<p>My husband and I are disagreeing. I refuse to take out loans to pay for the children's college. We have enough money saved to pay the EFC all four years. We told our children to get jobs. Now, oldest has 2 scholarships per college (one at each college and one outside scholarship that maybe/should be able to go to either school). </p>
<p>I feel that if the children cannot make up the difference with working and small student loans and possibly work study, that they will just have to pick a different school. My husband, on the other hand, wants us to take out home equity loans to make up the difference. Everything I have read says we should do it how I have been planning. We should not take out our own personal loans to pay though. Plus, we have a bigger sized family and this is just the first child to go through college. It would be dumb to get ourselves in to heavy debt like that.</p>
<p>We won’t take out loans for our kids’ college either. We both agree on that. They were given a figure of how much we will contribute to their education, not a big figure, they had to come up with the rest through scholarships, federal loans, etc. So far it’s worked well. Our older two graduated with minimal loans, under $5000 each, DD won’t have to take any loans but will max out her federal loans and put it into savings for med school costs. DS said he would be wiling to take $50,000 in loans to go to his dream school if need be. Given his career choice, that is a workable number for him. If he goes elsewhere, he will have minimal loans. We will see if push comes to shove if the dream school is worth the extra loans for him though :D.</p>
<p>Our kids didn’t qualify for any financial aid or work/study. All of their cost differences were/will be made up with scholarships.</p>
<p>I would do as you had planned and not your husband. Since this is the first child, it will set the direction for the rest of the kids. My oldest will graduate debt free but it will be at a cost to the rest of the family. Wished I had forced the other college on her or made her take the loans for the extra to attend the one she is attending now.</p>
<p>Every family will approach this differently guided by their individual financial picture. We all want the best possible education for our children, but in this economy I cannot see going into deep debt to finance anything. My view is that parents should contribute what they comfortably can, taking into account additional children’s needs and their own retirement plans. But putting a second mortgages on a primary home for tuition seems to me to be an unwise choice. </p>
<p>I think many families increase tuition costs by insisting that their offspring get the “whole college experience”, including living away from home. If finances are an issue, then concessions should be made. Living at home while attending a local college is a more economical choice, and certainly a wiser path than putting a second mortgage on a home.</p>
<p>I honestly think there is no right answer, though you have an excellent point. In our case, we are pulling home equity so that our son can graduate debt-free. We did this partly because he has some special needs issues but is doing VERY well (surpassing everyone’s expectations) but we see him functioning at his limit and we did not want to add to his burden when he is having such success.</p>
<p>We refused to take out loans as well, but we have worked closely with our DS to figure out ways that he can graduate without loans as well. This is for undergraduate; for graduate (if he goes that route), he is on his own as we will not contribute.
I agree that each family needs to figure out what works best for given circumstances.</p>
<p>We didn’t do any loans because we had plenty of savings for college. My mother wouldn’t take out any loans and only provided a small amount of cash for us. One of my sisters had a whopper of an argument with my mother over college money. She wound up taking out large (for then) loans.</p>
<p>It’s entirely a decision that you and your husband have to make. We refuse to take out loans to for the children’s college over $X. Fill in the $X with a zero on up and a lot of people are in the same boat; it’s just where you draw the line.</p>
<p>My parents aren’t paying for college at all. There are 3 of us and I am the middle child. A lot of my friends have parents that are paying for college. It is all a personal decision for each family. My parents both had to pay for their own college education and just simply don’t believe that it is their responsibility. I would feel terrible if my parents went into debt to pay for my education.</p>
<p>We’re in the same boat as calla1 with our sons’ issues. I’m thrilled that the oldest is doing well, but I know every day is a big effort for him, so we’ll do what we have to in order for him to graduate and get a job. I see things as hanging in the balance, and we can make the difference. Otherwise, though, I would be hard-nosed and say no loans. I AM wondering what to do about our youngest, a 9th-grade girl who is bright and healthy. I don’t want her to feel slighted if we don’t give her as much money…</p>
<p>Avoiding loans for college, or limiting them as much as possible (e.g. only to Staffords) is a high priority for me. For us this means living within our means so we can save for college, expecting my son to work during high school so he can save for college, and eventually choosing a college with a reasonable cost and reasonably expect to work part time during college.</p>
<p>Hopefully all of that will make it possible for my son to graduate without us needing loans beyond Staffords, and ideally not even Staffords. However, I can imagine circumstances in which I would take out more loans on behalf of a student. For example, I have friends who have children with significant disabilities. For their children managing a college prep course load or a college course load is an enormous task, and doing so while working might be impossible. In addition, they might need to pay for additional services during high school and college (a private school, a tutor, a program like University of Arizona’s SALT center), they might also discover that the school that’s the best fit for their child is one that is OOS or private and does not meet full need. I can imagine that if I were in their shoes, I would consider taking out loans.</p>
<p>The no loan policy is certainly a reasonable position … but, to me, seems inconsistent if the same family carriers (or carried) car loans or leases or credit debt. If minimal debt (by parents or the student) would open much better options it is worth considering.</p>
<p>D1 didn’t get enough merit & grant money to cover everything (COA=$59,000). She works in the school’s admissions office to pay for her all her personal expenses, books, and travel (she is also putting quite a bit away in savings). We have no savings and we were still short for the COA, so rather than take out a PLUS Loan I make interest free payments each month to the college. I have D2 starting next fall with a full ride and hoping for the same for S2 the following year.</p>
<p>3togo–not inconsistent at all. Our home loan or car loans are for US. Sorry if that sounds selfish but it is what it is. Our kids’ education is for THEM, they can take the loans as needed, however, we will not go into debt this close to retirement so they can go to a school beyond their means, period. We don’t go beyond our means for car loans, mortgage either. Our car loans are only because we got 0% financing and it was stupid not to take the loan. If the kids can get 0% student loans somewhere, we might consider that though.</p>
<p>The issue of the loans is not the most relevant. That is simply a detail on how to fund the responsibility of the education of children. </p>
<p>Although some might disagree, but it pretty well accepted and expected that the PRIMARY responsibility of paying for the education of children throughout K-16 is and should remain the PARENTS’. At it is, most schools are defining the students’ contribution to a level that is close or beyond the feasible. Beyond the students’ contribution, it is up to the parents to shoulder that responsibility through previous planning (read savings) or through current income or … borrowing. One of the reasons why this surprises some is that our country, through our misguided funding mechanism of public education, has lulled many into believing that this responsibilty of paying for college is somehow everyone’s problem but the direct beneficiaries. </p>
<p>This said, there are obvious limitations to the responsibility as it does not equate to an entitlement to attend the most expensive schools in the country. </p>
<p>In the same vein, the consensus is that this primary responsibility ends after graduating with an undergraduate degree, and the primary responsibility for graduate school shifts to the student.</p>
<p>No loans for us unless the last semester proves otherwise impossible. Even so, it will be less than $5k.</p>
<p>When I joined CC in early 2008 many, many parents felt like your husband. Some of the conversations here in the parent forum became quite, erm how can I put it, testy. By October 2008 the tone had really changed, and fewer were willing to borrow for their kid’s education. The tight-wads have been leading since then, and the not-so-tight have only begun to resurface in the past few months.</p>
<p>Sit down with your husband, and find out why he thinks taking on debt is reasonable for your family. He may have a workable strategy or it might be totally crazy or it might fall somewhere in between. If you do find that no agreement is possible, bring in professional help. Money fights often aren’t about money at all.</p>
<p>All of our “large” money is tied up in our assets, so we have to borrow at least on a temporary basis until we get enough cash to pay them down. We borrowed for S’s freshman year and fall sophomore, but have now paid for spring sophomore and paid off the fall sophomore loan. Making minimum payments on freshman year loan. I’m supposing it will go like this for the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what that means. If the COA is 59K = EFC, how much does your kid have to cover with scholarships? And where to get a large sum of scholarships?</p>
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<p>I like that and try to figure out how the kid can shoulder more, loans or whatever.</p>
<p>We live off of my husband’s salary and finance college costs with mine. Currently, I’m part time but looking for full time since we will have 2 kids in college next fall. My kids know what I make so they know how much we can afford for college. So far, D1 has managed with scholarships, work-study, Stafford loans and my contribution. We will be co-signing small loans for both kids next year to help them out some. </p>
<p>So…am I opposed to debt to pay for college. No. But I think it should be kept to a minimum ($5000 or less a year), carried by the kid (they are funding their future). I would not mortgage my house for my kids college.</p>