What percentage of people pay cash for college?

[Sinder]

My twin granddaughters are over 100,000.00 in debt each for Vet school. Their dad is a mechanic I was widowed twice in my 30‘s. How could we save when Dad made $5.00 a hour. Cost more for daycare than my daughter working. I either feed and give them room and board or save for college. Never dreamed they would be doctors. So please stop putting people down that didn’t save for their kids college. It make me feel like a failure.. I tried the best I could.

Nobody is putting anyone down for not saving for their kid's college tuition.

 

[CGB]

Most of my college was paid for via the GIBill after my military service. I went to community colleges and a state university. I received a scholarship from the university that paid for about one year's worth of tuition. No college debt. I was working full-time and paid off my masters class by class.

First child: lived at home, went to local junior college then transferred to local state university. We paid for her tuition/fees each semester. Bachelors. No loans and no debt.

Second child: received a full-ride scholarship to a local state university. He lived in the dorms all four years but came home most weekends. Completed two bachelors. I paid for one semester of his grad school (same university) before he was picked up as a graduate assistant (paycheck and free tuition/fees). He lived at home while completing his masters degree. After he graduated, the university hired him in the same department that he worked as a GA. No loans and no debt.

 

[JimMIA]

Can you pay tuition with a credit card without paying a cc usage fee?

That depends.

 

[tcufrog]

It's possible due to the popularity of 529 plans. Those didn't exist when I went to college 25 years ago. I imagine many more students are able to have their college paid for by parents who opened these accounts when their kids were born 18-22 years ago, right around when they became popular.

We have enough in my 17 year olds 529 to fund 4 years of tuition, fees and books at the any state public school (either the UC or Cal State system) We literally opened the account when he was born and have only contributed $100/month. The account currently sits at $55,000. He isn't going to college, so if he goes to trade or vocational school, we will be able to fund it easily.

These accounts have made it easy for parents to save money for college over a child's lifetime.

My DH and I knew from the beginning that our kids wouldn't qualify for financial aid so we started saving aggressively in 529 accounts when they were infants.

My cousin signed up for the National Guard for our state and enrolled in college when he finished basic training. Midway through his first fall semester, he was called up by our governor to serve on the border.

 

[Seahorse17]

Nobody is putting anyone down for not saving for their kid's college tuition.

Ok but everyone in vet school dadwas a blue collar or Doctor. I told them never look down on your Dad. we Just never dreamed at $5.00 a hour when they were born to save over $200,000.00

 

[wannabee]

DS22 graduated in 2021 and he has no debt. He went to public university in Louisiana and we cash flowed his tuition that was offset by Louisiana's TOPS program that pays a portion of tuition plus some small scholarship money. Most of his friends graduated debt free.

 

[VandVsmama]

My twin granddaughters are over 100,000.00 in debt each for Vet school. Their dad is a mechanic I was widowed twice in my 30‘s. How could we save when Dad made $5.00 a hour. Cost more for daycare than my daughter working. I either feed and give them room and board or save for college. Never dreamed they would be doctors. So please stop putting people down that didn’t save for their kids college. It make me feel like a failure.. I tried the best I could.

1. Nobody is criticizing you.
2. Parents and grandparents are not obligated under any means to pay for a kid's grad school expenses. Doing so is a choice of the parents/grandparents own volition.
3. When the parent(s) are barely scraping by, of COURSE there's no money to set aside for college. that's understandable, which brings me back to point #1.

What **I** am criticizing are parents who COULD afford to save a little, but chose not to because they'd rather buy their own toys instead first.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

So would a university's reliance on state funding. A main reason the colleges in my state request the Board of Regents to raise tuition is because their funding is cut.

Adding to my comment, today the governor is calling for a tuition freeze for all colleges for the 2023 year in the state under the Board of Regents. A total of $70.7million will be spread out to the colleges with $25 million of that being need-based grants to students if it goes through and $45.7 million used to freeze the tuition. All contingent on it passing of course.

As it plays out again and again (because this is not the first time this has happened) when money is given to the colleges they agree to not raise tuition (which according to the Board of Regents the colleges are on board for 2023 to not raise tuition with funding coming in) or are prevented from doing so. This translates to lower overall costs for students going to college and is touted as a main driver.

 

[disykat]

Nobody is putting anyone down for not saving for their kid's college tuition.

I agree. Parents help in MANY ways.

Giving or helping them find good advice on picking affordable options and a degree that will end in a job is probably the absolute BEST help parents can give. Room and board either during the school year and/or while they work during summers is another - one of the biggest ways college kids can save money is by living at home. Encouraging a work ethic as they enter their teens and helping them figure out ways of making and saving money is huge. Being a cheerleader while they apply for colleges and scholarships is HUGE and being a realistic voice if they are trying to take on too much debt is even BIGGER.

Granted, it was during different times, but both my dad and husband were examples of first generation college students whose parents had no idea how to navigate college finance and no money to help - but who provided the kind of support needed to help them figure out ways to "afford" college and minimize loans to what they would be able to pay back. If your child goes off to school with an understanding of loans, interest, and how an early pay off can save $$ in the long run AND the desire to make sacrifices now to save money and live better later - THAT is a huge gift.

I do admit to judging parents who put their heads in the sand and encourage their kids to do the same though. I think we ALL judge people who don't do things the way we think they should. I also judge parents who pay for everything, while their kids learn nothing about what it all cost and how it got paid for. Figuring out the finances is a big part OF the college experience, IMO.

 

[bcla]

Well - I was just thinking that someone mentioned cash? My parents actually paid for most of my grad school bills with special credit card that gave something like 5% back as credit towards buying a car. They ended up buying a car with several thousand dollars in those credits.

 

[NotUrsula]

Adding to my comment, today the governor is calling for a tuition freeze for all colleges for the 2023 year in the state under the Board of Regents. A total of $70.7million will be spread out to the colleges with $25 million of that being need-based grants to students if it goes through and $45.7 million used to freeze the tuition. All contingent on it passing of course.

As it plays out again and again (because this is not the first time this has happened) when money is given to the colleges they agree to not raise tuition (which according to the Board of Regents the colleges are on board for 2023 to not raise tuition with funding coming in) or are prevented from doing so. This translates to lower overall costs for students going to college and is touted as a main driver.

And it's driving a lot of state universities into the ground, if they don't manage to attract sufficient donations &/or private research funding to stay afloat. 435,000 active degree-seeking students failed to re-enroll this year in the US, and the well is running dry. A big part of the survival strategy for a lot of schools that lost public funding was to heavily recruit foreign students who would pay full-price, but with COVID that revenue stream is mostly gone.

It costs rather a lot of money to operate a good-quality university. When funding is cut, reliance on adjuncts goes WAY up, and it becomes much harder to manage to uniformly enforce standards of excellence. Programs lose accreditation, colleges lose yet more students, and the dog continues to chew on its own tail. Public universities were never meant to support themselves, and it's ridiculous to expect them to do so. Cut waste, sure, and enforce reasonable efficiencies, but for the public good, give back the danged tax funding.

 

[mjkacmom]

Can you pay tuition with a credit card without paying a cc usage fee?

Not at any of my kids’ colleges, very large fees.

 

[mrs. magoo]

I want to echo the idea that many people just do not look at Private schools because they assume that it will cost too much money. Private schools have many endowments and scholarships so tell your kids to apply to them.

Also if you can get a job at a college many of them offer free tuition for employees. One of the reasons we have been so fortunate to pay our kids bills is he works at a local college with free tuition. Only 1 of the 4 attended that college but the others did well enough in school to apply for tuition exchange through the college. This has helped tremendously. My husband has been underpaid for 27 years but we are taking advantage of the tuition benefit now.

There are many ways to fund a college education. I was looking forward to my youngest getting everything paid for including his books and receiving a stipend, of course, but it just was not a good fit and the coaching staff basically pushed him out. He will land on his feet but it was an eye opening experience.

 

[DVC-Don]

I paid cash for my college. Two years community college then transferred to a state 4 year college.

 

[mjkacmom]

I paid cash for my college. Two years community college then transferred to a state 4 year college.

My parents paid for my college, but back in 1985 is was SO much cheaper.

 

[Travel60]

As they say... It's time IN the market, not TIMING the market

The magic of compound interest. Invest EARLY and often.

 

[mom2rb]

DS had a scholarship to a private school that made it cheaper than living at home and commuting. He now is living at home and in his last semester of graduate school. He has a 50% scholarship for that. With all of his scholarships it ended up costing about the same as if he had lived at home and gotten his degree. For my other son, college was not his thing, so that freed up more money. We have always lived off DH’s income. When I went back to work, I paid for private school, activities and a random vacation. Right now my income goes to his tuition. I am one payment away from a raise.

 

[DLgal]

Private schools do not always give enough in scholarship money to make them cheaper than public schools.

I was actively pursued by several very well known private schools after I scored quite high on the PSAT. I applied to 3 of them as a female, minority, pre med student (quite a good combo back then for meeting quotas). I was accepted to all 3, with various levels of aid offered. Even the best offer had me needing to come up with almost $60,000 for 4 years, a sum that I was absolutely unwilling to take on for undergraduate. Instead, I chose a University of California school and graduated with a grand total of $15,000 in student debt, which I paid off within 3 years. I didn't even go through with the degree program I started off in, so I'm super glad I didn't end up spending $60,000 for a Bachelors in English.

That's another thing students need to consider. You don't always end up majoring in the thing you think you are going to when you're a senior in HS. College (especially competitive ones) has a way of humbling people and exposing flaws in your master plan.

 

[sk!mom]

My parents made too much for me to qualify for grants of any sort, even though they struggled financially and were housing insecure.

This is the most unfair part of the whole system. I’ve known many young adults (DH and I included) with parents who have no plans to contribute anything.

Back in the 80’s, DH worked hard and paid his own way. It was doable then. In the 90’s, I was married so DH covered living and I had a full scholarship for tuition and fees.

Our oldest chose a different path but we covered the college he did take and would have covered it all.

Youngest finished in 2018. She had a good amount of merit scholarships and we cash flowed the rest. Our mortgage was gone. Her DH had the state prepaid plan for tuition and his parents covered the rest.

 

[dez1978]

I did. Worked full time for the state during the day Mon-Fri 730-4, Bartended friday and sat nights from 5-2 am (sometimes thur and sun too) and went to school 2 nights a week. I was 22 when I started college and wasn't eligible for any grants or scholarships. DH and I (then bf) lived in an apt. I had no credit yet and my parents were gone so I didn't want to apply for loans. Went to Columbia College so it was excelerated classes. Each "semester" was 8 weeks long and you went to class 2x a week. I took 2 classes at a time and graduated in 4 years with my BA in CJ. I think at the time tuition was just under $900 for each session (6 credit hrs).