<p>I'm trying to figure out how much to set aside for college and have some more questions for parents of soon to be college students.</p>
<p>My plan is to fund most (but not all) of the college education of each of my kids if they choose to go to college. I'm willing to fund any major for any instate school or provide the same amount of funding towards out of state if the student is willing to pick up the rest of the tab or receives scholarships to cover the difference.</p>
<p>I am generally not interested in funding out of state or private colleges except for Stanford, MIT, and Caltech. Those three I would be willing to consider, but only if the student was going to pursue a science/technology/engineering/math degree and I felt comfortable that he/she was mature enough and focused enough to suceed in the environment. Of course, the kids would still need to contribute a portion of their college expenses on their own, just like if they were going to a state school.</p>
<p>Does this sound fair and reasonable to you?</p>
<p>I have many years to figure it out but need to start saving now.</p>
<p>So, if your child turns out to be a great musician and can make it to Juliard, it doesn’t mean a thing?</p>
<p>Point here is that you cannot control what talents and interests your child will develop (eugenics aside). Loving your child means loving what him/her as what s/he truly is.</p>
<p>And if your child has a learning disability and cannot attend college, does that mean s/he isn’t worthy of trade school?</p>
<p>It is really easy to plan for the perfect child. Unfortunately, none of us have one. It is noble to sacrifice now for your child’ future, but remember this is about the child, not your idealized view of what a child should be.</p>
<p>Hmm…what you present is a bit of a quandary.</p>
<p>In general my feeling is college gives a person a set of skills that allows them to become more employable in life. I know that STEM majors have ample employment opportunities, so I’m willing to fund an expensive program for them. But what about a talented musician or artisitic skill? Even top graduates at expensive schools have a hard time finding gainful employment. I have a harder time thinking the extra investment for a top tier school would payoff for the kid, and I’d prefer them to go to a state school if they are artistic for their degree. </p>
<p>Actually, I’d rather they go to a state school for any major. I suppose I could just decide to fund a certain amont for any school, and let the student decide which one to go to.</p>
<p>I think learning disabilties is outside the scope of my question. I don’t plan on funding trade schools for my kids, even if that is what they decide to do.</p>
<p>It’s a reasonable starting point, but as goaliedad says, you get the child you get. Somehow as geeks and nerds we had a child truly gifted with languages, but unable to program the VCR. The thick envelope from CalTech is a scary thought indeed – for her and for them.</p>
<p>You’re expecting a baby and already have Stanford, Caltech and MIT picked out for schools?</p>
<p>Raising a family has almost nothing to do with meeting predetermined goals. You may have a child with significant special needs. You may have a child that is merely average and knows that Caltech was your dream for him. Don’t keep thinking along those lines.</p>
<p>As for college costs, when my oldest was born, we heard that we would need $100,000 for college 18 years down the road, beginning in 2005. His actual cost would have been about that at a state school, but $175,000 for a private. In just the last five years, costs at our state flagship have risen to about $115,000 while costs at many privates are touching $200,000. Where we will be in 18 more years is anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>I think that I’d carefully choose my state of residence with this approach. Many states are under financial pressure and are cutting contributions to higher education. This can have the result of higher tuition and fees and a worse educational experience.</p>
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<p>There are a lot of other great private schools in the areas of math, science and engineering.</p>
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<p>It is your money so what you decide is what happens. Many parents take this approach to funding (though not necessarily the STEM requirement). I think that it is good for the child to pay for some part of their education as it’s a factor in the maturation process and it’s an advantage in looking for work (part-time jobs; not loans).</p>
<p>No, I’m not picking out colleges for him/her. I’d rather they attended an in-state college. What I am trying to do is think about what expensive colleges I would be willing to fund should they ask.</p>
<p>Funding any prviate school or out of state college in the country is out of the question for me, as I am a big fan of public school. A lot of kids are naturally drawn to more expensive schools and I figure that I’ll get some pressure from them on that regardless of their aptitude or skills.</p>
<p>The STEM requirement is only if they wanted to attend an expensive prestigous university, and that is because I want to have confidence that the extra money results in an excellent job opportunities for them. Yes, I am results driven rather than experience driven.</p>
<p>Look, this doesn’t have to be complicated. Just save as much as you can. Try to save enough to fund your child at a top private university, and then if your child ends up attending community college for two years and transferring to a state college after that, shift the savings over to your retirement account. You’re going to need that money in the future, one way or another.</p>
<p>Several years ago I got a new manager who was previously a math professor. I asked him about majors and he said that kids should do what they love. I think that she did wind up at Julliard. I come from a lower-class background (single-parent minority household) and had the opinion that college was training for work. Many with financial resources will suggest that you let students follow their passions and that can work out fabulously if finances aren’t a concern. Most of the people that I know with that approach have a lot of money. One guy I know went for a Phd in fine arts and he’s at the top of the heap in his industry. It can work but someone had to fund many, many years of school for him.</p>
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<p>A lot can happen in 18 years. The state university systems will no doubt be different between now and then. The simplest thing to do now would be to save and then learn along the way.</p>
<p>You’ll definitely find people on CC with different points-of-view – as you’ve already seen – about what different degrees and/or different colleges are “worth.”</p>
<p>There are lots of students out there who would be thrilled if their parents were willing or able to pick up most of the cost of their undergrad degree. Graduating from college debt free is a great thing. So good for you for saving early!</p>
<p>A key part of your plan should be that you let your kids know what your expectations and limitations are. If you look through some of the threads here, you’ll see too often the situation where parents pressure kids to work really hard in high school so they can go to their “dream college” (whether it is the parents’ or child’s dream, I’ll leave you to consider). And then when their kid gets admitted to that dream college, the parents tell that kid don’t have the savings to send the child to said college. So sad, and so unfair to the kid.</p>
<p>So, whatever you decide, let your child know early – probably when s/he starts high school – what the financial parameters are.</p>
<p>Trade schools in the form of community colleges can be very inexpensive. They can range from $1,000 in California to $4,000 in the northeast. The America Opportunity Credit provides $2,500 in tax credits for $4,000 of college expenses. A part-time job along with a summer job could end up paying for most or all of the college expenses of a trade education at a public institution.</p>
<p>I’ll fund community colleges for AA degrees even if the program is more like a “trade school” program. I still consider that college as long as it leads to a degree.</p>
<p>What I won’t fund is beauty school offered through a private trade school, or things along the same lines… I had a coworker who paid $22k for his daughter do a 18 month hairdressing program, and I won’t make that mistake!</p>
<p>Yes, I don’t plan on mentioning the expensive prestigous schools at all to them until they decide they want to go to school there and they are juniors or seniors in high school, and then we can go over finances at that time. I will let them know at an early age that I’ll fund the majority of in-state expenses for any major at an in state college because I want them to go to school, even if it is a major that I have a hard time appreciating like art history or rhetoric.</p>
<p>^ Hmmmm. Personally, I think 22,000 for hairdressing is a pretty good deal. I’m probably paying 10x that to fund a child at MIT who wants to be a research physicist. I do believe that the hairdresser I’ve had for the past 15 years earns a fairly good independent living, seems to be happy, and claims to have flexible hours that make it possible to have a family. So paying a tenth of the MIT amount to help a child who wants to be a hairdresser become fully independent sounds worthwhile to me.</p>
<p>You will feel completely different when your child is 17, trust me.
:-)</p>
<p>To the OP: Thick envelope is short-hand terminology on college confidential. It means an acceptance letter and other materials are enclosed. Thin envelope is rejection or waitlist.</p>
<p>Just want to warn you, babyontheway, that no matter when you “plan on mentioning” something about any subject to your child, s/he will have very likely already heard about it from a peer or a peer’s older sibling.</p>
<p>babyontheway - you have much to learn about your “baby on the way”. Planning now if fine, but don’t be surprised that life may not match your plan very well.</p>
<p>Trust us, as much as you would like to incentivize your children into what you want them to be, they will do their darndest to confound any system you come up with.</p>
<p>Save for your retirement first. If you’ve got that nailed in the next 10 years, the college financing will work itself out (if it ends up the actual path the child chooses). You can borrow for college, but you cannot borrow to fund your retirement.</p>
<p>No, I’m not trying to give them an incentive to be any particular person…my siblings and I all turned out wildly different enough though having similiar environments growing up. My kid will turn out to be whatever he/she wants to be.</p>
<p>Right now I’m just trying to plan, and I just discovered that I won’t be able to afford Caltech/MIT/Stanford anyway ($250k for college compared to $80k at a state university is too much), so I think that will take those off the list and keep it simple:</p>
<p>Any major, in state university or applied to out of state university. Simple and clean.</p>