What do you consider a lot? Student debt?

When we discuss putting the kids in a local private elementary I always think of college savings (which DH is doing already). If we don't put them in that expensive school until middle school we would save WAY more than what undergrad for both of them would be even at the most expensive uni. It's crazy to have to consider this stuff when college is so far away, but you do.
And there are also situations like where you live. Public school is not a viable option at all in my area so we just know it’s a extra financial burden we will have to bear. Currently elementary school tuition is about $10,000 a year on average. DS is not even school-aged yet so who knows what it will be then. There are so many variables to consider when answering OPs question including where you live & your resources.
 
I agree with this. Dd22 has about $90,000 in loans (we paid $30,000 plus her loan interest), she has her masters, just passed her first CPA exam, and she already has an employment contact with a nice starting salary (she graduated from an in state public university with a great business school). Dd17 is going for a doctorate in PT, even with generous scholarships ($28,000 a year, $30,000 for graduate school) she will have over $100,000 in loans (with $30,000 from us). She has applied to school with strong PT programs (and none in state). Dd22 graduated college at the top of her class while living in crowded off campus apartments and houses while waitressing to pay for food and rent. Ds20 is a finance major and works 2 jobs to pay for his food and rent (also in state public university, he will have similar debt as dd22). We told our kids to major in fields they could tolerate (dd17 has actually always wanted to be a physical therapist). Dd15 and ds15, so far, plan on going the business school route (all of my kids are very strong in math). Get a degree that will get you a job.

Our experience is very similar to this. My oldest son (25) went to one of our instate University's (UNH) which is roughly 100 grand for classes/room&board. We gave him 30 grand and loans (federal and private) covered the rest. He graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and 70k in loans. That amount was tough, but I had no doubt that he would pay it off quickly and he did. Exactly 2 years after graduation (age 24) he made his last payment. He was able to do it because he makes a good salary and was extremely frugal.

My youngest is still in college and will have far less debt, because he went to the local community college first. We gave him 30k as well.

The key is to get a degree that will lead to a job.

We have co-signed for both of their loans.

Every family is different, every circumstance is different, different majors, different parts of the country with various cost of living, vast differences in college costs. for all of those reasons I don't think there is one amount of debt that is across the board. There are way too many variables!! Each student/family has to figure out what is best for them.
 
When we discuss putting the kids in a local private elementary I always think of college savings (which DH is doing already). If we don't put them in that expensive school until middle school we would save WAY more than what undergrad for both of them would be even at the most expensive uni. It's crazy to have to consider this stuff when college is so far away, but you do.

The good news is that once you get used to paying for elementary and high schools, college tuition doesn't seem quite as daunting. :p

My younger son's private grade school costs more than my older son's Catholic high school. And with one going to college next year and the other moving on to high school, it's just shifting around the payments to different places.
 
(which they would need to do since the student can only take out $5500 a year in their name)

You also have to accept the unsubsidized loan if it's offered along with a subsidized portion.

Except that over the base amount of around $23K in subsidized loans, kids need parents to sign for them


students can take out more than $5500 a year in fed loans in their own name-$5500 is only the freshman cap. once they are past freshman year it increases to $6500 for 2nd year, then 3rd year and beyond to $7500 (this if dependent students, independent students can borrow more from the feds)-this is per the federal student loan website & our experience w/dd over the past 5 years.

a student does NOT have to accept unsub if they take the sub portion. dd would get her financial aid award letter each year and it would list scholarships, then work study award, then fed subsidized loan amounts and finally un-subsidized amount. she got to pick and choose what she would take-she opted to take next to no unsub loans b/c the 'cost of attendance' universities use for these formulas is always inflated to show what cost is if living in the overpriced dorms whereas renting a apartment alone or w/friends saved almost 30% overall costs per year so she would check the box to decline the unsub amounts.

the $23,000 figure is just for the subsidized, students can borrow IN THEIR OWN NAME/WITHOUT A CO-SIGNER more in un-subsidized fed loans (dd was awarded subsidized, un-subsidized and perkins loans none of which we had to be cosigners for).
 


And there are also situations like where you live. Public school is not a viable option at all in my area so we just know it’s a extra financial burden we will have to bear. Currently elementary school tuition is about $10,000 a year on average. DS is not even school-aged yet so who knows what it will be then. There are so many variables to consider when answering OPs question including where you live & your resources.

That is SO true regarding all the variables. The kids attending college are also variables. No 2 situations are alike but it’s good to hear varied opinions.

Going back to crying that dh has to work Xmas eve day and that’s the day this year we have the kids for Xmas. Major bummer today.
 
The good news is that once you get used to paying for elementary and high schools, college tuition doesn't seem quite as daunting. :p

My younger son's private grade school costs more than my older son's Catholic high school. And with one going to college next year and the other moving on to high school, it's just shifting around the payments to different places.

What he pays for private Montessori school is shocking to me still. And the kids are only in school during our 50%! I don’t know how people do it. I really don’t.
 
I worked my butt off to make it through my bachelors degree and three masters degrees without any student debt. Then I got married and had to help pay off my wife's...
 


What he pays for private Montessori school is shocking to me still. And the kids are only in school during our 50%! I don’t know how people do it. I really don’t.
Is the school allowing you to pay for only that 50% I can see that if you only have them Tues - Thurs or only have them MWF each week---but your prior posts make it sound more like every other week. I'Ve never heard of a preschool which would hold a spot for children in off weeks and not still charge for the full time ---perhpas that is parrtly why the cost is high: you are actually paying for full time?


In any event---yes, quality childcare is often pricey.
 
I agree with this. Dd22 has about $90,000 in loans (we paid $30,000 plus her loan interest), she has her masters, just passed her first CPA exam, and she already has an employment contact with a nice starting salary (she graduated from an in state public university with a great business school). Dd17 is going for a doctorate in PT, even with generous scholarships ($28,000 a year, $30,000 for graduate school) she will have over $100,000 in loans (with $30,000 from us). She has applied to school with strong PT programs (and none in state). Dd22 graduated college at the top of her class while living in crowded off campus apartments and houses while waitressing to pay for food and rent. Ds20 is a finance major and works 2 jobs to pay for his food and rent (also in state public university, he will have similar debt as dd22). We told our kids to major in fields they could tolerate (dd17 has actually always wanted to be a physical therapist). Dd15 and ds15, so far, plan on going the business school route (all of my kids are very strong in math). Get a degree that will get you a job.

$90,000 in loans for three years of tuition at a public university (you paid one year and you said they work to pay their food and rent). Tuition can’t be 30k a year can it?
What’s the monthly payment for 90k in loans?
Totally agree about getting a degree that will get you a job!
 
Is the school allowing you to pay for only that 50% I can see that if you only have them Tues - Thurs or only have them MWF each week---but your prior posts make it sound more like every other week. I'Ve never heard of a preschool which would hold a spot for children in off weeks and not still charge for the full time ---perhpas that is parrtly why the cost is high: you are actually paying for full time?


In any event---yes, quality childcare is often pricey.

The kids are in school either 2 or 3 days a week. The custody is kinda screwy... we have them 7 of 14 days, but it’s weekend, then exchange Sunday night, then exchange on Tuesday and then again on Friday. You’re quite right though, dh had a really hard time finding a quality school that would do every other week. This opened more childcare possibilities up for the kids at least:) I think it’s a pretty common custody split in our county and why they are willing to work with us. I love their school, pricey as it is. I get little pics and texts of the kids all day and know what they are, how long they napped, everything. Worth it!

But again, I think it’s really hard for a normal middle class family to pay for things like decent daycare AND save for college. I’m glad financing options are there so anyone determined can get the education they want.
 
The kids are in school either 2 or 3 days a week. The custody is kinda screwy... we have them 7 of 14 days, but it’s weekend, then exchange Sunday night, then exchange on Tuesday and then again on Friday. You’re quite right though, dh had a really hard time finding a quality school that would do every other week. This opened more childcare possibilities up for the kids at least:) I think it’s a pretty common custody split in our county and why they are willing to work with us. I love their school, pricey as it is. I get little pics and texts of the kids all day and know what they are, how long they napped, everything. Worth it!

But again, I think it’s really hard for a normal middle class family to pay for things like decent daycare AND save for college. I’m glad financing options are there so anyone determined can get the education they want.
that makes sense, if the says are the same each week. But, yeah, daycare is so very expensive---and yet, most preschool teachers are paid very little in the US. sigh
 
But again, I think it’s really hard for a normal middle class family to pay for things like decent daycare AND save for college. I’m glad financing options are there so anyone determined can get the education they want.
Daycare costs can be a big burden honestly.

I've known multiple families that have opted to drop to a 1 income household because the costs for daycare (among other things) outweighed one of the parent's income or at the very least it was real close. Some have opted to drop 1 of the parents down to a part-time job so at least some income coming in but not as much financial burden with full-time day care costs.

Some places do have daycare within the company but those can be real expensive too (just means you're in closer proximity to your child really).

I grew up in in-home daycares and I know the cost back then was less than non in-home daycares but that was so many years ago who knows the costs now.
 
So which is it---you feel that parents should save for college as an equal priority to other things., or you feel parents should fund any college their child chooses, not taking price into consideration and budget any way needed to make it happen? Your posts seem to imply one then the other.


Even you, at your income, fell 30,000 dolars short of funding the dream school and needed an inheritance to make it happen (not everyone gets an inheritance), and only one of your children chose a pricey school. Had bot hchosen the 50K per yeear option, then what?




(FTR---we did not have to steer either kid away from a pricier option---both grew up with the idea that value for money applies in all areas, including education---and niether ever even looked at anything out of range or indicated wanting to, so we were lucky to not need to crunch really hard numbers and decide what we would or would not)

It's both for us. They should include College Savings in their financial planning, AND do everything within their power to fund their child's education.

The inheritance came after the kids were done with college. It just accelerated the repayment of the loans by 6 years
 
Daycare costs can be a big burden honestly.

I've known multiple families that have opted to drop to a 1 income household because the costs for daycare (among other things) outweighed one of the parent's income or at the very least it was real close. Some have opted to drop 1 of the parents down to a part-time job so at least some income coming in but not as much financial burden with full-time day care costs.

Some places do have daycare within the company but those can be real expensive too (just means you're in closer proximity to your child really).

I grew up in in-home daycares and I know the cost back then was less than non in-home daycares but that was so many years ago who knows the costs now.

Actually, I should know in days if I got a job with in house super high quality daycare. Also, just blocks from dh’s work. That will be amazing to get to check in on them if I want, and it’ll effectively be a $1000/mo raise to our family. It’s funny to me, the people who need these types of services the most don’t get the access to them that people who can afford the full freight do. Why do investment bankers need subsidized childcare? Lol.
 
In any event---yes, quality childcare is often pricey.

agreed, and offering decent priced quality childcare can be one of the best 'hooks' a private school can set up to ensure long term k-12 enrollments. this was the case where we lived when our kids were young. the best quality/reasonably priced infant-pre k care was at the local private school. kids would start in the daycare program and then when they aged up the parents would realize how much more convenient to have them in a place where they did school and had in-house before/after school care (all on the same calendar) so the kids would move into the private school system, then when they got to middle/high school and parents saw that tuition was less than they had paid for years of ft daycare-school w/before & after care it didn't seem like a big expense so the bulk of the kids went from diapers to diplomas.

i look at all we spent on private school tuition over the years for our 2 and i think it was money well spent-it gave them a good educational foundation such that i suspect it helped garner some of the scholarships dd later received.
 
$90,000 in loans for three years of tuition at a public university (you paid one year and you said they work to pay their food and rent). Tuition can’t be 30k a year can it?
What’s the monthly payment for 90k in loans?
Totally agree about getting a degree that will get you a job!
Actually, I just checked the COA, $34,138, but she got off campus junior year and rented with 6 others at $500 a month (but year-round), plus she was in a 5 year program but finished in 4 1/2. Ds20 is in a public in state college, COA is $30,326. NJ public colleges, even in state, are pricey.
 
I've known multiple families that have opted to drop to a 1 income household because the costs for daycare (among other things) outweighed one of the parent's income or at the very least it was real close. Some have opted to drop 1 of the parents down to a part-time job so at least some income coming in but not as much financial burden with full-time day care costs

i saw this allot when the recession hit-a good number of people didn't realize the cost for them to work. when they lost their job and started cutting expenses (daycare usually first) they were shocked to see their net loss was much lower than they expected.

i went to part time for several years b/c my then employer was offering it but you still kept f/t accruals/benefits/status. my cpa ran the numbers and sure enough if i went to a 6 hour day i could eliminate before/after school care and between that and the tax savings (and no longer having a lunch break to spend money on as well) we ended up ahead of the game.
 
I worked my butt off to make it through my bachelors degree and three masters degrees without any student debt. Then I got married and had to help pay off my wife's...

Honey? Is that you? You know I'm worth it ;-)
 
Actually, I just checked the COA, $34,138, but she got off campus junior year and rented with 6 others at $500 a month (but year-round), plus she was in a 5 year program but finished in 4 1/2. Ds20 is in a public in state college, COA is $30,326. NJ public colleges, even in state, are pricey.

Chiming in again! I just checked the price of the instate school my son graduated from, (UNH) it was 31,528 for the 2015-16 year. Easy to add up big loans with the high cost. I think some parts of the country are not as pricey, but here in the northeast that is the standard rate.
 
The shame of all this is that once the government got involved with student loans, not only did the cost of college skyrocket but it also fueled the start of employers requiring a college degree for jobs that in the past didn't require more than a high school education and some on the job training. I also find it ridiculous that our 18 year olds are considered adults for some things (voting, contracts, etc.) but when it comes to college loans the parents' income and resources have to be considered. Imagine how things would be different if loans were only provided based on what a student might earn after graduation. Perhaps college costs would not have risen so dramatically or they might not have introduced so many marginally useful courses and majors (compared to future earning potential). Perhaps their would have been more work-study programs that gave students real life experience while they were learning. Perhaps there would have been less spending on fancy student lounges, fitness centers and dorms and more money on full-time professors rather than part-time adjuncts.

I believe every student should have at least some responsibility for the cost of their college education, some "skin in the game". I think this helps them better value their education.
 

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