<p>Parents have to do what they have to do…it’s a personal decision. We decided that we didn’t want our kids taking out any undergrad loans (which would all be unsub) for a few reasons…</p>
<p>1) One is going to med school and the other may go to law school - loans will be needed for those.</p>
<p>2) If they took out loans for undergrad, they could run out of borrowing power for professional school.</p>
<p>3) If they took out unsub loans for undergrad, by the time they began paying them back (after professional school), the accumulated interest would be high. </p>
<p>But, they do have some “skin in the game.” They both have merit scholarships that can only be kept if they maintain their GPAs. They knew from the beginning that if they lost those scholarships, we would not pay to make them up. They also know that because they got great scholarships, we will help them with professional school. So far…straight A’s from both kids. They also both have part-time jobs, so we don’t provide an allowance or anything like that.</p>
<p>However, I totally understand parents insisting on some student loans - especially if otherwise the parents have to pay out a lot of money. Without some “skin in the game,” some kids would take the whole thing too lightly and just waste their parents’ money!</p>
<p>With that size family, I’m guessing that your EFC is going to be much less than $20k…maybe about $10k. When you do learn what your EFC is, you need to find out if your parents can afford it.</p>
<p>@flowering spade–your efc sounds high to me, too. Did your parents save any of that money in YOUR name? That really bumps up the EFC. Also, if any of their assets are in 401ks or IRAs, those should not be added in as assets. Those are the 2 things I’d check on.
If they did save in your name, the EFC may drop way down once you’ve spent some or all of it. (ie, if they saved $60k in your name–and by junior year it’s mostly spent, your EFC should go down).</p>
I wonder what the statistics are for kids entering college with plans for Medical or Law school…that actually attend either of those? I’ve heard the numbers are ridiculously low for kids planning for Med school. Of course these concerns may not apply to your children.</p>
<p>In my case, I anticipate paying the interest on my children’s Stafford loans while they are in college. If we need to worry about grad school after that then they will either borrow more or I will give them the help that you are giving yours during their undergrad years. I’d like to see mine complete their undergrad programs before dealing with those costs for them. Just a matter of WHEN (and if) I pay the same amount.</p>
<p>My son has applied to 11 schools, none in state. Two are oos schools so less expensive then the other 9. We pay quite a lot for Boarding School(about the same cost as OOS)we always told him we’d pay for college too. He refused to look at state schools and feels where he goes is 100% his decision. I think we should have kept him guessing a little. He is an only and he knows we can afford college. He is a good student and very responsible, just acting a bit entitled. I wish we had been a little “mean”.</p>
<p>Unless you are prepared to support him the rest of his life if need be in order to keep him in the manner to which he has been accustomed … you will do him and yourself a favor by being a little “mean” now. That does not necessarily mean don’t send him if you can and ARE WILLING TO do so. What it means is … you need to help him understand how hard you have worked … the value of money … cost-benefit analysis … and RESPECT for you & all you have done for him. Just saying. </p>
<p>At a minimum, I would tell my son…for us to pay for your schooling, you must maintain at least a X.X GPA and you must get a part-time job (6-8 hours a week or so) to provide for your own spending/pocket money. If your part-time earnings won’t be enough then work more hours in the summer to help supplement your school year pay.</p>
<p>There was a good book awhile ago…the title was something like…How Do I Say “no,” When my Wallet Can Say “yes”? It’s a great book for affluent families because it shows you how to prevent the entitlement attitude that can be so crippling when the child has to “stand on his own two feet” and support himself without M & D’s money. I doubt you want your 30 year old son still expecting you to make his car payment or buy the latest electronic “must have.” Right? :)</p>
<p>However, even if he doesn’t believe you, if you put the “pocket money” rule into effect long before college starts, then that will help with credibility in that area.</p>
<p>As for the GPA…have a cheap decent backup school as the option if grades fall (be reasonable when setting the GPA criteria). Let your child know that you seriously have NO PROBLEM with having him go to Cheap Decent U. </p>
<p>Unless you’ve already convinced your child that you’re a “academic prestige hound,” he’ll believe you.</p>
<p>Thank God we were tough in other areas, he saved for a car since he was 12 years old. In the end we decided to help him, but he had no expectation of that. He worked summers and saved all his birthday checks. He had $6800 by his 17th birthday. We’ve always paid for private schools, so he thinks private education is his birthright. He is likely to be a varsity athlete in college so working may be difficult. His sport is spring and fall with training all winter. I just want him to realize most kids and their parents have to make tough choices and he is damn lucky. I am not sure what constitutes an “academic prestiege hound”. We want him to go the best school he can get into.</p>
<p>I don’t think the FAFSA score is a fluke. There’s an expectation that a certain amount of the expenses will be paid out of present income, a certain amount will come out of savings, and a certain amount, possibly, could come out of loans. If your parents are teachers then they no doubt have guaranteed pensions, which I believe DO count–they are asked about, anyway. And that is actually kind of fair. Having a paid-off house can make your parents appear to have more money than they might otherwise. And again, sadly enough, that is kind of fair, too. I’m in the same boat, and that’s just reality. Again, I would do the same thing with my child (and did), by waiting until I saw what colleges he got into and then make a final decision. As it so happened, he got great scholarships to some fairly nice scholarships, but when he got into a truly fabulous school that was his dream school, we just felt completely and joyfully willing to pay it. But other decisions are reasonable, too.</p>
<p>*I am not sure what constitutes an “academic prestige hound”. We want him to go the best school he can get into. *</p>
<p>That was a response to Angles’ remark that a child may not believe a parent’s threat about going to a cheaper school if GPA is not maintained. I responded that that might be true if the parent has already convinced the child the the parent is an “academic prestige hound” (meaning that the parent only respects top ranked colleges & would never truly consider sending their child elsewhere), the student will believe the parent. </p>
<p>Yeah you definetely entered something incorrectly unless you have a crapload of assets because my parents make $179,000 a year and my efc is $46,000,</p>
<p>What I am confused about is the high level of assets that are not in retirement accounts. For us, the savings that we have that are not for retirement is the money we saved for our kids’ college. We are now spending that on their tuition. </p>
<p>If a family has kids about to start college, and they have already funded their retirement, what is the purpose of their savings?</p>
<p>Some people have assets that can’t be put into retirement accounts, but they’re intended to help provide income during the retirement years. An example is rental property. </p>
<p>Also, some people save ahead of time for cars, home repairs, possible loss of job, etc. Those savings aren’t designated for college costs and aren’t in retirement accts.</p>
<p>It is so high because they own the house which means they should have a lot of money left over each month and a lot in savings, mine is 26k and my parents make 145k but I have three siblings. Which make the efc go down.</p>