<p>DH’s mom matched a scholarship he got for law school - so she paid a quarter. However, she only paid for one year of UG school – he worked his way through the rest. I don’t think we can help our kids for grad school other than in small ways. DD did a year for a credential last year wile working and paid for it herself.</p>
<p>DD graduates in May with two undergrad degrees debt free; currently applying only to funded Ph.D. programs. Even with Ph.D. stipend, I’m sure we’ll end up helping with moving expenses and other types of living expenses that stipend won’t cover but considering that she’s more than paid for her own undergrad education through school choice and merit scholarships, I have no complaints.</p>
<p>Every family has to make its own decision, based on its individual financial outlook and values.</p>
<p>As part of a divorce agreement, at my insistence, we each agreed to pay $x for Y years towards a grad degree. At the time, the amount seemed generous. When the time came the amount we both contributed paid for roughly one-half the bill at a top law school. Kid also got a grad degree–more or less just for fun. That was funded tuition wise but the living stipend really wasn’t enough. Kid borrowed the rest from me and has repaid part of it. Knows has to repay the rest. </p>
<p>Neighbors with kid in same school and another in a different program that wasn’t funded and rarely is paid one-third for both kids. A law school classmate paid med school tuition for his kid, but nothing else–room & board, books, fees, etc. were all paid by kid. </p>
<p>I am posting just so there is some rep from parents who were willing to pay.</p>
<p>We have always said that we wouldn’t pay for graduate school. D1 at this time has no desire to go to graduate school. She is done with school and wants to get a job as soon as she gets out (I was like that). She would most likely get her MBA some where down the line, and probably would pay for it. D2, even though she is only in 10th grade, thinks she may want to get a law degree, so I am rethinking about our stand. It may turn out we’ll pay for half. She is the baby. D1 does not really oppose us in doing it because D1 said, “At least she’ll be self supporting, and it would mean I wouldn’t have to take care of her.” D2’s initial plan was to be a journalist. D1 envisioned D2 living with her someday as a starving writer.</p>
<p>I do know of parents who funded their students grad school…
In my case I paid for both my MBA and doctorate…my folks were willing and paid the first degree and I graduated without loans with my BA. That was a great start.</p>
<p>We paid for our kids’ undergrad with the exception of their Stafford loans. Grad school is on them. D worked for three years after undergrad and now is doing a grad program in economics for which she got full funding. We are paying full freight for her brother at his LAC so she understood she would be on her own for grad school.</p>
<p>Even with full funding, however, D needs to draw on her savings/take some modest loans as her grad assistant stipend is very modest and does not match her cost of living. Grad assistants in social sciences are often not funded as well as those in the sciences. Plus she wants to keep some of the money in her “nest egg” for when she finishes grad school and is starting out in a new place. </p>
<p>We help out some by occasionally treating her to gift cards to local places, and we still have her cell phone on our family plan. We also said we would cover any dental bills as the medical plan she has through the university does not include dental care. </p>
<p>I have noticed that she **really **appreciates opportunites for free meals.</p>
<p>We’re paying for the bulk of our son’s medical school. We’ve got funds available, and my reasoning is: Will our money benefit him more now, or when we die?</p>
<p>This was uncharted territory for us so it took some trial and error. The formula that we settled on is a kind of “all funds are divided into three parts” program. 1/3 loans, 1/3 merit money, 1/3 parents’ gift. At least this is the way it worked out for year 1. I’m hoping that years 2 & 3 will come out something like 1/4, 1/2, 1/4. </p>
<p>Hopefully the job market will pick up by year 4 and the loans won’t seem so onerous and the dent in our retirement funds will be smoothed over.</p>
<p>We will give him the equivalent of in-state tuition at our flagship school. The rest is up to him.</p>
<p>I appear to be the odd one out here but we pay for all of our kids’ educational expenses…both undergrad and grad, but do not pay when they are not in school (summers away from home and after graduating). I have never considered doing it differently. Paying for a child’s education is part of my cultural background. My own college and grad school and related expenses were paid for and that is what we are doing for our kids. I don’t believe in supporting them once they are not in school, however.</p>
<p>Interesting thread. My parents never paid for our grad school degrees, although we were all in technical fields that had teaching assistantships that paid for school. I’ve always assumed we would pay for ug only. I guess I’ll know in a few years when DS#1 gets his ug degree. I’m thinking maybe co-signing a loan and then <maybe> contribute some to paying it off?</maybe></p>
<p>I’ll be back for advice at that point. I don’t really know much about college loans.</p>
<p>My parents are paying for undergrad and law school. 
—Ducks for cover— On the other hand, I am graduating a year early in exchange for law school tuition.</p>
<p>For my kids (in a long, long time, if I decide to have them) I’ll do the same. Full financial support until they get out of school.</p>
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<p>What’s her problem? If they’re on a trust fund, who cares? It’s their money, not hers.</p>
<p>We are paying for our daughters’ undergraduate education. It is their responsibility to pay for grad school and that gives them a financial incentive to do as well as possible in college so they have a decent shot at landing a fully or partially funded slot at the grad school of their choice. We are also maintaining funds for them that they will receive when they graduate from college to help with “start-up costs” when they are no longer living in the nest. That was how my wife’s parents handled things and she turned out alright. Having paid for most of my undergrad and graduate education I feel fortunate that we can assist our daughters’ transition to adulthood without burdening them with the kind of debt I was faced with.</p>
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Because some of his who have been around a while hate to see waste, whether it’s of dollars, potential, or opportunity that someone else could have had in the same slot. In this case, it’s all three.</p>
<p>There is a huge diference in the grad school and professional school funding available. If our son were interested in a professional school where the students usually are paying their costs I would pay. However, we will not pay for grad school since any school that wants him enough will offer some kind of stipend on the way to a math PhD. Earning while they learn the trade. Of course we have the money and could/would help meet any gaps left after a stipend. If it were a business MBA students usually work a few years, then go; I would not fund my child to not get business experience before further business education. I managed to finish undergrad debt free and with medical school loans due to family finances. I later wished I had been a bit less frugal and spent more on books since I now have the money that would have made borrowing more money less scary.</p>
<p>We are planning to help D with Med. School expenses. It is based on my phylosophy that money are going to be devalued greatly because of current government policies, so it is better to spend it sooner than later, while they are worth something. It is also based on fact that we are not paying D’s UG tuition now because it is covered by Merit scholarships which are result of her hard work in both HS and UG. IMO, each family needs to evaluate its circumstances, values and phylosophy and come with their own decision based on their own specifics.</p>
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<p>As for dollars and potential, its theirs to waste. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it. As for opportunity that someone else could have had in the same slot, maybe you have a point there.</p>
<p>NYU- because she is abroad and they are mainly rich Americans and she now sadly fully understands the 'ugly American" image. They flaunt their wealth over locals, not realising that none of them have done a single thing to earn that wealth. They freely spend Daddy’s money and act like it makes them better than those around them with no sense of gratitude to Daddy and a sense of superiority over any student with less. They are annoying :D</p>
<p>And the waste! The thought of what productive things DD could have done with just a portion of that money besides party.</p>
<p>Didn’t mean to go off on a moral tangent, it was just interesting to me how often my DD who is funding her own graduate studies is critical of fellow students who have no clue about money. Some people take money from their parents and do not respect that gift or parental sacrifice (perhaps it is not a sacrifice for some parents, but most of us could do something fun with the money :)) and others take freely of all the loans offered and live large on their loans, giving no thought to reducing loans and living on ramen.</p>
<p>I have found it amusing that DD (who is my kid who most needed to learn the value of a dollar and who had the toughest time budgeting) has turned her attitude around since funding her own life. She now sounds like me grousing about her UG spending!</p>
<p>My parents have agreed to pay for all of my education regardless of cost. They say after that, however, that I am on my own.</p>