So the missing amount seems to be 50k, assuming 4 equal distributions of 20k from the 529 plan, and the kid himself contributing 5k. So 25k each for 4 years from the 2 biological parents who make very solid incomes. Well, all
I completely agree. My situation DOES give me a bit of an edge where financial aid is concerned. That, and I can empathize with her son on some level (I’d also be upset if my parents refused to help me out with something as important as college).
However, I still feel that some sort of hard work would go a long way for him. Maybe he’ll even learn to appreciate it in the future.
what are you talking about ? It’s $140k missing
I surely could find 50K if it was only that
Cost of attendance per year at the supposed private school would be 75k. As I understand it, there is currently 80k in undisputed college savings. Allocate that 80k evenly over 4 years, and it is 20k per year. Your son can work and or borrow about 5k per year. So now you are up to having 25k per year covered. The delta between the amount already covered (25k) and the amount charged (75k) is 50k per year, which if split between the bio parents, is 25k per year each, for the 4 years of college. Your choice.
@oldfort – my comment about costs is that it is not “free” for someone to allow their child to potentially lock them into an obligation to spend a large sum of money. The application doesn’t cost, but binding ED does have a cost. In this case the parents knew what they were getting into and agreed to that, and NU gave them an easy reprieve – but what would have happened if the kid had been accepted and then the stepfather balked, post-acceptance? We do see that problem coming up on CC. For a family that knows at the outset that they will be full-pay, ED costs the full amount of the school’s tuition, at least for the first semester.
@calmom - the stepfather could back out during ED or RD. The applicant wouldn’t be locked in if financially it is not feasible. OP’s family is full pay no matter what. They wouldn’t be comparing FA from different schools. Therefore the ED is a free option to OP’s son.
As a matter of fact, OP’s son probably should have used his ED option at Purdue. Many schools feel “use it or lose” when it comes to using a hook during ED(in the Son case it’s his mother’s employment at Purdue).
Purdue doesn’t have early decision, it has early action. We used it, results will be in January 15 for all Early Action applicants. Fingers crossed.
In my family we take promises we make seriously. People who sign up for ED with the reasonable expectation of receiving need-based aid have legitimate reason to back out if the aid comes up short in relation to what they might reasonably expect. People who have unexpected financial setbacks, such as the loss of a job, might also have legitimate reasons to back out.
For a full pay applicant, ED is a promise to attend if admitted. Not a promise to attend unless one later changes their mind.
The kid is happy now. Jumping around and chirping about how he’ll have a full time job, will be independent, and will not live with his “mommy” and then he’ll go to college and live happily ever after. My only concern is that he doesn’t get sucked in an never returns to college.
@BluEyeL - parents are fully within their rights to set limits no matter the size of their bank accounts. Please don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise.
In your opening post, you expressed concern about your future relationship with your son when you told him the financial limits – you wrote, " I’m so worried that our relationship will be destroyed and my son will be angry for life." I think you have already seen that is not the case – but in any case, I am pretty sure that the best thing a parent can do to preserve long term relationships with their kid is to set limits. I think the source of long term family ruptures is often a misplaced sense of entitlement – if a child decides that the parents are rich enough to pay for Private U. now, maybe down the line that child thinks that the parents ought to be providing the downpayment on a house, or springing for the cost of a large wedding – or whatever else comes up along the way.
Sounds like the situation is solved. Kid gets to move away and become independent and your financial limit is retained, and possibly not even used at all.
Sometimes, this can be due to poor communication (explicit or implicit), where the parent (not necessarily intentionally) leads the kid to believe that there is more money available for him/her for college (or whatever) than there actually will be. A typical forum example would be the parents who tell the kid in September “don’t worry about cost, we’ll make it work, just apply and get into some colleges first” and then tell the kid in April “we can contribute $1,000 per year” while the kid is holding admissions to colleges with net prices > $20,000 per year. Another is an affluent parent trap where the parent raises the kid for 17 years as if money were no object – until the parent imposes very tight cost constraints on college choice because there is no money (due to spendy habits the past 17 years).
If he does get sucked into good career-track jobs (in terms of desirable work, career development, and pay level), is not going to college, or going to college significantly later as a non-traditional student, necessarily that bad a thing? If he is sufficiently self-motivated and good at learning CS, he may be able to self-educate what he needs to learn to succeed in computing jobs.
However, if the job ends up being limited in any or all of these aspects, and/or (like most people) he finds that he would learn CS better with the aid of instructors and a structured curriculum, he may become much more motivated with respect to college in terms of the usefulness of a BA/BS degree in the labor market (particularly in CS where the major is associated with employer-desired specific skills and knowledge, rather than where a BA/BS degree is just asked for as credential creep).
Is it just me or am I missing something? In what universe would the opportunity to attend Purdue for engineering or CS not be elite?
And for 15k a year?
And yes rigorous AP 3.7UW, 1400 plus sat and faculty parent will get in to Purdue imho.
@calmom - first of all, good for your family. Second of all, you were the one who first brought up the stepfather may back out, no one else did. All I said was if he was going to back out he could do it at ED or RD. So I am not sure who you are debating with here.
Legally you don’t have to contribute anything if you don’t want to. This is very subjective, and I don’t know your family’s situation, but if I was your son I would be disappointed that there was so much money available…but just not for college.
I’m from an immigrant family too, and if there’s anything my parents are willing to pay for, it’s college.
Yes, many parents make enormous sacrifices for their children’s education, and are glad to do so.
calmom does a good job in post #229 covering the CT resident vs. CT non-resident tax issue for any CT source income. As far as federal taxes, I don’t think the IRS cares what mailing address is used on a 1040, as long as the return is completed correctly, the tax that is legally owed is paid, and the taxpayer can be contacted by the IRS if necessary.
Had to work today and missed all the fun. ?..
So what happens if he gets accepted to Purdue now. Is a gap year a definite?
Hope he does go back to school with $80,000 in 529 money. Great job to mom for saving that amount for 1 kid…BTW ?
He might move for 1.5 years but then could be considered OOS for Purdue? That would suck?
How does a high school kid get a $4,000/month job at a non profit??? If the OP wants to PM me would love to know the company (once her son signs his deal). My daughter’s graduating in May and that would be an ideal first job!! ?.. She’s worked with the LGBTQ community in the past…
If I am missing something let me know… Lol…