<p>^^^^So? Take out a bigger loan. And the people you know are certainly in the minority, i have never heard of such a thing. ^^^^^</p>
<p>Maybe this is a viable option in England (I have no way of knowing), but I don’t think it’s realistic here. The COA for the state flagship in our state in the major (business) my D wants is almost $30,000 a year (tuition and fees alone are $17,000). With our financial situation, D is not going to qualify for any financial aid, so if we don’t help her, she’s going to be paying full freight on her own. The maximum Stafford loan amount for a freshman is $5,500, IIRC. That’s the loan that’s guaranteed by the government. If she works 20 hours a week at a minimum wage job during the school year, and full time during the summer, maybe she’ll make another $10,000 or so. She’s still roughly $15,000 short. Do you really think a bank is going to lend $15,000 a year ($60,000 over 4 years) to a kid with minimal earnings who is already picking up $5,500 of debt a year? I don’t. And this scenario doesn’t take interest (or taxes!) into account. Interest on unsubsidized loans needs to be paid current. By senior year we’re looking at over $80,000 in debt. The interest on that will significantly eat into the student’s earnings, necessitating even larger loans. Sure, the student could choose community college for the first two years to keep costs down, but you’re still looking at the costs I outlined for the next two years. And the scenario I laid out is for the state school - a private with no financial or merit aid will be a lot more. </p>
<p>It’s easy to say take out a bigger loan. It’s harder to do, and it’s very dismal to come out of school with a crushing debt load - hardly the best start to one’s future life.</p>
<p>Yes, my ex and I are sharing the cost of college with our kid. The kid got merit and needs-based aid, and with that, work-study, and subsidized loans, almost half the cost of his first year is covered. His dad and I are paying the rest. The kid is good for at least two years, assuming his financial aid stays at about the same level next year; after that, he might have to transfer to a less expensive school. I still expect to share the cost with him, though, as does my ex. </p>
<p>SamualUK, kindly do not refer to MY kid as a “snot nosed kid.” He’s not snot-nosed. He IS 15. I don’t expect him to come up with the $53K COA himself. He certainly could NOT get bigger loans than what he’ll be taking, and even if he could, I wouldn’t want him to take on that much debt – that would be insane.</p>
<p>Before making any other comments about paying for college in the US, kindly look into the cost of attending college in the US, because right now, it appears you need some education on the subject.</p>
<p>"Why on earth do you pay for your snot nosed kids? Its practically unheard of in the UK, you either take out a loan or you dont go.</p>
<p>College/University is supposed to be a time to grow and mature as an adult, how can you do that if you’re cocooned from the realities of life by your folks’ cash?"</p>
<p>It’s better to make one’s points without being rude. It’s also better to make one’s points from an informed viewpoint so you don’t come across as an ignoramus.</p>
<p>The total yearly cost – room, board, tuition of U.S. colleges ranges from 30,000 pounds for a top private school like Harvard to about 9,000 pounds for in state tuition at lower cost public universities.</p>
<p>Not going to a university at all would severely restrict one’s career options. Going by working and taking out loans would cause many people to graduate with a crippling amount of debt, something particularly stupid considering how troubled the economy is.</p>
<p>“Everybody graduates with debt here, so excuse me if i dont see having a bit of debt as such a bad thing.”</p>
<p>Most students in the U.S. graduate with debt, too, even though their parents often are helping pay for their college. I’ve read that the average U.S. student graduates with about $17,000 in debt. Typically, parents also take out debt to help pay for students’ college.</p>
<p>College in the U.S. is much more expensive than in the UK.</p>
<p>“It’s an expression, apparently this site is hostile towards colloquial language.”</p>
<p>In the U.S. referring to someone as being a “snot nosed kid” is considered an insult. CC is hostile toward insulting language.</p>
<p>That’s a rather broad-reaching statement. Is that an average throughout the entire country? My previous manager lived in the UK and the cost of her house was quite comparable to upper-middle-class houses in various parts of the US.</p>
<p>Home prices vary widely in the US. In some places, you can buy a home for a dollar. Of course you might not want to live there.</p>
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<p>I thought that the UK was a wealthy nation. If that’s so, I’d expect the upper middle class parents there to pay for their children’s educational costs. Especially since the costs are so small. If you have a million in the bank, what’s a few bucks for your kids for tuition? Since home prices there are 15 times what they are here and college costs one fifteenth the price over here, I would think that a HELOC could take care of a bunch of kids with no sweat.</p>
<p>We paid / are paying for undergraduate school for our 3 children, although with the help of several loans. Oldest daughter, 1st year oos private / 3 years in state public. Son 4 years oos public ( offered full ride @ Rutgers, but we all fell in love with W & M ), youngest daughter starting in state public by choice. My parents divorced at an early age & didn’t contribute to my education, it took me ~ 10 years to pay off my undergrad & graduate loans. I felt it was my obligation to help them as long as they were motivated students & good kids. The first 2 graduated in 4 years which was also a stipulation for full funding. They are responsible for graduate school tuition, although I am helping with room & board, books, etc. Everyone’s financial situation is different of course, but I felt my children earned my help because of how proud I am of the adults they have become.</p>
<p>We are from Canada and our D is headed state side for college. We are paying full expenses for her and expect her to cover the incidentals. Luckily she was awarded an incentive of free dorm and meal plan for the full 4 years otherwise should would not be going. My W and I both had to take out loans when we went to college and will do everything we can (short of a second mortgage) to have our D graduate debt free. I believe that her education is my responsibility within reason. She also understands the strain this puts on the household and works as hard as she can to cover any extra expenses or she does without and does not complain.</p>
<p>rocketlouise, please tell the students here how you (or your kids) are paying for college without the help of parents. Many students come here asking that question. The only answer we (the parents) seem to be able to come up with is …work and attend a community college and live at home…to save money. If you have some way to fund college expenses which can range from $15,000 a year to well over $50,000 a year without any help from anyone else, I’m sure your tips would be well appreciated here.</p>
<p>And…I do NOT think it is “coddling” to provide financial assistance to my kids while I am ABLE to do so. Both of my kids took the maximum stafford loans AND paid for all discretionary spending and books. Both worked while in college. </p>
<p>I don’t think it is an “obligation” to pay for college…but if your parents CAN help, the colleges expect that (check out a finaid calculator if you don’t believe that).</p>
<p>The problem with the system is that we have tremendous focus on addressing economic inequities based on parent income. But there is no acknowledgement that, income aside, students are very much at the mercy of the parental discretion. Consequently, there is a LOT of inequity among students over who can attend what college despite all the FA and endowments.</p>
<p>And, of course, the uncomfortable fact is that these children are legal adults - why should their cost of attendance be contingent on their parents’ income when their parents have no legal responsibility for them?</p>
<p>I would also be curious to hear how a student pays for college without any help from parents (short of getting a huge amount of financial aid or going to community college and living with mom and dad - which is help from parents). </p>
<p>To bring my H into the real world, I recently ran some numbers using the costs of my own undergraduate institution (a mid-priced private) as an example. When I attended, tuition, room & board were roughly $3600 a year. Today, at the same school, tuition, room & board are roughly $44,000 a year. The cost has increased over 12 times. On the other hand, minimum wage, which is now $7.25 an hour, was $2.65 an hour for most of my college years. It hasn’t quite tripled. I worked hard to put myself through college without any parental assistance or financial aid (other than loans). It was difficult, but definitely possible. Today, I frankly do not think it is possible for most students. This isn’t to say students shouldn’t have some skin in the game and contribute, just that IMO it is near impossible for a student to do it alone (i.e., without parental support or substantial financial aid). The fact that eligibility for financial aid is dependent on the income of parents shows that colleges are certainly expecting parents to help.</p>
<p>Well…this is a bit OT to the OP’s question…but here is another thing to consider. The parents may have NO legal responsibility for them (I understand that)…but these KIDS do not have sufficient income to support college costs. Where would theses students find the money to pay for college?</p>
<p>I also worked to put myself through both undergrad and grad school back in the day when a TERM of school (including room and board) was under $500 (state school). The cost of the same term NOW is about $7000.</p>
<p>^ Yes, and what role has the pervasive assumption that parents should foot the bill for college served to drive up the cost of attendance? When I attended my state U I paid for the entire cost through work and loans. Same for DH. He finished with a PhD and I finished with a MS. It really didn’t occur to our parents or us that they were responsible for paying. The mind set is very different now. And it helps prop up a grotesquely over-priced good.</p>
<p>I also think this state of affairs creates a lot of dysfunction in the maturation process of young adults.</p>
<p>" Yes, and what role has the pervasive assumption that parents should foot the bill for college served to drive up the cost of attendance?"</p>
<p>Everyone I know from my high school who went to college when I did had parents who paid for their college. I was rare in that I had to work and take out loans to help pay for mine. I remember that even my mother – born in 1915-- said that her father felt bad because he couldn’t help pay for her college due to the depression. He’d set aside money to help with her college, but had to use it to help pay the house mortgage due to the economy then.</p>
<p>Even in college, most of my friends had to work less than I did to pay for college.</p>
<p>Also, parents paid for or helped pay for grad/professional school for most people whom I know who went to grad school when I did. </p>
<p>From what I’ve seen, most people whose parents were college educated got help from their parents to attend college. This may not have been as true for first gen college students whose parents didn’t view higher education as a priority or whose parents lacked the funds to help with college.</p>
<p>However, my husband was a first generation high school graduate, and his parents helped pay for his and his 2 sisters’ college education.</p>
<p>What I notice now that’s different is that more students and their parents seem to think that college and high school are breaks from life. It seems that with the proliferation of teen-centered costly summer activities – trips abroad, summer camps, etc. – and interesting college summer programs, more parents view summer as a time for teens and young adults to have fun and participate in enrichment activities instead of working. </p>
<p>The concept of high school and college students being so stressed that they need to just sit home and relax (or travel around the world and relax) over the summer is a new one to me, and one that I do think impedes the maturation process of young adults, many of whom are allowed to relax all summer and aren’t even responsible for chores if they are living at home.</p>
<p>^ It was within my lifetime that the age of majority changed from twenty-one to eighteen. A holdover from the old days was a continuation of the expectation that parents would be first in line (before taxpayers) to pay for a child’s higher education, if any. Young people can get through with their own work (as I did for two higher education degrees), but even without a legal requirement, there are families that value paying for their children’s education out of pocket, pre-K through postgraduate.</p>
<p>We have acquaintances who felt as you do. Father put himself through college many moons ago and decided that kids could do so also. They had 12 kids, so that could have something to do with that policy. :)</p>
<p>None of the first 11 kids went to college. They helped with kid #12, who is the only college graduate out of that dozen. </p>
<p>Bottom line nowadays when it comes to college–pretty tough for a kid to put themselves through school by themselves, especially if the parents make enough $$ to have a high EFC.</p>
<p>"It was within my lifetime that the age of majority changed from twenty-one to eighteen. A holdover from the old days was a continuation of the expectation that parents would be first in line (before taxpayers) to pay for a child’s higher education, "</p>
<p>I don’t know if that’s the reason that parents are expected to be responsible. I think that in the past, it was far easier to support oneself without a college degree or even a high school diploma. Times have changed as some kind of higher education has become necessary to be able to be above the poverty line. </p>
<p>Consequently, while young people get more legal rights than they did when many of us were 18, they aren’t able to be as financially independent as was possible when many of us were young.</p>