S20 has tuition remission at a solid if not very highly ranked LA college in the Midwest where my husband taught for 30 years and retired to move on to a public university elsewhere. No scholarships (from the school) and it doesn’t cover fees, room/board but still a good value. I think my son should take this opportunity as it is very affordable for us but are we limiting him?
I agree with your husband. Your son sounds like the average excellent student, which means, yes, he will have choices, but I’m not sure any of his choices are going to beat saving $120,000.
Besides that, your son holds the ultimate trump card: he wants to attend this school. Pat yourself on the back for being one of the few parents on CC who will have the pleasure of not worrying about college at all.
I agree it’s a no brainer. Why create a problem where one doesn’t exist? He wants to go there and doesn’t even want to apply to other schools and is getting 30k a year? Honestly, just be happy this is so easy.
I’m confused.How do we know it is $120k savings and that the student is an “average excellent student” based on the little info in the original post?
Is the son now a junior? Can he still apply elsewhere in addition to this tuition remission school.
I feel like we need more info to be helpful.
The OP edited her post. She gave his stats and 30k a year info before.Not sure why she changed it.
Does he want to go there? Is it a real pick in his choices? What are your finances like?
I don’t think for an instant that it’s limiting. In fact it’s a wonderful choice he has dropped into his lap that most kids have to work to find such a school to have on their lists. It’s no more limiting than kids who get free tuition at certain schools for any reason. What if he applied to s bunch of school and one of them offered this? I don’t understand the quandary here. He has this excellent option. He can still apply to other schools and decide which one to pick. Not like locking self in early. I’ve seen that in athletics by the way
In original post, OP stated that her kid wants to go to this school and has no interest in applying elsewhere.
Does this decision need to be made…now? Supposedly this kid is class of 2020 from high school.
If he doesn’t have to accept this offer immediately, see if the KID wants to apply elsewhere…and if so…do so. Then make the decision when all the acceptances, and aid offers are in.
@doschicos , no idea why the OP deleted the original useful information, but he was a strong student with a 29 ACT and the tuition savings would be well over $100k. OP also stated that son wants to attend this school.
OP, you can divulge what you choose, but it’s hard to give good advice without details. And to radically alter the original post in this way is very odd.
From the details other have given, it sounds like a slam dunk to me. Unless the kid wants something like an engineering or nursing major that isn’t offered there. Otherwise, thank your stars.
If he has guaranteed admission, then go for it. If admission is not 100% guaranteed, he needs to apply elsewhere as well, but I wouldn’t say he is being limited if he wants to go there, and the offer is on the table.
If he wants to go there and is admitted, then what would the problem be?
Obviously, if it is not an admission safety, he needs to apply to a safety that is he assured of both admission and affordability and which will not be a let-down if it is the only school he gets into.
I don’t understand the issue. It’s not like kid has to commit now or right at College app time. He can apply elsewhere and decide what he wants to choose with that as an option.
I know many who work at a college and get tuition or tuition benefits. They don’t always use them. But it’s a wonderful option to have.
OP may have changed the post to remove the ability to identify the student, especially considering she is indicating a hesitation that she may not want her husband’s former colleagues or the admissions office to get wind of, and I get that. I would caution that depending on what his area of study interests are, the small LA may not be the best fit, in which case as a parent I can’t say I too wouldn’t question whether I was only seeing $$ and would want other perspectives.
What is the “compromising future” concern? Is he interested in majors not offered at the college in question?
I don’t see why having your son graduate potentially debt free from a well regarded school would be compromising his future at all. Plenty of people would give their left arm for an option like this for an undergrad degree. If he wanted to apply to other options, I would have this price point be your base. Where else might he get substantial merit? A 29 ACT is a great score, but isn’t necessarily super likely to get a ton of merit at highly rated options.
Our target price point was out state flagship. And then when his 2 flagships options started throwing money his way, there was very little reason not to take one of those offers.
I guess I’m not understanding what you’re worried about either. I could see it if there wasn’t programs your son would be interested in, but if that’s where he wants to go it sounds like a no brainer. My son is pretty set on at least trying chemical engineering to start so we had to cross all the LACs off.
It’s just an option. See how it stacks up against other options he gets.
My father worked for a program that gave his kids free college tuition. Back then, fate worse than death to me to have to do that. Got myself in gear and looked for other options.