<p>I did not intend to be depressing, nor did I intend to give anyone the impression that less income/assets is better. I am grateful and happy that our family has choices in many things. The point of the thread is not many families do not understand the impact that college costs can have on ones finances. I think it has morphed into a thread of whether $100K a year is luxurious or not. What I wanted to emphasize is that though $100K is a fine income that offers many choices, when it comes to the more expensive colleges, it is an income range where college costs can have a lot of impact as it can be managed only with careful planning, loans, and teamwork within the family. More a commentary on the cost of college these days, than the value of the salary amount when pay at that scale cannot meet private college cost. It is depressing what it costs to go to some of these colleges these day, and realizing that even a 6 figure income cannot easily pay for them.</p>
<p>How many of us graduated from college at a time where jobs were really scarce? I graduated with a business degree in 1980 and it took 5 years of menial jobs to find a job I liked that paid well. That was enough to cause me think long and hard about my children's educations. I'm with dbewes, in that if my son was undecided about a major, he'd be at a state U instead of a private.</p>
<p>quote:
No seriously, though, I think most cc'ers are going to disagree with calling $100,000 "affluent".
I would agree & actually even though we make less, our areas inflation eats up so much that you aren't buying many wants with 100K, just maybe shop at better grocery stores.
That is one thing I can't bring myself to skimp on. I would rather eat fewer meals, than use less quality ingredients.</p>
<p>Poverty level for family of 4 = $40K. Affluent = 2 1/2x poverty level??
I think Harvard had it more accurately when they set $180K as an income limit for awarding hefty financial aid. In northern NJ, the Fed government boosts GS grade pay by 26% to make up for the astronomical cost of living.</p>
<p>I'm not getting this thread. Middle-class or upper-middle class parents (which is where I'd classify those making $100K) who believe their kids should go to college have to be brain dead if they don't understand that a private, LAC education that costs $48K isn't going to be possible for one or two kids if the family income is $100K. Do all you posters making the point that the cost of college shocks parents think parents who make $100K are that stupid? I don't.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, from what I've seen, Bromfield, it does seem that many parents who make $100 k a year somehow expect to be able to send their kids to expensive private colleges without having to take out loans or reduce their expenses. I think many people don't realize how expensive colleges now are, and also assume that somehow their kids will qualify for financial aid.</p>
<p>This kind of thinking doesn't make sense to me. The same parents presumably don't somehow expect to have Mercedes or Lexus cars without feeling a financial pinch. I don't know how they think private colleges are different.</p>
<p>If you don't live and breathe the college stuff, you don't know.</p>
<p>I could make a lot of comments about how stupid people are in how they use computers and how they think that computers work but I'm an expert in that area. It is unrealistic to expect non-experts to be experts. Same thing with automobile systems. Or mortgages.</p>
<p>I see more of a problem with the "educational system" not making it clear and realistic to parents early on that colleges are NOT affordable even to some of those who make a very decent salary. They are given a false sense of security when even HS GC tell them that most kids who do well in HS, will get scholarships. I think this does a disservice to many parents. Not all are as involved with their kids educational pursuits as most of CC'ers are IMHO, and many kids lack the resources to even begin a college search knowing what to look for. I know of a few very high 6 figure individuals who are happy to send their kids to the instate public colleges because A. they don't want to give up their lifestyle, B. They have several kids to send to college and C. They have their own reasons.
I remember going to a "planning for college seminar" when my D was 4 yrs old, and the first thing out of the presenter"s mouth was apply to any college you want, cost shouldn't be a factor, because their is money out there to be had.
This kind of rhetoric is misleading and false. But it is what was out there when my kid was young and we were planning our future and a lot of people still feel that way until they get the suprise of their life when they have to tell S/D they can't go to their dream school. I am seeing more and more programs like "Parent University" available in public libraries and also educational consultants who are now going into the schools and offering their services to educate parents about the whole college process, including all aspects of it. But you know, I wish I knew then what I know now. Trial by fire.
The best thing we can do is tell and guide our friends and colleagues who have children about our experiences and steer them in the right direction. I wish someone had done that for me.</p>
<p>Well stated. The information out there by most school contacts is wrong and it may be too late to recover from the bad information.</p>
<p>Financing college isn't brain surgery. If your income is $100K and the cost of junior's dream LAC is $48K--you know right away that you can't do it, and you've got to start figuring out how to come up with the money. Libraries, guidance counselors, the internet--are all resources where someone can do the research and come up with a plan for financing college for one's kids. Maybe it means that junior can't go to his dream school and has to settle for the big, State U or maybe it means the student and his/her family have to borrow money to foot the bill. My husband and I have had 3 kids finish college and one who is still in college. We never had the impression that this was a free ride. I've been to lots of college nights and no one ever told us not to worry about money or that money was readily available.</p>
<p>"Financing college isn't brain surgery. If your income is $100K and the cost of junior's dream LAC is $48K--you know right away that you can't do it, and you've got to start figuring out how to come up with the money. Libraries, guidance counselors, the internet--are all resources where someone can do the research and come up with a plan for financing college for one's kids. Maybe it means that junior can't go to his dream school and has to settle for the big, State U or maybe it means the student and his/her family have to borrow money to foot the bill. My husband and I have had 3 kids finish college and one who is still in college. We never had the impression that this was a free ride. I've been to lots of college nights and no one ever told us not to worry about money or that money was readily available."</p>
<p>Different people have different circumstances. Some parents don't have college degrees making it harder to understand the process. Some families have medical problems which consume a lot of time and money and take away from time for college research. Some lose their homes to foreclosure. Some school districts have pathetic guidance departments.</p>
<p>"Different people have different circumstances. Some parents don't have college degrees making it harder to understand the process."</p>
<p>What I've seen is that it's the most educated parents who seem to believe that their kid is entitled to go to kid's expensive dream school -- at someone else's expense, and without any loans or sacrifice by the parents.</p>
<p>The parents who lack education are -- from my experience -- far more likely to incorrectly assume that their kid can't afford to go to college at all -- not even the local community college.</p>
<p>I know that I "get it" and so do my daughters. Also we make well above $100k and definitely know that we're not going to foot the bill for a $50k per year for college.</p>
<p>I think my grasp of reality comes from seeing my parents go from "comfortable" to barely able to pay the bills because of medical bills when I was a teenager. Sadly the best financial event that happened to my mother in those years was the death of my father....My father was always very careful with money (he was a Math PhD so understood money!!) and made sure that his life insurance premiums were always paid first. The second thing that kept my mother afloat was her college education which enabled her to reenter the work force after many years.</p>
<p>I'm hopeful that my daughter #2 will get academic money.....and I'm confident that she will --- actually she already has had two schools offer money before even applying. Still if the academic money is not enough she will go to one of our states excellent public universities!!</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>I think many people don't realize how expensive colleges now are, and also assume that somehow their kids will qualify for financial aid.<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Or will win scholarships...especially if kid is smart. Some kids do win the scholarship lottery, but not as many as parents believe.</p>
<p>"What I've seen is that it's the most educated parents who seem to believe that their kid is entitled to go to kid's expensive dream school -- at someone else's expense, and without any loans or sacrifice by the parents."</p>
<p>If you don't understand the process and teachers and guidance counselors tell you that there's plenty of money out there, what do you believe?</p>
<p>Those educated parents could have the good sense to check the info for themselves. </p>
<p>I have been to lots of GC presentations, and have never heard GC's indicate that there's plenty of money out there that would allow everyone to attend their dream school with no financial sacrifice.</p>
<p>There certainly is money out there that would allow most people to find a way to go to some kind of college, but that doesn't mean that everyone will be able to afford a $50,000+ a year college education, and that if they do choose to go to a $50,000 a year college, it would be without loans or any cutbacks in their lifestyle.</p>
<p>If I heard that most people in this country can afford to eat, I wouldn't assume that meant that I could afford to have champagn, caviar and fillet mignon every day.</p>
<p>If I heard that most families in the U.S. can afford to have a car, I wouldn't assume that meant I could afford to have a Lexus or Jaguar.</p>
<p>"I have been to lots of GC presentations, and have never heard GC's indicate that there's plenty of money out there that would allow everyone to attend their dream school with no financial sacrifice."</p>
<p>How many districts? Any where the median household income is < $40K?</p>
<p>The people whom I have seen complaining that they can't afford $50k + a year private colleges are the people who are making far more than $40 k a year.</p>
<p>That is my point: It's the most affluent and educated people who seem to think that their kids are entitled to go to their expensive dream schools without taking out loans, and without parents having to cut back their expenses or sacrifice. These are the parents who have the backgrounds to be able to do their own research about colleges and not to rely on GCs.</p>
<p>From what I've seen, the lower families' income, the more likely they are to assume that their kids can't afford to go to ANY colleges -- even community colleges. They are less likely to know about need-based financial aid, too. The GCs will tell them that there is money out there for their kids to attend college. The GC's aren't telling them that there's money out there for their kids to attend $50 k a year private LACs, which most such people aren't interested in anyway. They just want their kids to have some kind of college education.</p>
<p>The in-state publics that many CC members think aren't good enough for their kids, the local public universities and community colleges that CC members turn their noses up at -- are what lower income people view as unattainable dream schools.</p>
<p>If their kids are fortunate enough to be able to go to college, even with need-based aid, they are likely to be working during the school year and summer, and having loans, often very hefty loans. Since low income students typically can't rely on their parents to pay for them to go away to unpaid internships, to get them cars, to provide them with money to set up their own apartment after graduation (security deposit money, furniture money), the loans that such students take out are even harder for them to repay than are loans taken out by more affluent students.</p>
<p>Still, I have never heard a low income student complain about having to work while in college or having to take out loans. They seem to be very grateful to go to college -- even a third tier one -- at all.</p>
<p>Another poinr to consider is that 18 yrs ago college cost were considerably less as well as most salaries. However while salaries have risen over the same amount of years, tution costs have far exceeded and todays salaries have not kept up pace with the costs.
What I could have saved years ago, has not been in keeping with the cost of college.
It is hard to look forward and project your finances and know at a certain time what kind of college you can afford. Most kids don't even know what they want to do, some might so you look for a balance as to what school would be beneficial for your kid regarding their interests, sports, etc. We never expected a free ride, but we didn't realize that it was going to take the resources it would to pay D's college.</p>
<p>Well, for one thing, all these languages used are confusing such as "will meet 100% of your need". Not only each school has a different way of calculating "your need", they have a different way of "meeting" it too. Of the five private expensive schools DD got in, our EFC ranged from 12K to over 40K. That supportly came from reading the same profile we filed. </p>
<p>The lesson we learnt? Don't even bother to apply to those expensive schools except those with over $10 b emdowment.</p>
<p>OTOH, one must not overlook the fact that there are handful of schools that are beyong generous toward ~100K income families.</p>
<p>I only had a vague idea as to what the costs were from coworkers but they joked that we wouldn't be eligible for anything. A health crisis and subsequent family crisis resulted in being very late with applications and so we had to go the transfer route late. So I paid full-fare the first year. We got a big discount the second year and a scholarship. And he could finish in three years if he wants to. We have more than enough in savings to cover both kids wherever they want to go. Our son chose a cheap public which I'm happy to pay for and give him a hefty amount to get him started in life from the savings.</p>
<p>I didn't know the system though. Sometimes unexpected life incidents get in the way of good execution.</p>