about who was eligible to get a check and college kids was listed etc.

He said some of his friends were getting checks from their parents.
Any other college age dependents asking for “their” money or am I off the mark here?

I do/dont fall inder this category I am a student just not enrolled in traditional college it was decided that any checks we get from the government will go towrds my test and classes I think it us perfect

 

[Donnainnj]

My then 12 year old asked about his cut with the first stimulus. We laughed and quickly explained what was what.

 

[bjscheel]

DD19 is getting her portion from me as she pays her own rent and groceries at school. She has been able to find summer and winter break jobs which have carried her through so far, but not a school-year job yet. Her college is in a small town with more students than job opportunities. This will provide a helpful bump to get her through till summer earnings. Before she leaves her college town at the end of April, she'll be leaving a check for April-July rent, which this will about cover.

I could make a case for keeping it in return for things we do pay for her, but since she has been covering her share without complaint this is a logical way of helping her. I don't know that she would have asked for it, but I told her as soon as I found out she was included that I would be passing hers on. She was continuing to apply for jobs, but at this point she is only there for 6 more weeks and I figured it was useless. This way she knows she will be okay for the rest of the school year.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Our college senior has very few expenses that we don't already cover. His on-campus apartment, including all utilities, is paid up until he graduates in May. I send him money for groceries, on-campus meals between classes, school supplies, clothes, etc. He also gets spending money for Uber Eats, haircuts and other extra stuff. My mom and sister also send him random amounts of spending money. Since he's a senior, they've been very generous lately so he can enjoy his last couple of month in college. He'll be graduating debt-free.

He is already very fortunate and I don't just want to send him $1400 for no particular reason. DH and I have decided that we will send him $400 from the stimulus money. I will keep the other $1000 in our savings account, and mentally earmark it for him. He is studying to become a professional singer/actor and breaking into the volatile and hard-hit theater industry might be difficult. If he needs money to travel to auditions, take new head shots, make audition tapes, etc. he can use that leftover $1000. That's our plan.

 

[SmallWorld71]

DS22, college senior, will get his from us though he would never ask for it. We pay tuition, but he pays his rent, groceries, etc. He actually made enough money last spring/ summer working in a restaurant kitchen to cover his entire year’s expenses so he doesn’t actually need it. He has been very frugal and I feel good about giving it to him.

I already told DD18, high school senior, that ‘her’ portion would be going towards next year’s college expenses. We got $ for her the last 2 times as well. She has never asked for any of it.

 

[StephMK]

We will take it since we've been paying all of their bills so far.

 

[aprilgail]

Does she pay for her own cost of living? Is she like a real independent adult who's responsible for paying for her own life expenses? If so, than I absolutely think she would be entitled to it, however if mom/dad is paying for everything or most things, than I don't get why that money (which is being given because of the cost of that child) should go to a person not paying for their own life expenses.

She will be graduating this year and starting to pay back her student loan so she can use it towards that. She saves all her extra money towards repaying student loans so no way would I keep it and not give her it.

 

[Colleen27]

I think I'd fall out of my chair laughing if DD19 asked about getting her share of the stimulus. But she wouldn't ask because we've done everything in our power to make sure her savings didn't take a hit from the extra pandemic costs (off campus rent, mostly) or from her off-and-on employment as the restaurant where she works has opened and closed and opened again.

 

[DisneyTeacher]

We have a 22 year old college senior. He hasn’t asked about the money but we will move it to his savings account when we get it. I figure it will help him get started in the real world after he graduates in May. He’s truly a saver so it will sit in the bank until he has a true need for it.

 

[QueenIsabella]

My college kid wouldn't even think to ask. He's a dependent. By definition, that means he's dependent on us to pay his bills.

Now, DD25 gets her own, but she's graduated, has a job, lives on her own, etc. In other words, NOT dependent on us. Well, we might still have her on our cell plan.

 

[pweyl36]

Only if the check comes in their names.

 

[tzolkin]

Does she pay for her own cost of living? Is she like a real independent adult who's responsible for paying for her own life expenses? If so, than I absolutely think she would be entitled to it, however if mom/dad is paying for everything or most things, than I don't get why that money (which is being given because of the cost of that child) should go to a person not paying for their own life expenses.

If they are a "real independent adult who's responsible for paying for their own life expenses" then they really should not have been claimed as a dependent and would have been eligible for all three stimulus payments anyway.

I think it's great if parents want to give a portion of their stimulus payment to their kids (regardless of age), but I would consider that a gift and not something they are entitled to. I agree with your statement that the money is intended for the parents of the dependent, not the kids themselves. (Of course, the parents are free to do whatever they want with that money, including giving it to their kids.)

My son has asked about his check? He’s an 18yr old college freshman that has all his expenses covered. I keep explaining he’s a dependent and that’s his contribution to the “family total”. He showed me an article talking about who was eligible to get a check and college kids was listed etc.

Either he's misunderstanding (since he's referring to it as "his check" and reading articles stating "college students are eligible to get a check" maybe he thinks there's a separate check that is coming specifically for him) or he's being an entitled brat. If I were receiving for a college-aged kid, I would have no hesitation spending the money on their expenses or giving it to them to spend or save as they please but if they were being pushy and arguing repeatedly with me (since you mention that you "keep explaining" he must have brought it up multiple times) that would probably make me not want to give them anything just on principle.

 

[olwyngdh]

My daughter wants to do a 4 week archeological field school this summer. Doing it would give her 6 weeks field experience and a better chance at internships in the future-she really wants to intern in Greece or Italy summer between her Jr and Sr year and those slots are competitive. She has asked to use the portion of the stimulus for her for expenses she can't get covered by scholarships- last time she went she got a bit over a week covered by a Women in Archeology scholarship. I see this as a very fair use of that money.