<p>ABSOLUTELY agree gouf78… we make over 200k, and are NOT supporting 2 households. We will be paying a hefty chunk to make sure S doesn’t have any debt when he graduates, but we (and I mean S and us in mutual agreement) decided that the school that costs $52K just doesn’t make sense. COULD we do it, probably, but is it smart? In our case, not really. I find it offensive that you make a call about someone’s parenting based on whether or not they are willing to fork over 1/3 to 1/4 of their income to fund an overpriced education. But I’m apparently supposed to feel sorry for the family of a kid I read about on another thread who live on $20,000 for a family of 6 but have $200,000 in debt and their kid basically got a full ride to Harvard? Really? I guess I would be a better parent if I took a minimum wage job and charged up a bunch of bills I can’t afford to pay, but AM able to get my kid a free education at Harvard. Give me a break…</p>
<p>And as for kids applying to schools they later realize they can’t afford. Not everyone is as savvy as most CC’ers. S has great stats, and when people less “in the know” hear where he got in, they automatically assume he will get scholarship money to go. I think kids apply thinking their stats are good enough to get them some merit money, but are shocked to find out there is not much merit money that is not need based, and that those schools in fact RELY on their parent’s money. I definitely don’t think my S is entitled to any money, but it IS a kick in the pants to realize that NO ONE in my house is going to benefit in ANY way by their hard work with respect to college tuition.</p>