Do most of your parents help you pay for college?

<p>My parents won’t pay a dime.</p>

<p>Part time employment during college is an excellent way to build character, resume and bank accounts…entitlement by a college student is none of the aforementioned. Parents can budget and distribute their money as they choose, and often the financial picture is vaster and more involved than it may seem to a teenager. Moreover, strive to achieve the highest GPA and personal references that you possibly can - often there are university/private scholarships that award this type of accomplishment…focus your energy on personal achievements, discovering possible scholarship opportunities and building your college transcript and resume in a manner that will allow you to pay back the $14,000 and land yourself a successful job (so that you can support yourself and your family…and maybe give your college kids some entitlement money)…</p>

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Cool story.</p>

<p>I actually didn’t think it was anything special but thanks.</p>

<p>No problem. It was actually very funny.</p>

<p>Yea I donno it just came to me, guess I’m just a funny guy.</p>

<p>14K? that’s nothing, haha.
I think most people have 20K +. Don’t worry about it, that’s why you have a college degree.
Think about it, your mom has to pay for 3 more kids after you… and their tuitions MIGHT NOT BE covered.
I have my tuition covered but my mom helps with some living expenses… and that’s it. I try to live on my own money (part time) for food, etc. Parent’s money when I run out of my own money/emergencies/school additional fees.
My loans are for housing stuff too :/</p>

<p>…and your mom’s buying you a car. LOL. lucky. I wish my mom would buy me a new car too… or at least one that runs… I know alot of people save up their own money for their cars, but geez, how do you guys do it? I barely live on my workstudy and whatever I make other time of the year goes to left over school fees/loans.</p>

<p>my parents are paying 10k and they can pay a bit more without me taking a bunch of loans. however, I don’t want them to pay more than 10k because I know I can handle the rest of the loans. Im taking out 7.5k loans this yr, and by the time i graduate, i probably will have 30k in loans.</p>

<p>30k? is alot more compare to ur 14k. but im not tripping. I plan to work for all 4 summers, heck, 7k-8k per summer(4-5months), I’ll be debt free by the time i graduate. it’s called planning. now stop complaining when one can easily earn 14k in 2 summers.</p>

<p>You have to do whatever in order to get this college degree. I’m pretty sure after seeing TwistedxKiss’ post about making $1200 monthly payments for 30 years would be similar for me also since you gotta put in the interest that would’ve accumulated. It may be crazy but if you don’t think it’s worth it then drop out and apply for a job where there would always be a position available like Burger King for full-time.</p>

<p>I live in Florida and go to UF, and I got the Bright Futures Scholarship program (the state pays full tuition except for a small fee if you get a certain SAT score and GPA and do 75 community service hours in HS). This covers almost all of my tuition cost–except for a few hundred dollars per semester total–and, I pay for my dorm with money I have saved up from money I earned working while in high school. My parents help with the tuition fee and stuff like phone, spending money, etc, but they don’t have it hard at all. They do save a lot for my grad school, though.</p>

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<p>Right, it’s more like $150k in loans, though you would be paying about a quarter million in interest. Also, $1200 a month for 30 years means you’ll still be paying $15k a year for your own education when your children get into college.</p>

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<p>I’m curious…what type of work do you do? Or want to do? 14k in two summers?! As a college student? When there are hardly any jobs out there, yet alone jobs that will pay you more than minimum wage, let alone jobs that will hire you full time?? It’s not like a lot of college students have a lot of job experience. Even professionals right now are not being hired in their fields. That’s why a lot of college students have to suffer through retail, fast food, restaurant work, ect. Unless you get lucky and get a job in an office. I never once found one I even sightly qualified for, as a college student, and even if I did most wouldn’t have paid 7k in a summer. Keep in mind a lot of places that hire students during the summer hire them as seasonal employees as well. </p>

<p>I don’t think a lot of students realize just how big of a deal loans and debt are. 14k is still a lot. I wouldn’t want to be even 14k in debt before I even had a job in my field. I couldn’t ever imagine being over a hundred thousand in debt from college…I would much rather be able to start my life without having to worry about paying back that much in loans.</p>

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Most colleges hire students and pay them over minimum wage (all jobs on my campus are at least $8/hr, and many office assistant jobs are $12-$15…you don’t really need experience for those. and there’s other jobs out there, you have to look or get creative. i get paid $20/hr as a part-time nanny so over the summer i could easily pull in $7k (before taxes) because summer in college is like 10-12 weeks long…i have friends who tutor privately and charge $15-$25/hr (they put flyers up around campus and in local high schools, chuches, etc). another girl I know is studying design in a fashion institute and she created a costume-designing service which she advertised all over the city - literally pulled in over $1k in the past 2 months just for making costumes for strangers…I also worked as a waitress in a nice restaurant summer after HS and made a lot of money just in tips, although I didn’t get paid much hourly and we had to pool our tips…but you can make a lot as a waitress if it’s a nice place. </p>

<p>obviously the situation will be different depending on where you go to college (a city vs suburbs or boondocks makes a big difference) and what part of the country you’re from, how much time you have…but most college students I know have part-time jobs which they use for spending money, rent, or going towards books/tuition or something. I know very few students who are graduating debt-free or don’t have any jobs. this might be because my college is pricy with sucky FA though.</p>

<p>I do feel bad for the OP because she was expecting her parents to pay and it didn’t work out…it’s harder when your parents say they will as opposed to knowing all along that there’s no way they can afford it. But definitely look really hard for scholarships in music, dance, art, sports, academics, anything you can get, because there’s a ridiculous number of scholarships out there. your guidance counselor can probably help you out if you need it!</p>

<p>i lucked out with college because i have a family member who works in the financial aid office so I don’t have to pay tuition…I pay rent with my job, and my parents give me money for food/bills, which is nice.</p>

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<p>You’re complaining about a mere 14k? Try the 250k debt I’m going to be in after I go to Med School.</p>

<p>^ You realize that the average debt for med school is around $150k, right? You should not be 100k over the average.</p>

<p>Ok fine 200k, which includes 155k for med school (AMA average) and 45k for undergrad. Since I will probably get minimal assistance from parents.</p>

<p>Alix2012</p>

<p>You’re right, it really depends on where you live. Getting a job on campus would be great over the summer if you live near campus, but a lot of people don’t. The problem is is that EVERYONE is looking for all these crazy jobs now, and so are a ton of students- especially during the summer! It’s really competitive out there. Getting a good paying job with great hours isn’t as easy as saying that you want one or saying that there has to be something out there. :frowning: I also know students who have part time jobs (I’m one of them), but I also know that they aren’t making that much. Not unless you have multiple jobs…</p>

<p>^ I have 4 jobs and there is still no way I would make 14k in all 4 of my summers combined, let alone 2.</p>

<p>october - yeah, I completely understand that students are getting screwed over right now because of the economy…and I kind of lucked out because i’m in nyc where there’s still lots of jobs for younger people, whereas college students in a smaller town are going to have a lot more trouble.</p>

<p>for summer jobs, start looking in like March, because those fill up really fast. and if you want to be self employed, think about tutoring because the hours are flexible, you’re self employed, and you can charge much more than you would get paid shelving books in the library or whatever

4 jobs at once?! or do you mean over the course of the year</p>

<p>My parents don’t even pay for my phone bill so I don’t know what you’re complaining about. I’m forced to be 100% financially independent meaning I have to not only pay for all my own living expenses and bills, but also college tuition (though I’m not really in college right now).</p>

<p>Don’t complain about 14k in loans. I have a 14k auto loan and that’s hardly anything to pay back especially if you have a college degree and eligible for higher paying job. Depending on your loan terms, it’s only about $250 a month (5 year loan). If you cannot afford that after graduation and having a job then it looks like going to college was a waste of money and time.</p>