<p>It’s hard to fit in work around your school schedule. I’d never recommend someone work more than 20 hours, and 20 hours is a very big stretch as it is. I’ve had to give up numerous classes that I’ve wanted to take because my work hours had to come first. That’s not a situation I’d wish on anyone and kids shouldn’t be in that position. You start going over 15, 16 hours and that’s what you’re faced with.</p>
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<p>I’m confused- is there another steve in this discussion?</p>
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<p>Not all students are living at home during the summer, therefore they do have to consider food costs. </p>
<p>No, not always subway fare, but bus fares, gas, care costs, etc. Not all student jobs are on campus, ESPECIALLY summer jobs.</p>
<p>summer jobs not at home are tricky. I am looking at some research internships for my kid. They seem to pay anywhere between 4-6k for 8-10 weeks. the catch - if not at home, not a penny remains as savings. Probably even requires out of pocket tax payments.</p>
<p>S2’s school gives out a limited number of grants so that students can do research or pursue unpaid internships (which are all that’s available in some fields). The grant is $3,000 – which will not cover much if that internship is in a major city (and for some majors, that’s where the action is), and certainly will not enable a student to save a goodly portion of that $$.</p>
<p>Yes, one summer S worked at an internship and had to rent three apartments–the one in which his lease was ending near campus, one where his lease was beginning near campus and one across the country near his internship. He didn’t get to save much of the funds he earned at his internship that summer but it WAS very good work experience and helped him get 3 great job offers a few months later. Fortunately, we were able to pay his tuition, fees, and housing for college & his research work on campus was able to fund his food and other expenses. He made money buying and selling his textbooks.</p>
<p>My son had 8 week internship last summer paid for by a grant from his school. $2400 (before taxes) but he had to drive 50 miles each way. He spent a good chunk just on gas. He worked his regular part time job at the same time so was able to earn his target amount. </p>
<p>Also, kids on summer break do need to do fun things, too (movies, concerts, etc.,) so some of their earnings go to those things.</p>
<p>I think some of us are having a tough time understanding SteveMA’s paying so little in college expenses because we are comparing apples to oranges.</p>
<p>She did suggest that we take a look at Truman. Yes, if a child attends Truman they could manage to end up paying very little. Truman has no application fee for applying, has a 75% acceptance rate, is listed as “less selective” and tuition is $7008. There is no indication on ***** as to what Room and Board would cost, but only 48% of the students live on campus. So I am assuming it might be a commuter school which does decrease the cost substantially. If the student does live on campus the data shows that if the parents make between $75,000 and $110,000 the total cost of attending with Room and Board would be $13,090. 98% of students attending get some sort of aid or grants, so few are paying that.</p>
<p>So yes, it can be done. But I would add that there appear to be some trade-offs when you look into the specifics.</p>
<p>HarvestMoon1–actually, Truman has a very high out of state population and while half the kids live “on campus” most kids live across the street in college owned housing that are not technically dorms so it amounts to the same thing. Out of all the campuses we looked at, Truman actually had the most going on with almost all of the kids staying on campus over the weekends. See, here lies the problem with CC, people get caught up in the “selectivity”. Truman is an excellent school with a very, VERY high rate, over 75%, of kids going on to grad/medical/law school. They have a similar rate of kids that secure internships through on-campus recruiting from companies all across the nation. </p>
<p>According to the common Data Set–98% of freshmen live on campus and 48% of all students live on campus, meaning, most kids move “off” campus junior/senior year, but I explained that above so whatever. It’s also a state school so acceptance rates are going to be different, however, the mid range ACT is 25-30, which is not bad for a state school. Also, that website you got bleeped out does have R/B information $7500/year–very reasonable actually.</p>
<p>There is just a CC snobbery that if you don’t know about the school it can’t possibly be good…wrong…</p>
<p>Sorry you interpreted my post that way SteveMA, there was no “snobbery” intended or implied.
My point is that few colleges have base tuitions of $7008, so most of us reading your posts about having close to 100% of tuition paid for from outside sources, were operating from a different cost basis. Hence our surprise at how easy you make it seem. Take for instance our selective state flagship university. The base tuition without room and board is $19,000. The total cost for families making between $75,000 - $110,000 including financial aid is $29,000. And that is without all the “extras”. Thats quite a difference from the $13,000 in total costs that a Truman family would be paying.</p>
<p>According to the Truman State website out of state tuition is $12,714. Additional fees (athletic fees, health fees, etc.) add up to a bit more than $500. R&B is somewhere in the 7 thousands depending on residence. Total of around $20,500 plus books and personal expenses.</p>
<p>HarvestMoon1–that is the exact problem, you add “selective” in there and you lose the opportunities for the merit aid. It IS easy if you are willing to broaden your horizons some–but, being CC that is the problem people have with this concept–they aren’t willing to entertain the idea that there are other schools out there besides the top 20 schools that do an excellent job of educating students and that these students are very successful in landing jobs in their field or grad school/med school/law school admissions. It’s a RARE state school that comes in less then most private schools when you are looking at merit aid. Our in-state schools cost more than Truman would for our kids. I’m also not talking financial aid, strictly merit aid (or out of state aid not based on need like Truman gives). Our state flagship would have similar net costs for our kids–they didn’t apply there because that type of school isn’t appealing for them. </p>
<p>Our kids do NOT have 100% paid by outside sources–maybe that is the issue are having. Their merit aid is coming from their COLLEGE with the possible opportunity for some private scholarships for DD. DS doesn’t have the same opportunity for those funds. They are NOT the only kids on here that are getting close to free rides or free rides either. There is a HUGE thread stuck at the top of the page about the merit awards kids get, or schools like Alabama giving full tuition scholarships (and in the past full rides) for NMSF, etc. It is NOT hard AT all to get the results our kids found. What is hard is getting past the ASSUMPTION that the east coast schools are in some way superior to the rest of the country…</p>
<p>This post started with the OP not wanting to take parental loans out for their child’s education, I am giving present day examples that there is NO NEED to take parental loans for your child’s education. </p>
<p>patsmom–what’s wrong with St. Benedict’s? You do realize that it ranks 2nd nationally for kids passing the CPA exam on the first try, right? You do realize that 100% of their students that applied to medical school in the past 5+ years have been accepted into top medical schools, right? They have one of the top ranked nursing programs in the nation, you do know that right. This is the exact point I am making–just because YOU don’t know anything about the school doesn’t make it a bad choice…</p>
<p>Where did I say St. Benedict’s was a bad choice or that I don’t know anything about it? Where did I say anything was wrong with it? I only said I was surprised you hadn’t recommended it again. I’m sure it’s a fine school. So is Truman. So is St. Joseph’s.</p>
<p>Did not read all the discussions but would like to add our data points.</p>
<p>While both kids got into good schools with excellent need base FA, one school is more generous than the other. As a result, DD graduated last June w/o any loan. But DS has taken both subsidized Stafford and Perkins from 1st year. </p>
<p>In DS’s case, w/o the loan, we will not be able to afford the EA school he really love. </p>
<p>Both kids have work study during the school years. DD once had three jobs while taking 19 credits per quarter. </p>
<p>Bottom line is that everyone prefer to have no loan. However, even with school job, some loan are necessary. Each family makes their own decision - there is not right or wrong answer here.</p>
<p>“It’s a RARE state school that comes in less then most private schools when you are looking at merit aid.”</p>
<p>Out of nine schools - seven of which gave my kid merit, only one school - the school he is attending and got need based aid from - came in lower than our state school (SUNY BING.) And his merit awards ranged between 18K/yr and 30K/yr. </p>
<p>The schools were not all highly selective, either. Hartwick, Ithaca, Juniata, for example. </p>
<p>Granted, we did not look at relatively unknown OOS public schools like Truman, but, tbh, my kid didn’t work his butt of in high school to end up at a school like that. He worked hard so he could get into the type of school he is attending. I imagine that is the motivation for a lot of kids, too.</p>
<p>I’m still worried about debt. My options came down to a university and a state college. I took the university because the state college doesn’t offer the major I wanted, television. But it’s 15k a year for direct costs and ill be there for four years. And I won’t get much aid, mostly loans. I’m soo worried that ill never pay it off plus I might go to law school…I’m in trouble</p>
plus I might go to law school…I’m in trouble</p>