<p>I never wanted to prepay 4 years, just in case an emergency came up and we would have wanted the cash on hand. Then we could have gotten loans for the school, etc. Thank goodness that so far, knock on wood, no emergency has come up.</p>
<p>My friend did it. I wasn´t aware of it until D1 was almost out of school. My friend said it was the best trade she ever did. She paid in full before the market tanked. We are going to do it for D2 (if the school would do it) because we have it sitting in cash now, interest it´s earning is lower than the inflation for tuition. It´s the money which is ear marked for her school, so we wouldn´t touch it no matter what kind of emergency we may have.</p>
<p>We bought low in 1998, bought less than we could have theoretically afforded, and have not pulled out equity. Refinanced to a 15 year mortgage so we’d have equity to help fund college. Saved aggressively for retirement instead. I went back to work against doctor’s orders when S1 went to college, and that reduces dollar-for-dollar what we’d have to borrow. </p>
<p>Kids take out Staffords, work for personal funds and books. Older S got merit awards totalling a year’s worth of tuition.</p>
<p>We know a number of S1’s classmates who turned down MIT, Harvard, Princeton, JHU, CMU SCS and Stanford for our flagship with a full ride. These were kids with mega awards, mega scores, mega grades. Sure enough, those kids were the same ones at Harvard, MIT, Duke, Cambridge, Caltech, etc. for grad school interviews last spring. </p>
<p>Do I think his college got him his post-graduation job offer? No. He had to bring the goods. (If he had accepted his #2 choice, I think it would have been the best of both worlds. Oh well. His decision.) We know folks who have gotten the same offers from the same employer coming out of the flagship. I will admit to questioning having turned down the full ride.</p>
<p>That said, I think the school makes more a difference for S2, who is not a STEM major. His school is much stronger than the flagship for what he wants, and he needed a smaller, more caring environment.</p>
<p>Affording a private college was easy for us. First we started saving for a college fund as soon as he was born, with my mom giving us $7500 and us chipping in $5000 in conjunction with refinancing a new house. That and some additional savings along the way resulted in a $76,000 college fund for our son. Second he applied to schools offering generous merit aid and attended RPI with three merit scholarships totaling $25k/yr. We paid the balance of tuition/fees/insurances and he paid room/board/books/spending $. </p>
<p>He graduated in 2008 with $30k remaining from his college fund and no loans. Could not have been easier. But the secret was starting at Year 0.</p>
<p>^^Plus going to a school that gave him generous aid!! </p>
<p>We also started at Year 5 with D1 (and Year 0 with D2). There are people who can pay full freight of a private university out of cash flow every year, but we aren’t part of that crowd. Investing over time really helped, not to mention a mostly bull market. That latter part was just good luck…starting early is the only thing that we can congratulate ourselves for.</p>
<p>We also had a couple of back up plans that we could have afforded out of cash flow, so we knew the kids would be going to college. It wouldn’t have been their first choice, but it certainly would have worked out just fine.</p>
<p>Let’s also not forget the huge amount of money baby boomers are inheriting from their parents. I know several instances where the funds for a private school came via inheritance, or simply generous living grandparents. </p>
<p>Boomers: the generation that’s poised to inherit the greatest wealth in recent history – and the generation that’s saved the least in recent history.</p>
<p>Neither of the baby boomers in this house will be getting inheritances. I’m researching Medicaid issues.</p>
<p>No inheritances coming our way</p>
<p>What inheritance? Both H and I are supporting our parents, talk about the sandwich generation.</p>
<p>I’d be afraid of using the expectation of an inheritance as the cornerstone of college financial planning. Many people see their “inheritance” eaten up by their elderly parents’ long-term-care and nursing home bills, which can wipe out a tidy fortune.</p>
<p>My fathers last will and testament:</p>
<p>“Being of sound mind and body…I spent it.”</p>
<p>At my house, we did it the old fashioned way: We earned it. See post #16 for the details of that.</p>
<p>I know, I know. </p>
<p>All the children on CC are above average.
All the parents here have saved for private colleges.
And none of the parents will be getting anything from their parents. </p>
<p>However, CC is a little island, In much of the “real” world, most kids ARE average, attending state schools, not private LACs, and their parents have not enough to retire on</p>
<p>[Spendthrift</a> Boomers Face Perilous Retirement: McKinsey - Real Time Economics - WSJ](<a href=“Spendthrift Boomers Face Perilous Retirement: McKinsey - WSJ”>Spendthrift Boomers Face Perilous Retirement: McKinsey - WSJ)</p>
<p>although many may inherit </p>
<p>[Baby</a> Boomers May Inherit $11.6 Trillion in Historic Transfer of Wealth - ABC News](<a href=“Baby Boomers to Inherit Trillions - ABC News”>Baby Boomers to Inherit Trillions - ABC News)</p>
<p>and won’t share it with their kids
[Hey</a> Kids of Baby Boomers, Forget About Your Inheritance | Moneyland | TIME.com](<a href=“http://moneyland.time.com/2011/09/06/hey-kids-of-baby-boomers-forget-about-your-inheritance/]Hey”>Hey Kids of Baby Boomers, Forget About Your Inheritance | TIME.com)</p>
<p>I don’t think I am above average, and there is nothing to brag about the fact H and I are responsible for our parents. It is just the reality for us. We didn’t choose it.</p>
<p>Most websites have a target audience. And doesnt that target audience represent a demographic of sorts? Doesnt make it the typical or the norm per se from a broader “across the nation” perspective…just representative of those who tend to gather in that particular space. But the parents of kids going to the (insert county name here) junior college just generally dont hang out on CC discussing the finer points of long term financial planning in order to pay for Williams , Amherst, Wellsley, Pomona, or Kenyon. And given this question was about paying for private LACs–why would they respond? </p>
<p>But if you want to talk to those parents Local Junior College Parents on another issue of shared interest, I’m sure there are places they tend to congregate too…whether it be on the web, or a local sports pub, or any number of places. I share with other boomer women on a website geared toward women over 50. I share with other Liberterians on a political website. Different issues gather different demographics. I tend to float among many websites.</p>
<p>A question was specifically asked here on CC about how private LACs were financially managed–and everyone who has responded to it has answered it to the best of their ability, and kindly as well. Its all good.</p>