What percentage of people pay cash for college?

[tvguy]

How could we save when Dad made $5.00 a hour.

???????? That's not even minimum wage in a job that usually pays top dollar.

 

[yeahdisney]

Our community college is quite good. I graduated from it and I paid my way thru it. I believe at the end my parents had paid for some of my books and the books were expensive.

Kid one -significant other would not even consider going to the same community college because the other kids trashed it so bad.
They joined the service.

I offered kid two to go there 2 years and then to University- they declined.

I have eaten a lot of peanut butter sandwiches for lunch with my plan to save for college. And I will continue to. Many of us give up something for the trade of college $ for later.

 

[RangerPooh]

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.

It certainly is. It's only made worse when you go to the financial aid office to inquire about resources as you applied for scholarships but did not receive any, to be told that there was nothing that they could do for you other than loans. There's a whole segment of the student population who is turned away because they don't qualify for aid, yet receive no family contribution or have other extenuating circumstances.

 

[Sinder]

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

We all do what is best for our kids, but that doesn’t mean we can do the same for them as what other people can do. There are many other ways to support your kid’s when it comes to helping with college expenses not just paying their whole way.
We were fortunate to be able to save, but that came with sacrifices. Dh spent 8 years in college earning a PhD in a field that pays well. He paid for that education himself and it was important to him to help our kids in a way his parents couldn’t help him.
We are not rich, we put away what we were able too. We ate peanut butter and ramen noodles alot, rarely ate out, we didn’t go on vacations, or drive brand new cars. We lived frugally. When relatives asked for ideas for gifts we requested contributions to the college funds instead of toys and “stuff”. For 18 years those investments paid well for our kids.
They also made frugal decisions when it cane to school. They took some CC classes in HS so they can save $ when they officially attended the CC. They picked State Universities that are affordable even with room & board. They worked and saved their own money so they weren’t living off their college funds.
I understand that not every family can do what we did, and nobody should ever be put down for what they can’t do. I am sorry that you feel that way but you shouldn’t judge yourself based on how others are. You said you did the best you could, so be proud of that.

 

[TwoMisfits]

It certainly is. It's only made worse when you go to the financial aid office to inquire about resources as you applied for scholarships but did not receive any, to be told that there was nothing that they could do for you other than loans. There's a whole segment of the student population who is turned away because they don't qualify for aid, yet receive no family contribution or have other extenuating circumstances.

For certain demographic and class segments, that's so true. There is no financial aid, apart from loans. And merit aid exists (almost) solely to put those kids at their parents' EFC (my kid actually won a full ride private scholarship that was changed midway through the year she applied to be "sliding scale" scholarship due to "Covid costs"...and wouldn't you know - it matched her other out of state offer, and both were close to my EFC, which state school at home comes in far under)...she was my most talented merit wise, so for the next 3, we aren't pushing nearly as hard b/c we know the game now, and they don't want to play it just to lose...they are happy with no debt at a major state school...

And I can't even say it's a bad thing - it's probably good to look at college in a "transactional" way and not a "find my life" way - it means you approach it sensibly before, during, and after...

 

[Seahorse17]

???????? That's not even minimum wage in a job that usually pays top dollar.

That was in the 80’s . We lived in a small town. He was paid by the job. He refused to tell customers they needed something else done on the car. He would rather be poor than cheat someone. That is why we left and moved to Fl.

 

[Moliphino]

When I was going to college, loans were presented as just what you got to pay for college. My parents helped where they could, but hadn't saved any significant chunk to help. I got a couple small scholarships and the rest were loans. I graduated with about $70k in loans into the recession in 2009. It sucked. It took a few years to get a job that actually used my degree (engineering), and there were times I had to defer payments/only pay the interest. And this was with living with my parents rent free. Once I did get into a job that used my degree I was able to pay them off ahead of schedule.

 

[disykat]

When I was going to college, loans were presented as just what you got to pay for college.

And THAT is precisely the problem. We've got a whole generation of people where many believe "everyone just gets loans." It's not even true when according to the stats mentioned in this thread 42% of people don't. I would assume there's another large percentage that are able to stick to the federal loan amounts and aren't crippled by them. (I know MANY people who have done that amount and were able to pay it off without too much trauma/drama even if it took a few years to settle into a job.)

I just went looking around and found a bunch of statistics that said the average student debt of students graduating in the last five years or so - of those who went into debt so no 0's are skewing the numbers - was between 20 and 30K.

People who believe the rhetoric that higher than the federal loans student loan numbers are the norm have bought into a fallacy.

 

[DisneyHardin]

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.

This is exactly why I ended up at a State School when I really wanted to go to the same fancy private college as my best friend. At the end of my senior year of HS, I went to talk to the guidance counselor and told her that I had been offered a full scholarship to a State School or would have to pay take out loans of over $10,000/yr for the private college. She asked what I wanted to do with my life and when I told her I wanted to be a teacher, she was really blunt with me and said "No one really cares where you went to college when you are a teacher, they care that you graduated and have a teaching certificate. Don't go that deep into debt to be a teacher." I followed her advice and am super glad I did.

 

[Moliphino]

And THAT is precisely the problem. We've got a whole generation of people where many believe "everyone just gets loans." It's not even true when according to the stats mentioned in this thread 42% of people don't. I would assume there's another large percentage that are able to stick to the federal loan amounts and aren't crippled by them. (I know MANY people who have done that amount and were able to pay it off without too much trauma/drama even if it took a few years to settle into a job.)

I just went looking around and found a bunch of statistics that said the average student debt of students graduating in the last five years or so - of those who went into debt so no 0's are skewing the numbers - was between 20 and 30K.

People who believe the rhetoric that higher than the federal loans student loan numbers are the norm have bought into a fallacy.

It's a problem, but you can't really blame 17/18 year olds for accepting what they're told. And it probably worked out fine for people my parents' age because college was so much cheaper for them.

 

[leebee]

I guess what is hard for us is that we THOUGHT we were doing the right thing. We didn't have much of a "college fund" but tried to play it smart. DD was #3 in her high school class, had decent SAT scores, AP credit, AP/honors classes in high school. We paid attention to deadlines, scholarship, merit money. She looked at private and public schools, and got some reasonably generous offers at some the private schools, but as she said: "Mum, I'm gonna major in English and Dance. How would I ever pay off $50-$70K in loans?" I'm glad my smart girl chose our local University over the "dream schools" with the "nightmare repayments." Loan repayment ($270/month) has been manageable, and she's even bought a car (also not the "dream vehicle" but one with a very affordable monthly payment).

ANYHOW... I jumped back in here to say the DD has just learned that she has an assistantship for the rest of grad school! It's in her field and comes with a 9 credits/semester tuition waiver and a stipend of $1400 a month for 15 hours of work a week. It'll cover 6 credits in the summer but she can work twice the number of hours (at twice the pay). It also will pay for half of the University sponsored and required health insurance, but she won't need that as she is covered under her husband's policy. SO... it does work out, in the long run.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

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.

I am super impressed that you put away 20,400 in 17 years and it has grown to 55,000!!

We did similar for our boys born in 1993 and 1996, but they had nowhere near that much when they went to school.

 

[fortwildernessishome]

I graduated with about $70k in loans into the recession in 2009. It sucked. It took a few years to get a job that actually used my degree (engineering), and there were times I had to defer payments/only pay the interest. And this was with living with my parents rent free. Once I did get into a job that used my degree I was able to pay them off ahead of schedule.

My son, also an engineer, graduated with 70k in debt too, in 2015. He was lucky though and had an engineering job all lined up when he graduated. He lived at home for almost 3 years after graduation and completely paid off all of his loans in a little less than 2 years.

We contributed around 35k for his education, but even going to state college its so expensive here in the northeast.

 

[Moliphino]

My son, also an engineer, graduated with 70k in debt too, in 2015. He was lucky though and had an engineering job all lined up when he graduated. He lived at home for almost 3 years after graduation and completely paid off all of his loans in a little less than 2 years.

We contributed around 35k for his education, but even going to state college its so expensive here in the northeast.

My timing was the worst! One year earlier and I probably would've had no trouble. I had friends hired in the fall semester, then the companies canceled all new hires during the spring semester and they were left scrambling.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It's a problem, but you can't really blame 17/18 year olds for accepting what they're told. And it probably worked out fine for people my parents' age because college was so much cheaper for them.

This goes along with the information shared below but once you have that loan it doesn't mean it's your fault always if you're stuck with a revolving debt that just won't go away.

I think this is only for people's whose loan was owned by Navient (my loan was serviced by Navient but was a Federal owned loan and is paid off now) but a lawsuit was filed for predatory practices and other things for Navient/Sallie Mae and a settlement has now been reached with 39 states.

The state next to me will get $53 million - $2.5 million in restitution and $51 million in private loan debt cancellation and my state will get $10.3 million (listed as more than 400 people in my state qualifying).

Navient "was accused of steering borrowers to worse payment plans, since 2009" as well as accused of "lending to students the company knew would not be able to pay back the loans. Navient also allegedly originated predatory subprime private loans to students attending for-profit schools and colleges with low graduation rates, even though it knew that a very high percentage of such borrowers would be unable to repay the loans"

I was going to comment earlier on this but forgot until I saw this local news story that just came out. It's a multi-system problem with the student debt issue with a multi-system solution. From costs of the colleges to the way the funding is set up for them, to how FAFSA assumes parental/guardian aid regardless if one's parents can or choose not to assist, from options presented to individuals in their path in life, to how loan companies operated in the past and were still and still are operating, to a majority of these for profit schools (which were ones designed to appeal to people who couldn't commit to a full time during the day college), to more.

A lot has changed since I started and graduated college but I remember my freshman year of college you had free pizza offers if you signed up for a credit card right there on campus, soon after a law prohibited this but if people think it's all on one person (the student) it's not. Lot of people took advantage of others and presented situations that there was typically few if any alternatives.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

When I was going to college, loans were presented as just what you got to pay for college. My parents helped where they could, but hadn't saved any significant chunk to help. I got a couple small scholarships and the rest were loans. I graduated with about $70k in loans into the recession in 2009. It sucked. It took a few years to get a job that actually used my degree (engineering), and there were times I had to defer payments/only pay the interest. And this was with living with my parents rent free. Once I did get into a job that used my degree I was able to pay them off ahead of schedule.

I graduated in 2010 and my husband in 2011. Right at that time a I knew a lot of people who were going to grad school just to defer loans because the job market was terrible. I mean finding any job due to the recession and competing with older individuals who had years and years of experience (because those people had been laid off from their jobs and were going to find other jobs) left few options. My husband (and I've told him this lovingly of course lol) was incredibly lucky that the engineering company he worked for asked for him to stay on full time once he graduated when he was a junior. As he was going for aerospace engineering and would be a mechanical engineer he took a few bridge courses.

I found a job (because my retail job at the University wouldn't cut it) that would cover my student loans and more about 6 months after I graduated about a month or so before my loan payments would start up. I also lived with my mom for 9 months after graduating.

One of the biggest things people tell you about going to college, and this doesn't matter what college (4-year, 2-year, trade school, for profit, etc) is to go for a degree you can get a job in...which is all well and good except when you do that and find yourself in a situation where the economy tanks and you suddenly can't and spent your time and money and are left in an awful position. Unfortunately kids these days have this pandemic to contend with. It's been a fairly rough time since 2008/2009 with little breaks in between for relief.

 

[VandVsmama]

We’ve started the looking at colleges process since ODD is in 10th grade. For example, there’s a couple of private schools in the South which would provide enough auto-merit scholarship money (based on ODD’s GPA and likely test scores) to actually make it cheaper than sending ODD to ASU or UofA. Or she could get an out of state merit scholarship to Univ of Alabama-Huntsville (they have great science programs and she wants to major in Biology) and we could pay $12,000/yr less than in state. Or go next door to Univ of New Mexico or NMSU and pay $11,000/yr less than here in AZ.

OR she could live at home for the first two years and go to the local community college for 100% free tuition with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

It doesn’t necessarily HAVE to cost an arm and a leg. You just have to do your homework and be smart about it.

 

[colleen.jeanne88]

My parents paid for my first out of state undergrad (BS in Education) in cash, and I cashflowed my 2nd undergrad (ASN) and 3rd undergrad (BSN) plus my masters (MSN). I went to more affordable schools and worked still while full time (plus with 2 kids). It’s hard but doable.

 

[lifesavacation]

We’ve started the looking at colleges process since ODD is in 10th grade. For example, there’s a couple of private schools in the South which would provide enough auto-merit scholarship money (based on ODD’s GPA and likely test scores) to actually make it cheaper than sending ODD to ASU or UofA. Or she could get an out of state merit scholarship to Univ of Alabama-Huntsville (they have great science programs and she wants to major in Biology) and we could pay $12,000/yr less than in state. Or go next door to Univ of New Mexico or NMSU and pay $11,000/yr less than here in AZ.

OR she could live at home for the first two years and go to the local community college for 100% free tuition with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

It doesn’t necessarily HAVE to cost an arm and a leg. You just have to do your homework and be smart about it.

I agree. I feel sorry for all the teens out there who don’t have parents that can help sort through the various paths to get there. It can be complicated.

 

[SmallWorld71]

Defaulting on my student loans threw a massive wrench in mine and DHs ability to buy a house for a long time. It was not a road I wanted my kids to go down.
We struggled financially through much of their early years, living paycheck to paycheck, dodging creditors at times. It wasn’t pretty. Anyway, saving for college was out of the question. I was far more concerned with affording necessities.
Nowadays, DH and I have steady jobs but certainly aren’t wealthy. I am a teacher and he works in EMS.
DS22 chose a state school. With careful budgeting and him contributing what he was able to, he graduated last year with about $15,000 in debt which he has paid off through a combo of money he earned working during the pandemic and the generosity of a uncle.
DD18 got an amazing merit scholarship ($30,000 a year) to a small, private school that she loves. With the money we were able to save in 2020 when we weren’t spending much, getting stimulus money even though there was no loss in income, and careful budgeting, we have been able to pay cash for her freshman year. Hopefully we can continue this.
I will say, DD was automatically given the federal loans. We actually had to contact financial services because we couldn’t figure out how to remove them. The financial advisor seemed shocked that we didn’t want them and actually encouraged us to take them!
Honestly, at no point in the process were my children ever encouraged by anyone to avoid loan debt, by either high school or college counselors. It was only my own bad experience that had me steering them towards as little debt as possible.