posted
If the parents have the money, then they should offer to pay for college. In fact, they should offer to pay for all living expenses pre-vocation if they can.
Kid can get a job if he/she wants, but I don't believe in this whole "be independent asap" route that some parents do.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think parents should help in any way they can, if they can. Unless the kids are really evil or ungreatful or something.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't think parents have any obligation, moral or otherwise, to pay for college. My wife thinks otherwise, so I may end up paying anyway.
Posts: 1652 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't think parents "should" pay for their kids' college educations, but I'm definitely not against it. I think for some kids it's good because they need to learn how to do things for themselves and if someone else paid they wouldn't try, but for other people it they might have to work so hard to pay for their education they don't have time to keep up with their studies. I think it really differs by family.
That said, my parents are going to pay for my college education, for which I am very grateful.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think they should if they can, but they shouldn't have to. In other words, I don't think they should turn it into a legal issue. On the same token, however, I don't think children should be forced to go, either.
posted
I think it's good for parents to contribute to their kid's college education if they can. But I think too many kids expect it.
College students should work in the summers and contribute that money toward school, not spring break trips to Cancun. It amazes me how little some college students know about managing their money, mainly because they've never had to distinguish between a need and a want.
Dagonee *steps down off the soapbox.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
As long we are in school, they will pay living expenses. If we live at home, that's our choice, but if we live somewhere else, they'll pay rent, food, and health insurance.
We pay tuition.
This was supposed to inspire us to get scholarships and to value our education. They also severly discouraged taking out student loans until grad school.
This setup lasted until we got our bachelor's or got married. The theory was that we should be able to take care of ourselves with a college degree, and if you want to get married, you are independent completely and need to take care of yourself.
My dad stuck to it. When my brother didn't go to school the last two semesters before he left for Mexico, my dad made him pay rent - $600 a month for room, board, and use of the car. The idea was to make it just as expensive to live at home as to get your own place unless you're working towards something. There was certainly leeway, but not a whole lot.
My dad did put all the money in a bank account to give to my brother when he gets back, so he has tuition money, but he was still out that much at the beginnig of each month.
On the other hand... we all went to schools with subsidized tuition. If I'd gotten accepted to Stanford, they might have helped more.
Added: When my brother was paying rent, he was 18. It sounds harsher than it was though, because he had a guaranteed job - he worked for my dad. Manual labor. All the horrid stuff he couldn't persuade employees to do. I think those jobs (we all had them) were designed to inspire us to do something else.
quote: College students should work in the summers and contribute that money toward school, not spring break trips to Cancun
I think this is true.
BUT I also think that good money management should be taught long before entering college, so that at that point it wouldn't even be an issue.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Unfortunately, I spent my summers conducting research, which pays very little (about enough to pay for rent/food for the months I'm working).
Anyhow. I don't think anyone would try to legislate, here. But if a parent has lots (read: upper middle class) of money lying around, but refuses to help their child pay a 20k+/year education, that's silly.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'll be happy and proud to pay my kids way through school if they choose to go to college. We've been saving money to make that possible.
But I'll only do it as long as I think it's good for them -- if I get the impression from them that they're taking it for granted or are in any other way learning to be irresponsible by our paying their way, we'll stop.
I'm hopeful that we can go through some of the common pitfalls of that time earlier rather than later. We're about ready to help my son open his first checking account (he's 10). He recently ordered a subscription that requires payment by mail, so he'll need to get a checking account to start paying his own bills. I figure this will be a great learning experience, and am hoping that if he learns to balance his checkbook now, that will be something he won't have to discover the hard way as a young adult. Better to bounce a check on a stupid monthly subscription than on his tuition or rent. We'll see how it goes.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:BUT I also think that good money management should be taught long before entering college, so that at that point it wouldn't even be an issue.
Amen! I touched on this in the bankruptcy thread - the consumer credit crisis is going to blow up in all our faces soon.
Posts: 26071 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:But I'll only do it as long as I think it's good for them -- if I get the impression from them that they're taking it for granted or are in any other way learning to be irresponsible by our paying their way, we'll stop.
My opinion: Don't make it conditional on what you think their attitude is. It can be horribly stressfull to not know whether or not you can count on your parent's for money, and even worse to have things fall through because it turns out you can't when you thought you could. If you're going to do it, I'd make it separate.
If you want some leeway, establish a lower baseline, and then you can always add. That's much better than promising something that may or may not happen - even if it's for a good reason.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
My parents have wanted to help out with our college expenses, but they simply haven't had the money. And even if they had tons of money, they probably still would have wanted me to work summers to save up as much as I could, and then they would have helped with whatever I couldn't afford.
Fortunately, through a combination of grants, some small scholarships, work, and a couple very modest student loans, I haven't needed help from my parents. I think getting a job and being independent is important (and it's absolutely essential at some point), but I don't know if it's necessary during college.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
Actually, I'd say the government does expect parents to help pay their children's education. When you file for financial aid, that's pretty clear.
Also, even responsible money management doesn't help much. It's difficult to find a job that pays more than six or seven dollars an hour when you'll only be around for three months, or only on weekends. Not to mention the future cost of having to work at, say, Walmart and passing up on research or internship opportunities that are normally unpaid.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
There was a bankruptcy thread? You mean the FICO thread?
I'll echo Jeniwren that I think it would be a priviledge to help my children with college. But my parents provided for us as long as we maintained a good GPA. My husband's family let them live at home for free.
We had a rather shocking conversation, not until we'd been married 9 years or so, that was the first I knew that he didn't want to pay for kid's college. But then, his parents guilted him into going to college. Sometimes I think he's posting as Robespierre on the sly. He would say that if they have to work for it, they will value it more.
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Actually, I'd say the government does expect parents to help pay their children's education. When you file for financial aid, that's pretty clear.
I've always hated that. They always assume that my dad is making enough to give me a couple thousand a year for school, when I'm really getting nothing. But is there any way to tell them that I'm on my own financially? Of course not.
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
kat, I'm not close enough to it yet to know where the line is, but I will say I try not to be capricious with my children. If it appeared to us that our paying for their education was bad for them, we'd communicate with them about it and give them time to make alternate plans.
My daughter isn't even two yet and she knows what makes Mom and Dad happy. I imagine that adding another 16 years will do quite a bit to clarify it for her, so that when she's ready for college, she'll know pretty well what will keep the gravy train rolling.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
While having to work hard to pay for your own education may be enlightening, or character-building, I don't think it necessarily means one will be more financially independent or financially successful in the future.
Posts: 1892 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
I guess in my house going to college was never really considered an *option*; that's just the way it was. I *never* questioned the fact that I would go to college. And there was never really any question that my parents would pay for it. Graduate school was another thing, though, and since I'm at a private school I'll most likely have to pay my own way through grad school if I choose to go.
Honestly, I'd say a major goal of my parents' financial planning/savings was to save enough to pay for college for me and my sister.
Then again, there was never any doubt that we wouldn't take full advantage of the opportunities they would be giving us by paying for college.
Man....I'm totally undecided on this issue.
Posts: 1784 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:While having to work hard to pay for your own education may be enlightening, or character-building, I don't think it necessarily means one will be more financially independent or financially successful in the future.
I think it's pretty safe to say that having someone else pay for something that costs thousands of dollars so you don't have to pay for it yourself can have a positive impact on future financial success.
However, I've seen too many people run up huge debts their senior year and first 3-4 years out of college. Only slightly better are those who don't run up debt but wake up at 25 and realize they've done nothing to increase their net worth in the 4 years since college. (A fancy car does not contribute to the net worth equation.)
In finances, time = power. Those first 4 years are extremely valuable financially. Too few take advantage of it.
Obviously, a different analysis applies to those who've gone to grad school.
quote:I imagine that adding another 16 years will do quite a bit to clarify it for her, so that when she's ready for college, she'll know pretty well what will keep the gravy train rolling.
I think that's the thing, though. That's why it's so sticky when you are clearly an adult, yet still taking money from parents. My the time I was 20, I knew what would make my parents happy, and I also knew that it would make me very unhappy to do it. If you pay for your children's education, it's a gift to an adult. They shouldn't feel they need to make a choice between placating their parents and making choices.
I don't mean financial ones - I mean, if you pay for a semester of school and they never go, that's one thing. But what if...
What if they decide on a different religion? Or none at all? Or they date someone you deeply dissaprove of. Or major in something you don't think will help them. These are all decisions that have the potential to make you very unhappy, and if their ability to go to school is tied to those decisions, I don't think that's good.
Posts: 26077 | Registered: Mar 2000
| IP: Logged |
quote:In finances, time = power. Those first 4 years are extremely valuable financially. Too few take advantage of it.
And any student who's been forced to pay for their own education with no assistance will be fighting a huge uphill battle for those four years.
There's simply no way a student can pay for college completely on their own without being financially screwed in the years after. The average cost of a four year public university including tuition, fees, room, board, and books is about $12,000 per year. You'd have to make $230 a week, which just isn't going to happen as a full time student.
I also don't buy the "they'll value their education more if they have to pay for it" argument. Either you're a responsible, hard working student or you're not, and I'd say those traits are developed long before you step on a college campus. I don't think it's any more character building to have to pay for every cent of your education alone versus, say, paying as much as is possible and getting a bit of help for the rest, either.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
| IP: Logged |
the summer before I started college my dad's brother stole my father's entire inheritance that they had invested to pay for tuition for myself and my sister. This meant that I began school with no financial aid (I had a $500 scholarship to pay for books) and no money to pay tuition.
I'm now in more debt than I care to think about.I just make the monthly payments and tell my students that student loans are evil.
If parents can help, I think they should. I don't think I value my education any more than my younger sisters and brother (my mom started working to help them out) because I'm in debt for it.
My parent's did help me out the past couple of years by paying rent and car insurance which was truly lovely.
If you can help your child avoid being a starving student in debt, then by all means do so.
Posts: 862 | Registered: Oct 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I would have to argue with that, Jeni. I work 24 hours a week, at $10/hour. So that's $240/week right there. I'm also a full-time student, making good grades.
Apart from that, I agree with you completely.
My parents decided not to pay for my education, but I don't hold it against them. They let me live at home for free. They feed me. They let me use their car, and they even pay for the gas. Why? Because they can easily afford it. I still had to get a job just to pay the ridiculous tuition fees. So you can teach your kids that money doesn't grow on trees, and still help them out.
So I guess I'm on the side that says if a parent has the means to help their child, they should. Serioulsy, what kind of parent lets their children go into debt if it can be avoided?
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Well, you're lucky in being able to find a job that pays $10 an hour. I don't think most college students would be able to. Also, that's before taxes.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, but it's a low income job, so the taxes I pay are pretty low. And what I do pay, I usually end up getting back in my annual tax refund.
Posts: 1855 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I would have really benefitted from significant financial assistance during college. I wasn't too keen on taking out loans (though I eventually did), and working full time while trying to a degree is extremely challenging for a 19-year-old.
Posts: 5663 | Registered: Jun 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
kat, as long as anyone takes money from anyone else for the purpose of basic living requirements, they are a dependent. It doesn't matter how old they are. And it isn't really a gift when it's a question of dependence. My mother has lived with me for years, dependent on my ability to pay for the roof over our heads and the food on our table. As such, she has been respectful of me and now my husband, since I re-married.
I don't dictate the finer points of her life. She chooses not to go to church. That's her business, and I don't interfere, though I would really like to sometimes. OTOH, she may not entertain boyfriends overnight either. (Not that that has come up, but I'm very clear about it.)
As I said before, I try not to be capricious with my children. And as I mentioned above, the whole paying for school and living expenses isn't really a gift. It's a series of choices. I choose to save money for their education. They can choose someday to avail themselves of that opportunity and remain dependant.
A little over five years ago, my father offered me the opportunity to go to school while he paid for the majority of my living expenses. I was still single then. I have long since learned that while my father is a very nice man, he can be capricious when it comes to finances. I didn't want to be dependent under those circumstances, and so declined the offer. His choice, my choice too.
I hope my children will feel differently about our offer -- that they will trust us to be fair just as we trust them to be responsible. I hope that I will have given them sufficient reason throughout their childhood to trust that we are reliable and loving while still understanding that we won't rescue them from bad choices.
Does that seem clear? I don't owe them anything more than love and basic needs. I WANT to give them so much more, but I won't do it if it will harm them -- their character development, their sense of responsibility, their ultimate ability to be happy and independant as an adult.
Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think it really depends on how you were raised and your family's specific values. As I said, my entire family on both sides, including extended relatives, view it as a parental obligation to support a child's education, no matter how far he/she decides to take it. That's just the way it is - "real world" things aside, education is considered one of the most valuable, important gifts to give a child, no matter the cost.
Even after my sister was thirty, my father was still offering to pay for her to go to law school, if she wanted to.
Posts: 9057 | Registered: Nov 2000
| IP: Logged |
I was allowed to take the pop cans in for the recycling refund, other than that I was on my own. The whole kit-n-kaboodle. All the way through.
An occasional meal. Tax-free manual labor jobs if there was nothing else available (I installed siding, did yard work, cleaned/repaired roofs and gutters, painted, washed windows, etc.)
Otherwise, living expenses and tuition and books and child care and all the other necesities of life were all mine.
In fact, my mom's answer to 18+ year old children coming home to live was to install them in the travel trailer in the backyard with no running water.
We were (and still are) a rather independent bunch.
quote: But is there any way to tell them that I'm on my own financially? Of course not.
Aren't you married and living on your own?
When I filled out the Fafsa a couple of months ago there was the option of not claiming your parents income on there, if you were independent. Can't you do that?
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Actually, yeah, being married automatically allows to claim yourself as an independent on the Fafsa.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
The way I feel about it is, I know I couldn't pay my way through college. I would not be able to keep up with the workload I would have to maintain and earn enough to go to the public university in my town (IU). This year tution plus room, board, and books is $16,000 and increasing by a lot each year. I would include allowing me to live at home without paying rent as supporting me through college, so I would have to pay the full $16,000.
I might be able to earn $6,00 a year if I worked and went to school. If I took out loans for the rest I would be in debt approx. $50,000 when I graduated. I wouldn't go to college under those circumstances, being in debt for the rest of my life isn't worth it. Maybe that means I don't deserve to go to college, but if my parents can pay for part of my college education with little long term financial effects to themselves, and I can't go to college without lifelong financial effects to myself, I don't think asking my parents to help is unreasonable.
I don't want my parents to pay all $40,00 a year if I go to a private school, though. WE already have agreed how much they are willing to pay for my schooling. I want to go to Cornell, if Cornell doesn't provide me with financial aid to match what my parents are paying, or if most of the financial aid they offer is in loans, I'm going to have to make the decision whether or not that debt is worth it to me.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
personally I feel that one should pay for their first year on their own...after that they should continue to work and save money for it at the very least, even if someone is willing to pay it for them...what I don't think is a good idea is getting it handed to you...I've seen a couple of people who got free post secondary education just walk away from it because they got bored with it...I doubt they would do that quite so easily if they had to earn some of the money...plus quite often taking a year off between highschool and post-secondary gives a person a chance to see life outside of school and mature some more in a different way than they would in school...if a parent can help with the funds, I think it is a good thing, but they shouldn't just cover all the funds...a good thing that my parents are doing for me is letting me live at home for free so long as I'm in school or gathering money for school (or job hunting as I had to do for the past age until I managed to get temp work the other day)...while maybe some people are able to go to post-secondary paid for by someone else and do well, I am glad that I've taken this year off to earn money for myself as I know that the only way I'm able to get there is by myself...
Posts: 1158 | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Unless you have had copious amounts of money put away, it is near impossible to pay for your first year of schooling by yourself. In my case, I had money put away...in 2000 I had around $5,000 in mutual funds and money markets, by 2003 because of the recession and other factors, my total finances had dropped to $3,500. My first year's tuition after financial aid (including a $5000 loan from the college) was still around $5,000. Not wanting to spend my own cash in case of emergency, I immediatly put most of what I had into CDs and a 6 month Treasury bond (for the minimum of two cycles, or one year). Because I never got a licences till my senior summer, and I never had a car until the second trimester, I couldn't get a job (I live on a farm, no transportation anywhere without a car). I was lucky in which I didn't have to buy my car, it was, in essence a loan from my great aunt who bought a new car, now that I am in college it has been sold. I had to pay for my insurance because my father couldn't afford it, that's about $600 every half year. Now, once I had a car to use, theoretically I could have had a car, but because I live on a farm, I have all the chores that go with it, between farm work and school, I didn't have much of a social life anyways, finding time for a job was close to impossible.
When it comes to the question of whether or not parents should pay for their child's education. I'd say if they're able to, then they should at least help. (Excuse me as I rant, if you don't want to hear it, go to the next paragraph). My father is near bankrupt, and is mostly unable to help with my college expenses, but my mother is rather wealthy...yet she doesn't do much for my education, she had promised me $10,000 for my first year of college, I have only seen roughly $4,000 of that...most of which has gone to living expenses and textbooks, I didn't even buy the student insurance that my college provides. She says that she's been hit by the recession, and yet I see her still happily driving her Lexus, something doesn't seem right here. My mother has gone so far as to say that if I asked her for any more money that she wouldn't give me any more money unless I moved back to Washington to go to University of Washington, if I had less tact, I would have pointed out that she still owes me $6,000 from what she promised and brought up all the jewelry her father took from my inheretence, of course, she being my mother, I just prompltly pointed out that tuition that I would be paying at UW is roughly $2,000 higher per semester than what I pay here.
With these thoughts in mind, I would say that it is the duty of a parent to support their children (financially or otherwise) to the best of their ability if the children are going to work hard for their education, after all it is the parents' to raise their children to the best of their ability. By no means should the parents pay for everything, the student should have responsibilty in their own education, but if a college student spends all his/her time working, when is s/he supposed to study or socialize? Satyagraha
posted
er...I had no money in september when I started working, I now have enough money for a full year and am saving for a computer...if I hadn't been laid off shortly before Christmas I'd be able to make enough money for at least two years of school if not three...and this is working at just over minimum wage most of the time...all I did was save nearly everything except for tithe and a small allowance...as for a social life while working, I didn't have one due to my hours I was always either working or sleeping because I'd be so tired...but a social life is peripheral...
posted
My total tuition + room/board is $28,860. The college gives me $16,000 in grants, two $3,500 loans that don't have to be paid off until I finish. That leaves me roughly $5,000 that I have to pay out of pocket plus books, which this year has added to about $800, consider yourself lucky that you can go and get a job, I don't have that luxury. I don't mean this in a bad way, I'm saying all the power to you, I think it's awesome that you're able to do that...just not all of us are. Satyagraha
posted
ah...my total tuition is 3000 to 4000, but that is because I chose to go to the least expensive place I could get into for now
Posts: 1158 | Registered: Feb 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
my tuition is around $38,000 since i attend a private school. even though i tell myself that i want to be independent, a part of me knows that i would never be able to pay tuition on my own, even though the majority is composed of loans and grants. right now, i just try to work as much as i am able to without influencing how i do in my classes. although my parents don't ask me for that money, as many of my friends work and pay at least a portion of their tuition, i still feel better that while my parents are paying so much for tuition, that i am contributing in the sense that i can cover the smaller fees, like books, going out with my friends, etc.
Posts: 91 | Registered: Nov 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Things are a little different over here: we have a system called HECS, which is a deferred payment system. Basically, I pay nothing now, but by the time I finish my degree I will owe the government about $40 000.
It would be more (that's the total for 5 years, two degrees) but my parents paid my first two years upfront. (Under our system, if you pay upfront, you get a 25% discount: the rationale is people who can afford to pay will, but those who could not otherwise afford to go to university don't pay upfront - HECS doesn't have to be refunded until you are earning $45 000 per/year, and it is automatically taken out in installments, before tax).
I am extremely thankful they did so - I cannot work enough now to pay my fees upfront. This year, I will be lucky to make $180 a week - 6 hours of tutoring is all I can fit in along with final year law and honours.
Tony and I plan on doing what his family did: saving up and paying for my children's first degrees. If they want another degree after that they can work, or use HECS. I think it's the best of both worlds - doesn't put your kids in debt at 17, but also encourages them to think about what they want to do.
Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote: BUT I also think that good money management should be taught long before entering college, so that at that point it wouldn't even be an issue.
quote:Amen! I touched on this in the bankruptcy thread - the consumer credit crisis is going to blow up in all our faces soon.
The saddest thing is seeing a college student come into the bank unable to understand how they've wracked up hundreds of dollars in NSF fees. The first question we ask is "Can I see your checkbook register?" ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the response is "I don't keep one."
Some debt is unavoidable. But I can't see how anyone can reasonable justify $6,000 at 18 to 24%on their credit card when they don't even have a job yet. I'd love to see courses in responsible financial planning start in elementary school.
quote:And any student who's been forced to pay for their own education with no assistance will be fighting a huge uphill battle for those four years.
I was referring to the first 4 years after undergraduate school. A person can maintain a much more comfortable lifestyle than they did in college and still sock away a lot of money once a fulltime job starts. That socking away can be either bulding a savings account or paying off student loans, which does increase net worth.
quote:There's simply no way a student can pay for college completely on their own without being financially screwed in the years after. The average cost of a four year public university including tuition, fees, room, board, and books is about $12,000 per year. You'd have to make $230 a week, which just isn't going to happen as a full time student.
Education debt is not bad debt - its up to the student to decide if the money spent is worth the benefits received.
Another possibility overlooked by many is community college. In Virginia, anyone with a certain GPA and a 2-year degree from a community college is automatically admitted to any state school. Two years of near-minimal tuition and then the pick of a very good state university system is not a bad deal. And you still have the more "prestigious" degree after 4 years.
posted
Growing up, my parents didn't have much money. That fact, combined with my own independant nature meant that I tried very hard to be as financially responsible and independant from my parents as possible. I knew that they could not afford to pay for me to go to college, nor did I think that they should. As I see it, a college education is a privalege, not a right. So, I worked hard in high school so that I could get a scholarship. I also started working part-time and during the summer when I was 16. Working part-time allowed me to buy my own car and keep it maintained (I've always bought old clunkers and worked on them to keep them going). My parents paid for my car insurance on their policy, which I thought was very nice of them. In AZ (at least at the time that I graduated almost 10 years ago), students who graduated in the top 5% of their class could have a tuition scholarship to any of the 3 state universities. I chose to attend ASU (where my father also works) and live at home. My parents made it clear that they would be pleased to have me live with them as long as I wanted to and, since I was in school, they wouldn't charge me rent. They also continued to pay for my auto insurance for me (and half the time, I shared my car with my father). I continued to work, saving the money I knew I would need to serve a mission, since I didn't think it was my parents responsibility to pay for it either. I also worked hard in college, so that I could keep my scholarship (it could be renewed yearly for up to 4 years, based on credit and grade requirements). I was able to graduate with my Bachelor's in 4 years (something that is becoming increasingly difficult to do) and had saved enough money for my mission.
I think that teenagers have the primary responsibility to provide for their college eduation. Where possible, parents that have the financial means to help should (but I don't ever think that college should be a free ride for their children). I remember being appalled at some of my classmates in college. One in particular was in her 5th year at ASU (on her parent's dime) and had yet to even declare a major! I guess some people don't mind their parents paying for their lives for them, but that idea really bothers me. Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Letting you live at home without rent is helping pay for college. Tution at IU this year is $6000, room, board and books are $10,000. At almost any public university you go to (and there are some really good ones out there) room and board is going to be the largest expense. Even at private schools room and board are a significant part of your total expenses.
Personally, I feel that when two people deide to have a child they make a commitment to that child to support them and love them for the rest of their lives and to help provide for them as much as they are able. I think helping provide an education for their children that will allow them to maintain themselves in relative comfort is included in that. I don't think there is any excuse for parents who are financially capable to refuse to provide for their children's future as best they can.
Posts: 4655 | Registered: Jan 2002
| IP: Logged |
quote:I was referring to the first 4 years after undergraduate school. A person can maintain a much more comfortable lifestyle than they did in college and still sock away a lot of money once a fulltime job starts. That socking away can be either bulding a savings account or paying off student loans, which does increase net worth.
I'm not socking away any money and I "paid" for undergraduate college on my own through grants, scholarships and loans. I graduated $30,000 in educational debt (not credit card debt). I'm a bachelor's level social worker and with the 2% cost of living raise, I now make $25,000 a year. I have medical expenses each much totaling about $200. Rent is $600. Utilities $100. Car payment because the $500 89 chevy celebrity that got me through college lost the transmission with my high commute first fulltime job out of undergrad. I work outreach now (and commute as well, but way less) so I have to have a decent, reliable car. For someone with my debt, financing was easier on a new car than an old car. Figure that.
I'm working my ass off. My first job I worked 60-70 hours a week. At one point I worked two jobs and barely made ends meet, much less could sock away a lot of money to immediately pay off my student loans. Now I work a salaried position that makes a bit more money but keeps me just above water. Barely. If anything bad happened, I'd be screwed.
So now I'm working fulltime in an intense job in a human service field. At the same time, I'm in a fulltime MSW program so that once I get my MSW, I'll get a decent salary (we're talking low to mid thirties starting out). Considering I make $25,000/year now (before taxes), that's a gigantic raise.
I mean, I JUST got a grownup bed. I've had my apartment for two years and had the same twin bed I'd had since I was 11.
You see, I did this all on my own. Got into school, went to school, worked while in school, found residential jobs in the summer because I didn't live with my parents, graduated, found my first apartment and full time job and got my first good car. Yes, school was a huge investment and I consider it completely worth it. It wasn't just the academics that helped me--I think it was the human interaction and things that happened there that really made me who I am now.
Thing is, I've really figured out recently that I'd love to get my PhD. Except unless I got a full ride, I could never afford that. If I'd gotten help from my parents in undergrad, I might've been able to.
But I'll figure out a way. I always have.
My parents actually tried to stop me from going to college. But I have that problem with authority. Posts: 14745 | Registered: Dec 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
I'm only paying for colleges where they teach you to use capitalization and paragraph breaks. Just a little hazing for you, but also a warning that I tend to skim posts that are hard to decode. edit: "you" is not mack.
My brother in law got a lot of grants (no payback) by getting emancipated or something. I don't know if the fact that he was adopted made it easier, or weirder, or whatever. But if your parents are not supporting you financially, or can't, I don't think it is weird to be emancipated from them.
Also, you can get deferrments on loan repayment for several years through either the unemployment deferment and the hardship deferment. Not sure if it is worth having unemployment and hardship to make this happen, but in terms of the first few years out of school...
Finally, at our state schools all state employees (maybe only the full time ones) qualify for cheap or free tuition. So getting a state job of some kind, even a really cruddy one, is a possible route to funding education. I don't think they are all necessarily more cruddy than your average job.
Believe it or not, there are people in your position who would not have waited to get the grown-up bed. They would also have bought a new car (nicer than the one you did) because they felt entitled to it. They might have gotten one without the bullseye on it, though .
Assuming you're paying off your college loan, you are socking money away, because that debt shows up on a balance sheet to offset any savings you have. In other words, when you're 30 your financial habits now will have had a positive effect on your financial health. It sounds like your economizing where necessary and spending wisely - all I was getting at is that many people coming out of college don't do these things well, if at all.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
We'll see how it goes.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
