<p>"Though $100-150K is affluent, a family who makes that kind of money who lives in a neighborhood with good schools, decent cars, amenities, is going to have a stretch to pay full freight for 2-3 kids at private colleges."</p>
<p>True, but they don't have to send their kids to private colleges. They can send their kids to in-state publics and not have to stretch to do that. </p>
<p>People making less than $100 k end up stretching to send their kids to in-state publics even if they get need-based aid. And their kids more than likely didn't have $150 a month karate lessons, expensive summer camps, SAT tutoring, excellent public or private secondary and elementary schools, etc.</p>
<p>We are really lucky to live in a country in which most people who want to go to college can find a way to do so.</p>
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I never considered my son's potential earning power when looking at colleges. How many of you considered it?
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<p>I did. My daughter has always wanted to teach and we felt that we couldn't allow a vast amount of debt in a profession where salaries can only go so high.</p>
<p>I've always wanted to teach to but and did speak to the Dean of the SOE at BC many years ago. She said that there was a lot of money available for male minorities interested in education. I couldn't justify the hit in income to my family though. Our son mentioned that he would like to teach last night (he's applying for a tutoring job in a few weeks) but he's in an engineering program and the financial rewards are part of the equation for him.</p>
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I never considered my son's potential earning power when looking at colleges. How many of you considered it? </p>
<p>I did not have to consider, in D. case college choice would not make difference in potential earning power. D. is pre-med. If she stays on her path going to Med. school, it is irrelevant which undergrad / graduate school she is attending.</p>
<p>Many catholic schools do require coat and tie. For kids, it is not a big deal in terms of purchase as Good Will and Salvation Army has a good selection of jackets and dress shirts/slacks at low prices. Also once you are at such a school, you end up swapping clothes, giving away clothes and getting clothes. I get a lot of stuff for my kids that way as I am known as the one with all of those boys so someone will fit any of the clothes. Yeah, I have big bags of clothes for my kids that are all give aways. Those I can't use, I pass along or donate to Salvation Army or to any number of yard sales for charity purposes.<br>
The problem with the dress jackets is definitely the dry cleaning. I've found that the cheapest, polyester is the way to go since you can just sponge off most stains and they never wrinkle. That won't do for H, of course, as he does have to be dressed well, and since he is an XLT in jackets, shirts, they have to be purchased at limited stores. But all part of the "uniform".<br>
It's my opinion that if you can afford it, matching a kid to a school can be very important. Most kids do fine in any environment as long as it is safe and competent, but there are kids that can do so much better with smaller classes, less distraction, more attention. School choice and match does not start in college, in my opinion. By the time they get to college, if they have a sound base, they will hopefully be able to adjust better to environments not as specialized to them. I have a kid at a public U who is there after many years of private education. It's not that I eschew the public venues. We certainly consider them along with the other choices. All of my kids applied to at least one, some many, of our state colleges. But because we've always considered education a big priority in our family, we looked at other more costly alternatives as well, even in the earlier years.</p>
<p>NSM, that is an excellent post. Garland, the jacket is not the dealbreaker from what I see here at son's private high school. It is the tuition, pure and simple. But then the families who strive to put their kids in such schools, do put education high up there in priority. Many live in less than modest homes so that their kids can go to a better school than what they can afford in public districts. Many of the public schools can provide great opportunities for those who are gifted kids, but those who are academically average often get little attention. Sometimes a directed, structured approach that the catholic schools provide are by far the best alternative. I don't believe that the catholic schools here provide high level teaching for those who are already great students. They tend to focus on the fundamentals and try to get them through the kids' heads. My youngest goes to a catholic elementary school that does not do as well on the academic rankings and standardized test scores as our public school. However, his school is a better fit for him. Loves it, is happy, and is a true home away from home, important as we are not from here and do not have family around. The structure and constancy of his school has really helped us a lot. We made the decision, understanding future impacts on college choice. I wish we had the money that we could include education all the way through as a top priority, but with other family issues, we clearly can not, and are juggling our way through this. I can tell you $100k, though a comfortable salary, is not enough to buy school choice for kids all the way through, much less for college.</p>
<p>We (my husband and daughters and I) have always been "comfortable" as have most of my siblings except for my sister who has always had financial and other struggles. We definitely earn more than $100k per year...and feel very lucky to be able to afford a comfortable life-style. No McMansion, no BMWs, (I drive a Scion Xb....the goofy looking toaster car....very reasonably priced.) We do take vacations every year...I'm on one right now at the Delaware beaches. I've never felt poor but definitely think private colleges are out of our league unless they are accompanied with academic scholarship money.</p>
<p>I grew up in a large suburban Irish Catholic family and I most definitely never felt rich...never had anything new, always wore hand me downs from sisters who were not at all built like me. Even wearing uniforms there are always the kids who have brand new ones vs. hand me downs. In my family there were 8 kids, two parents, and 1 grandmother.....I always craved space. </p>
<p>My father worked very hard....two jobs...until he finished a PhD and became a full-time college professor which had a perk of giving us all 75% off tuition. Massive medical bills almost did my family in when I was a teenager......my father had both brain and heart surgery and they were required to pay 20%. Lucky for us that my father was a planner and a saver....and lucky for all of us when he died at the young age of 54 he had adequate life insurance and we still received the tuition break. Most of us were adults but my youngest brother was just 14. My mother, what a role model, returned to a profession as a chemist at the age of 58 (she was 3 years older than my father) even though she had been out of the industry for 30+ years. </p>
<p>While I was in high school we had no money and I had a sick father and there was lots of stress and tension in my family....it was hard but as all past experiences do...helped defined who I would become. Lucky for all of us we understood the value of education. Also lucky for my daughters that we have a good public high school. (They pay the AP test fees which is good because my daughter has taken 4 already and has 4 scheduled for the upcoming school year!)</p>
<p>Oops.....long rambling post......sorry about that!</p>
<p>The point I am making is that $100K is not such a salary that a family is going to be able to send 2-3 kids to private college. Not without a lot of scrimping, prioritizing, savings, and help. I am not disputing that it is a comfortable salary. It is not the salary amount that I am decrying, but pointing out that private college costs are such that it takes more than that to afford them. </p>
<p>Ironically, friend of mine's D just started a job at a law firm (she just graduated from law school) and is making low 6 figures. She is one tough gal who had to finance most of her way through law school and college, and would have argued anyone to the ground that those making $100K deserved no fin aid, that it is a HUGE amount of money. Well, now she is in that category, and to pay back all of those school loans, get a car, buy the clothes needed for a high powered partnership track, find an apartment that is safe and not student style, etc is not going to leave her rolling in the money as she thought it would. Throw a spouse and kids into the mix, I told her, and she can see that it is not the huge amount it sounded to her when she was a poor student. Still, there is no denying it is a huge salary, and kids like my oldest are struggling with less, a lot less, trying to be independent.</p>
<p>^As before, I agree that $100,000 - $150,000 is just making it, forget about 2-3 kids in private college (how could you do it if it means about $50,000 per kid per year without Scholarships?). Even without college, 2-3 kids on this income is a stretch that involves a lot of sacrifice and financial discipline. I am not talking about NY or LA, I have not idea how people are making it financially in those places.</p>
<p>"The point I am making is that $100K is not such a salary that a family is going to be able to send 2-3 kids to private college. Not without a lot of scrimping, prioritizing, savings, and help. I am not disputing that it is a comfortable salary. It is not the salary amount that I am decrying, but pointing out that private college costs are such that it takes more than that to afford them. "</p>
<p>I think it would take more than $100 k a year in income to easily afford to send 2-3 kids to private college.</p>
<p>I agree. Unlike some however, I don't see that as something to complain about. I think that private colleges are luxury items.</p>
<p>Certainly, people making $100 k a year can afford to fairly comfortably send 2-3 kids to in-state publics, particularly since kids from high SES families are more likely than are low SEC kids to have the scores to get the merit aid that many publics give to high stat in-state students. In some states, for instance, most of the middle class and affluent in-state kids at top publics have full tuition scholarships based on their SATs and gpa.</p>
<p>If the parents spaced out their kids so that only one is in college at a time, that would make sending their kids to college even easier.</p>
<p>I would like to bring up a point I haven't seen mentioned on this thread - if you are making over $100K a year, you have more of an opportunity to save for your children's college educations. I am in a situation of my H and I never having earned more than $60K a year and made less during many years. When you are at that income level there is no opportunity to save whatsover - it's basically living week to week, and we don't have 401K plans either. I'd give anything to make over $100K a year. And we live in an expensive part of the Northeast too.</p>
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I am in a situation of my H and I never having earned more than $60K a year and made less during many years. When you are at that income level there is no opportunity to save whatsover - it's basically living week to week
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<p>Hubby and I made much less until 4 years ago. He made less than 20k per year until 6 years ago with absolutely no retirement package. So I can relate to what you're saying. However, to his credit, he took a job that he hates for those benefits and salary, and has worked a second job for many years. A second job is always a possibility. Many/most of his garbageman friends and fireman friends work second jobs.</p>
<p>Of course, the people who are making $100 k plus, yet having difficulty sending their kids to private colleges also could take on second jobs to help cover those $50 k a year college bills. And they'd still be lucky to be working second jobs while also having important things like health insurance and 401K plans, something that many low income people don't have even though they were working 2-3 jobs.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, some people get to that 100k plus by cobbling together several lower-paying jobs that don't necessarily have benefits. I mean this sincerely, there are a lot of people in that situation. Hubby stocks shelves on the midnight shift as the second job. Lots of people doing that with him and have been for years. They do achieve a large salary (relatively speaking) but few or no benefits, depending on the circumstances. Their workweek for full-timers is also six days a week. So things aren't always what they seem and a dollar figure doesn't always tell the whole tale.</p>
<p>"Northstarmom, some people get to that 100k plus by cobbling together several lower-paying jobs that don't necessarily have benefits."</p>
<p>You are right. Those aren't the people making $100k plus to whom I'm referring. I'm referring to people who have nice office jobs, health insurance, paid vacations, and other perks who somehow feel that they shouldn't have to cut back their lifestyles to send their kids to private colleges. Meanwhile, the majority of people in this country have to sacrifice to send their kids to public colleges.</p>
<p>I know what you mean NSM, I really do. I'm just showing the other side. There really are a lot of peop[le working multiple jobs out there, and they can often be people in nice homes that you might not expect. Just wanting to do whatever it takes to give their kids a leg up.</p>
<p>I think it would take more than $100 k a year in income to easily afford to send 2-3 kids to private college.</p>
<p>Can you, please, be more detailed. Private college cost with other living expenses, books, transportation, clothes,....is routhly $50,000 per student per year (assuming, no merit scholarships, not eligible for need based). After paying taxes on $100k a year, family will be left with roughly $70k a year. Where I am wrong in my math, if $50K x 2 = $100k which is way below $70k? Assuming that parents do not consume any food and have any living expenses, it still not clear how you would cover college cost.</p>