Kids have always known that we would fund them (all reasonable expenses) through UG years without loans. They are/were expected to work during the summer but not necessarily for money. Their job was/is to do their best and make the most of this opportunity. So far, both sides are living up to the agreement but #2 (and last) is only just getting ready to start college in the fall so we will see 4 years from now :).
DHs parents declined to pay for his college, or even to encourage him to attend one. This led to a lot of negative consequences in his life and he is determined that his children will not repeat his mistakes.
The only thing we required of my daughter is to pay for books, which she could easily afford to do with earnings from her work study job. We paid for everything else - tuition, room & board, travel home, a couple spring break volunteer trips.
I expect that you are going to get more full pay/no loans parents responding to this question. We aren’t there yet but no one wants to come in and say, “Well, we make $120k but can only really swing $5k per year.” Because it stinks and no one is proud of it. .
We have about $100k saved specifically for the two of them-we started 529s in each of their names when they were born. We have no idea yet how it’s going to be meted out.
I let my husband take the lead on it since he understands money much better than I do. We are debt-averse and don’t want either of them to take on substantial debt (I doubt H would co-sign for any loans), so we’re looking at merit awards for the 17 year old. There’s a small venn diagram of good meets affordable out there somewhere for her.
Potentially community college is in the future for the 15 year old for the first two years of college since she doesn’t like to study or do her homework, so she’ll be a kid with high test #'s and low GPA, so no merit money there.
We don’t expect either kid to work if they’re in school full time. Over the summer, yes. They’ll have to pay back the loan they’re allowed to take out as a student. If younger D goes to community college she’ll live at home and be expected to help keep the household running.
For us “skin in the game” refers to how hard they worked in HS and how that effort translates into scholarships/merit in college. We provide the dollars, they provide an equal amount of sweat equity.
We don’t have savings for college. We have gone through two episodes of unemployment and underemployment since 2008. It takes quite awhile to dig out. We have neglected our underwater house, putting off repairs “just one more year”. We paid for private high school, with a tuition discount/scholarship for one kid. There have been out of pocket medical expenses. We don’t have enough cash on hand savings or enough in a retirement fund.
All of that to say, we need to get the most for our money. Although we could technically afford the schools that offered her a full tuition scholarship, we pushed for her to take the full ride at UK. She’ll be responsible for books and personal expenses, and we’ll pick up transportation and other things not covered by the scholarship. She won’t have to borrow.
We really need to be shoring up our financial safety net, and maybe get the chimney tuck-pointed before it falls down (it’s not that bad, but we really have been putting things off, for years). It’s a big picture thing.
We are covering 100 percent. There are a fair number of expectations that go along with that-grades, behavior, internships, making the most of the opportunity. If we could not cover 100 percent, we wouldn’t but we would have told them before they applied so they could plan accordingly. We could pay for a much more expensive school than they are choosing, but we have told them they would have to show us why it was better or cover the difference with merit.
The same plan doesn’t even work for my kids, so I don’t know how any two families could be the same.
One of my kids is in engineering and is completing school in a stereotypical way - 4 years, lots of merit aid, other aid, contributing her blood, sweat, and tears with an athletic scholarship. My biggest contribution for her is juggling her aid package, following up, finding scholarships for her to apply to. Financially, she doesn’t need much. She has no interest in study abroad, can’t go on spring break trips because of her sport, has most of her clothing needs met by the coach. She is not expected to have a school year job, as there is just no time.
Other child has more needs. She has some learning differences including organizational issues, so I tend to spend more time helping her plan her class schedule, her deadlines. She wants to study abroad, maybe twice. I think it is very unlikely she’ll finish college in only 8 semesters but for her, that’s acceptable even though it wasn’t for @thumper1’s kids and probably wouldn’t be for my other daughter (since an extra semester would cost me about $30k as all her aid will disappear after 8 semesters)… She picked an affordable school which will make that extra semester or year okay. She picks cheaper meal plans and housing. She continues to apply for financial aid and scholarships. She has to have a school year job. She has taken out more in loans than her sister (and most of her sister’s loan money is sitting in a bank account, just in case). I will end up paying more for her education than her sister’s. She is so happy and loves learning so much it is a pleasure just to watch her experience college.
We are covering 100% for all 4, but they all knew ahead of time that there was no such thing as a dream school. The expectation was they would have merit money and would maintain those scholarships at an affordable school. We expect them to have summer jobs and they are responsible for incidental and discretionary spending at school.
Our goal was for him to graduate with no debt. We were also unwilling to go into debt ourselves. We accomplished that…and it feels great.
We were prepared to pay tuition/room/board at state flagship. DS did not want to attend that college. He earned a full-tuition, four year scholarship at a private university. We paid room and board all four years. We also have him a small allowance, and he worked part-time during the school year/full-time in the summer for the rest of his spending money.
Every family is different but I do want to encourage the debt-free path. It’s enabled my son to take his dream job and that has been wonderful to see.
I plan to cover 100% of my kids cost of education all the way through grad school. I work at a community college so my kids get two free classes per session. That was nice. My oldest son won a Bright Futures scholarship which is provided by the state of FL for having a high GPA in high school and doing community service. The BF sch covers one third of tuition at a FL public U. or CC but doesn’t apply to summer classes. That was nice too.
I set up prepaid 529’s for both of them when they were little. I foolishly did not include the costs of room and board so I’ve had to pay for that myself as we go. Since the oldest one went to a CC for the first two years, room and board didn’t really apply. The oldest one will have his BS degree at the end of the summer and he starts grad school this fall.
His little brother is a senior in high school.
The COA for the older one is about $18K a year give or take. When you deduct his BF sch and the costs covered by the 529, I am on the hook for about $6K per session which is pocket change. He will be living off campus starting in the fall and I will save money. He will cook his own meals instead of meal plan so I will save money again. So, I might be on the hook for less that $6K a session although grad school tuition costs more so not sure yet.
I also had about $5K in an education IRA but that is long gone.
Now that the little one is about to start college it starts all over again. His educ IRA is there (about $5K) , his 529 is almost paid for but he didn’t get the BF scholarship not that it matters because the 529 covers that. He will go to a CC also for the first two years.
If you do all this stuff right you (1) prepay some of it and (2) get a few deductions and tax credits for the parts you do pay. It can be maddening and complex but the people here will help you.
The reason I pay for the whole ride is because I value education more than doing something like going to the grand canyon and taking pictures to post on FB. What a waste of time and money that is. My oldest son did work but he kept his money for incidentals like hanging out with his friends. His money was his to fool around with. My younger son has never worked in his life. He thinks earning money is when his grandmom hands him a $20.
We will cover 100% of undergraduate costs for our 3 kids - tuition, room, board, books, travel to/from school. They are responsible for their spending money. If grad school comes into the picture, we will cross that bridge when we get to it. We do have 2 candidates for grad school, so we have begun the conversation about fully funded programs.
D1: We paid approximately $10,000 per year from current income. She had approximately $29,000 in loans; we paid all those back by one month after she graduated, partly from current income and partly by taking out a much-lower-interest-rate HELOC; the HELOC balance is now $12,000. She did work study all four years.
D2: We paid varying amounts per year from current income, but the total was approximately $16,000. She has approximately $12,000 in loans, which she will be paying back herself this month (she graduated last year). I offered to pay back her loans and would be able to, but she declined; I gave her a rain check for the funds. She did work study all four years.
One of the years when both girls were in college, we paid approximately $15,000 from current income, and our AGI was $35,000.
I’m proud that they are college graduates and I’m proud of my husband and myself for being frugal enough to make this possible.
Our costs actually vary a little because both my kids are at meets full need schools and there is 2 years of overlap. But we do cover 100%. They contribute 1/2 their income (summer and workstudy) to tuition, the rest is theirs to save and for “fun” money. They are taking out small loans, but we plan to pay them off for them.
@mom2and - I can’t answer for @thumper1 but we are doing this (having them take loans but planning to pay them off) because it gives us breathing room on our current payments. It just stretches out the cost across more time.
Hubby and I didn’t make the best financial decisions earlier, even though some things were beyond our control. We are still paying our own student loans, for heaven’s sake, and we make our kids very aware of our expenses and how many more options we could have had if we had done things differently.
We told our kids their job is to get merit aid, avoid debt, and provide a better life for their kids. They are all natural test takers, so we give incentives for grade performance. $200 a quarter for each 4.0 quarter in H.S. To some that’s a lot, to others it is nothing, but it is what we can do. The incentive has helped them develop god study habits, too.
With her 3.97 UW GPA and 35 ACT, my H.S. junior already meets the requirements for a full tuition scholarship at any of our in-state schools. It is nice that they have a policy for these merit scholarships that if you meet the requirements, the scholarship is yours. The state also offers a regents scholarship to any student who meets GPA, ACT, and course requirements while in H.S. which will cover housing. We will help with books and food. She will likely be a NMSF with her PSAT score, so we have used this board heavily to compile a list of out of state schools that will provide similar benefits.
We wish we had done things differently, but I think my daughter is proud seeing what her hard work has earned. I think she will take college more seriously, too, knowing she is responsible to pay for it.
we are paying 100% of Ds dream college ( about 67k/yr) and my S in about 3 yrs time, even with other more affordable options ( in state UCs , scholarships). We live modestly on a relatively high income ( but not frugally) and started saving since they were infants. We are immigrants to the US who were fortunate enough to have no student debts where our own parents made tremendous sacrifices to fund our education. We feel that this is one of the best legacy we can give to our kids ( and hope that they pay if forward to their own kids in the future).
The Army pays him to go to school; his salary covers all his necessities. We contribute $0.
I know that service academies are unique, and this info doesn’t help your survey much. However, we had saved enough to cover the cost of any OOS private college into a 529 because we always planned for him to graduate from college debt free. So, had he not chosen a SA, I would have answered:
Probably full freight as we wouldn't qualify for FA and we can't know if he would have gotten merit or how much
100%
$0
He will graduate debt free from a financial perspective, but he owes the Army at least five years of service along with the potential for the ultimate sacrifice, so not free at all.
Thats right ChoatieMom, hardly free. One of the biggest sacrifices a young adult can make. I am sure you are very proud. IMHO, his benefits will far exceed those of the traditional four year student, regardless of their school choice.
we are paying twice as much for my son’s education as my parents paid for mine in the 1980s
my son is paying about 20% of what we are paying, in Federal loans
Note that if our financial situation changes, he will change schools and he will pay about the same amount of money towards his education.
He knows that him going to a private college is contingent upon our financial situation.
He plans to work in the summer, and we will let him keep that money to use after college.
When it comes down to it, we are increasing the mortgage on our house to send our kids to college. That’s fine with us. If it is not fine with some parents, that’s up to them. It’s not related to how much money a family has, it’s related to the value the parents put on education related to how much money they need to run the household.
The answer to the OP’s question is: whatever it takes. Right now it looks like about $65,000 per year. We will pay it all-- college, graduate school. We have been saving for this since he was born, and putting the maximum into the 529, and his grandparents have been saving too. If anyone needs to take out a loan/ home equity/ etc., it will be us, not him. We do not want him to start out his life with debt. His job right now is to work hard in school and enjoy it, then to find what he loves to do and get settled into the career of his choice. We will cover everything for him until he is all settled and has a regular salary.
We always knew that his education after public high school would be expensive and that it would be our highest financial priority and gift to him.