Just out of curiosity, Do you think parents should contribute money for college

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>Please consider the following, however.</p>

<p>I do think that kids should not abuse the system, and take things for granted.</p>

<p>I had trouble when I was a kid, watching kids who were getting government aid, going on ski week to Colorado, or Spring Break to Cancun, while I had worked to help my parents bear the financial burden a little better. They were basically vacationing on the taxypayers’ money, because most government student loans probably don’t even make sense from a pure financial standpoint. My parents’, the taxpayer, were not going on such trips, and while I am sure they would not mind helping some poor kid go to college, I do think they would mind the kid in effect using taxpayer money to go to Cancun. Yet some kids seem to think the Spring Break or Ski week ritual is some sort of entitlement. </p>

<p>If you had $200,000, for example, and wanted to lend it out, would you lend it to some kid who wanted to go to some over-priced mediocre private college to major in psychology, or to major in film?</p>

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<p>I’m just asking this out of curiosity: why would parents not pay (if they’re able I mean)?</p>

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<p>Mine don’t feel it’s their responsibility.</p>

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<p>Personally I think it may not technically be a parent’s responsibility, but it says something about their character if they have the money and don’t. Especially since when the parents have a high income it is so incredibly hard for the student to get grants and scholarships. </p>

<p>There is a huge difference between a parent that can’t pay and a parent that won’t. </p>

<p>The kids who get most screwed over in paying for college are the ones who’s parents have the money but don’t give it to them. The people with no money get financial aid and low interest loans, and the people who come from high income families get no aid, and have a harder time getting loans.</p>

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<p>The problem is financial aid won’t let anyone claim that they are financially independent unless they meet strict requirements. I am financially independent from my parents and have been since I was 18 but because of the inability to claim independency I can’t get the scholarships or enough aid to cover the cost of everything. I just wish I had some extra money for rent. </p>

<p>The problem is too, my parents look like they make decent money on paper, but I have a chronically ill sister and my mom is very ill too. The amount of medical debt they have is more than their total income. My mom doesn’t work, so my dad is the sole provider for our family.</p>

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<p>@rymd- That is why I said Stafford loans. That is only $27000 at the most if you graduate in 4 years (so not $50k with unreasonable rates). Reasonable amount for a student to pay back imo.</p>

<p>And yes, there are ways for students to pay even without parents. I am proof of that. It just might take unconventional ways.</p>

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<p>It really depends on the kind of environment you grew up in. My parents are somewhat well off, they make about 85K a year together. When it came to applying to colleges, they always, always stressed to me that they were much more concerned about me getting into the best school I could possibly get into vs. getting into the cheapest school I could get into because they wanted to have the best future as possible. </p>

<p>That being said, I now attend a top 25 school and every year after financial aid my EFC is about $4000 (My state flagship is about $8000 I believe) so I am always very pleased. My parents are struggling financially, so they tell me they wish they could contribute but they can’t, so I usually end up taking out the whole thing in loans.</p>

<p>So if my predictions are correct, I will come out of college with about 20K in loans. And honestly? I’m not too angry about it, my family has always struggled with money. I know if my parents could contribute to my tuition, they would. And if it weren’t for them always telling me to try hard, I wouldn’t be at the school I now attend. </p>

<p>In addition to this, my parents also do not contribute much to books, groceries, or anything else. I never had a job in high school and was very sheltered growing up, so getting a job on campus and budgeting my money was an extremely daunting task. My parents forced me to grow up pretty quickly which I didn’t really like, but I am glad that I am learning the value of a dollar and am learning to be independent. I do feel a tiny bit jealous when I see so many people on campus who have parents that provide everything, but I like the fact that I am growing up.</p>

<p>When I have kids of my own, I will contribute everything I possibly can towards tuition, maybe even set aside a small weekly allowance. But I think I would want them to get a part time job on campus as well to learn the value of a dollar.</p>

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<p>Easy to say, hard to do. It’s the gap in how generations perceive college tuition. For most parents, they were able to work through school with a part-time job and graduate with minimal loans. Nowadays, you could work full-time and still be stuck with 50k+ in debt. It’s become almost highway robbery the way colleges are stiffing the middle class.</p>

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<p>I think parents should help their children, but not pay off the entire thing.</p>

<p>My parents do not come from a wealthy background, so the idea of going to an out-of-state university scared everyone, but they really wanted me to be the first to actually go out and explore the country for college because everyone went a community college. My mom’s side of the family actually has some money (they are the owners of the Comfort Inn Hotels), so when college time rolled along, my grandparents (from my mom’s side) said they would help me pay off of the tuition for one full year + living expenses. It’s really nice because If they didn’t help me, I would probably be in debt about 40K, but now i’m only down to 25K, which is definitely manageable for me to pay off if I got an entry level job out of college and paid it off first thing. After the first year, my parents will pay for my living expenses and tuition, but they will not pay the loans that i’m borrowing. The total loans for four years comes out to be around 23-25K.</p>

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<p>My old man says that kids these days need to learn as much as they can, as fast as they can to be competitive in the job market. He says I’ll have my entire life to do menial tasks for minimum wage if things don’t work out. He pledges to do as much as he can to help me get through college. I’ve always appreciated that.</p>

<p>That’s why I don’t understand these kids who go to college and party every night, end up with a 2.0 GPA in a humanities major, and then act like they’re entitled to something when they graduate. I guarantee that these kids are going to college on their daddy’s money, and as a lowercase “L” libertarian, I’ve come to view that mentality as deplorable. I don’t think rich kids (actually their parents) should be entitled to anything without working for it. There’s no such thing as a free lunch.</p>

<p>It’s difficult for me to think this way, because admittedly my parents pay for my stuff too, but at least I work to get good grades and do well in sports etc. in return. </p>

<p>My dad says if I don’t have a decent life-plan or a job by the time I’m thirty, he’ll personally escort me to the Army Recruiter’s Office. :D</p>

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<p>No. It’s not my parents responsibility, it’s mine. From what I’ve noticed a lot of kids from here in the U.S want to be independent from their parents and move out as soon as they turn 18. If you desperately want to get away and go to a university far away then by all means pay for it yourself. I was accepted to both Emory and Vanderbilt but turned it down because I simply couldn’t afford it. I chose to go to my state flagship (gasp) and commute an hour and 15 minutes each way. (car, bus, train, walk). However, I will graduate debt free and get extra money from the university since I got a full ride and don’t pay for room and board. The commute isn’t bad and i’ve been in school for a month and I have all A+'s so far. I wasn’t willing to pay 9k a year for the “college experience” and neither were my parents. I’m happy and have no regrets.</p>

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<p>I do pay for college by myself and I’m not going to an outrageously expensive school. I have worked full time and gone to school full time to keep up with my rent. I will still graduate with 30k in loans.</p>

<p>I was just curious to see what others had to say.</p>

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<p>I wasn’t aiming my post at you biologynerd. It’s mostly towards people like my high school friends who think i’m a failure at life because i didn’t go to a college far away and pay a ridiculously expensive price to live on campus. It’s funny, they think they are more independent than me yet they’ve never had a job in their life and their parents pay for all the college expenses.</p>

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<p>I get what you mean. I went to a high school where kids came from extremely wealthy families and acted very entitled. Their parents were so happy that they got into ivy league schools that they are in debt just to say their kid went to Yale or Harvard or wherever.</p>

<p>I get annoyed when people who have full rides to their college complain or when my friend who have their parents pay tuition complain about not having money for booze or clothes or going out to eat.</p>

<p>I’m like, try working 50 hours the week of finals while taking chemistry, anatomy, trig all in the same semester. It builds character but I also have experienced burnout and lower grades from having to work so hard just to pay for school. Its a catch 22.</p>

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<p>College, do you live with your parents? If so, they are paying for your college by paying your room and board. That’s no small amount.</p>

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<p>@college,</p>

<p>Wow, those are some “friends” you got there. I don’t see any harm in picking a school that is cheaper over the expensive one. One of my friends got into NYU but she had to settle for community college because it was just too expensive. Despite going to community college over NYU, she saved so much money and she will be transferring into UW-Seattle after two years. 10K debt vs. 200K+ debt…hmmm i’d pick the first. It’s definitely the smarter way to go.</p>

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<p>@romanigypsyeyes-I work 25 hours a week and give my parents $300 a month to help with the bills. I pay for my phone, insurance, gas etc. At the end of the month i have like $50 left for savings. So honestly I don’t believe I’m much of a financial burden to my parents in comparison to the average american college student. </p>

<p>@biologynerd, 50 hours? I would die. I’m already stressed enough with only half of those hours. I know that when we graduate from college all of our hard work will pay off.</p>

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<p>yeah it didn’t work out so well which is why i have to retake chem this semester. I lost my job which is kind of a blessing in disguise. I’m taking chem, physics with calc, genetics and cog psych this semester with genetics lab and a physics lab. It is so much work I barely had time to work on the weekends. I’m trying to find something more flexible with my work schedule.</p>

<p>It just sucks because even though I am working I am also going to end up with lots of debt anyway :(</p>

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<p>I don’t think it should be the parent’s responsibility, but with the way that financial aid works, it’s basically become the parent’s responsibility. At the same time, a student can take control of their own education and make it their responsibility. That’s basically what I did.</p>

<p>I wanted to go to a 50k school… and I knew that I simply couldn’t afford that. So instead, I’m going to my flagship. And I love it here, so it’s worked out well. My parents are paying $750 a semester for my tuition, but I’m paying for housing, food, the rest of my tuition, books, and anything else on my own with scholarships, grants, and loans. I’m taking out $1750 for loans this semester, but I also have a work study which will pay up to $1750 per semester.</p>

<p>My parents are always asking me “Do you need money?” and I always tell them “No”, because I don’t need money, though it would be useful for buying clothes, snacks, meals, etc.</p>

<p>When I went home, I did let my dad buy my groceries and $10 in gas, but I paid for the movie I saw, the meals I ate with friends, etc. My parents offered to pay, but I just didn’t feel right taking their money.</p>

<p>I think, when one goes off to college, they should try to be as independent as possible. If you decide to go to a 50k a year college and your parents are willing to pay for your tuition/housing, etc. then that’s fine. But you should still have a job and try and pay for all of the “extras” like going out with friends and stuff like that. But I’m not going to judge anyone, just because their parents pay for their stuff.</p>

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<p>student pays for college = not going to certain colleges which aren’t affordable which perhaps could be if parents payed, student has to work during college</p>

<p>parents pay for college = broader range of options, student can focus on studies during college to get a better degree, etc. </p>

<p>that’s the way I see it anyways.</p>