<p>romani, you’re at MSU, right? According to their website, in-state tuition is about $12,800. That’s a lot, but not $15K. </p>
<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>
<p>Sounds like a first world problem.</p>
<p>@annas- 444.50 per credit hour. I am taking 16 credits this semester so I doubled (so for the average 15 credits, it would be $13,335. My mistake, I overestimated a little because I just doubled my bill forgetting the fact that I was taking more than 15 credits). Then there’s books, transportation costs, a few fees, parking if you’re a commuter, etc. Also, to show how much tuition rises, 2 years ago I was paying around $370 per credit. </p>
<p>@shrink- MSU, not Michigan. Although the costs are very similar instate.</p>
<p>/off topic. I just wanted to show that it’s NOT always possible for in-state schools without help. I didn’t mean to derail any of the thread.</p>
<p>Wow! Where is THAT? I’ve lived in NYC and Cal; high costs of living but CCNY’s, CUNYs, SUNYs, CSUs and CCCs, even UC tuitions seem lower.</p>
<p>What?!? CUNYs, SUNYs, CSUs, CCCs and UCs are good examples of bargains! For example, the out of state costs for the SUNYs are cheaper than the in-state costs in many other states.</p>
<p>I agree they are bargains, but I could understand why a 19 year old couldn’t fathom coming up with UC tuition. I could not fathom how I would come up with tuition for Howard when I graduated in 1977, so I joined the military. It was only about $3000.00 a year.</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>I really don’t think you worked for nothing. With good stats you could go to some decent school and get substantial scholarship. If those schools have Honor colleges, then that would be great plus. If you work hard as an undergraduate, get to know professors and do research, you will be able to attend high caliber grad school.</p>
<p>Also, $134K sounds like a lot, but it really is not when it comes to paying 25-40K for education. Please don’t forget that you mom has to pay federal and local taxes (quite high in NY) from this amount. In addition the cost of living in NY is high, so actually it is understandable that your mom does not want to pay 25-40K. By the way, I am also a parent who refuses to put a big financial strain on me for my son to go to a school where I would have to pay $50K. I told my son that I will cover his tuition and room and board in the local flagship (or another state’s reciprocity school). He was disappointed at first, but now is working hard to make sure when time comes for him to apply, he can get in Honor college at one of those schools. Does it make me a bad parent? My son does not think so.</p>
<p>If you go to CUNY, talk to your mom and ask how much she will be willing to help you with. If you don’t want to live at home, maybe strike a deal with her when she is responsible for tuition and you are responsible for housing. Your argument can be that she will be saving money on food and electricity if you don’t live at home and it will be easier for her to contribute to your tuition. </p>
<p>Also, since you plan to go to grad school, think about getting part time and summer jobs. They can cover books and partial housing costs.</p>
<p>*Also, while a parent may balk at a 25K-40K a year price tag, the same parent may start to “miraculously” work with the adult child when the student starts considering local, far far far more affordable choices. That same parent may decide to join in and support at a 2K or 4K or 6K a year contribution toward an AFFORDABLE local college whereas the conversation is completely shut down when faced with an adult child “expecting” that they are “owed” 25K-40K a year (100K-160K total!) from a parent.</p>
<p>Maybe the parent will still not join in, but it is far more likely.*</p>
<p>I was thinking the same thing.</p>
<p>If people could suggest some schools where this student could get free tuition for stats (and deadlines haven’t passed), then it’s likely the mom would help a bit with room and board and books because a student loan won’t cover all.</p>
<p>I also think the mom is naive about student loans. She thinks that this student can just take student loan for all her costs…probably thinking the feds offer these big loans to kids to solely sign for. When she finds out that she’d had to co-sign these big loans and be responsible if her D can’t pay, she’ll likely change her tune. If she has a brain at all, she’ll realize that if she co-signs $100k+ in student loans then it’s very likely her newly graduated D won’t be able to afford to pay those loans back.</p>
<p>The student needs to realize that if her parents don’t have a college savings for her, then even to pay $24k per year means that they have to find $2k per month out of their earnings after paying all their bills and putting something towards emergency savings and retirement. Most people do NOT have an extra $2k per month to just put towards college costs.</p>
<p>I never understand why a parent would not help with what they can towards college expenses. Boggles the mind. Its an investment in the child’s future (even if by then they are no longer officially a “child”.</p>
<p>Sometimes things seem like a bigger deal when you are only 17. It might not be an ideal situation or the one you dreamed of, but not everybody get s to leave home for the “college experience”. Sometimes it even takes a little longer to get done with school if you have to do it on your own, but the pride and accomplishment that you feel is well beyond what you feel when you are just given something. It also seems like maybe this topic could have been addressed before time was a factor. I had been working for two years by the time I was 17 and had some money saved up. Not enough to go out of state to school, but enough to get my first two semesters at CC taken care of before transferring to a state school. It took longer to get what I wanted done, but it can be done. Also, if you are more accepting of the situation, you might even be surprised by some support that you were not expecting, although room and board certainly is a benefit that a lot of students are not given. Try not to get strapped with loans unless it is absolutely necessary. Just adjust your timeline if you can.</p>
<p>With this student’s stats, she has options. There are some some schools that will award large merit for her stats if she wants to go away.</p>
<p>jym626…I agree. My kids didn’t choose to enter this world. I believe it’s a parent’s responsibility to educate their children to the best of their ability. I have no patience for those who complain about the high cost of college while living beyond their needs and not saving a dime since their kids were born.</p>
<p>1) I absolutely sympathize with kids whose parents can but simply won’t pay. Always. You guys can argue among yourselves all that you want, but I’m firmly in the “don’t screw your own kids” camp, which is exactly what I think parents in this situation are doing. </p>
<p>2) Kids who are facing the screwing need to formulate a totally different strategy. The most competitive colleges that only give financial aid based on need are simply not options. Make believe that they don’t exist because they don’t. Fogettaboutit! Move on. </p>
<p>3) All of that hard work was not for nothing. That’s an impulsive emotional and totally forgivable statement. Getting educated is required in the competitive world. You’ve done it, you’ve done great, enough with this “all for nothing BS”. </p>
<p>4) CUNY has some gems and many highly successful people got their start that way. I wouldn’t rule it out completely and you are lucky to have such great options. </p>
<p>5) Apply to schools where you can win full-tuition merit scholarships. You probably can borrow and work for the cost of everything else. A lot of deadlines may have already passed. Hopefully, your mom isn’t so selfish that she won’t even fill out the financial aid forms. </p>
<p>The ones I know with the best merit scholarships are
University of Pittsburgh
University of Alabama
University of Kentucky
University of Texas at Dallas. </p>
<p>Check them out to see if you are still within the deadline and if you would prefer then to CUNY. </p>
<p>People here can be constructive by helping you recommend other schools that offer full-tuition merit scholarships. </p>
<p>6) Check out schools that are just plain cheap. SUNY schools may be an option, University of Minnesota schools are cheap for out-of-state - they have Twin Cities which is a megacampus or Morris which is a public liberal arts college. There is a lot of growing that can be done by living on a campus. Perhaps you can reach a compromise where you go to a low-cost school. Other states might have schools that are quite reasonable for OOS. I know Truman State in Missouri is an honors liberal-arts college that is quite inexpensive in the scheme of things. </p>
<p>Whatever happens, take control and do what you need to make yourself successful. You may have some roadblocks, but it would be immature to just give up. Nothing you’ve done so far has been a waste.</p>
<p>I am sorry to sound harsh by siding with the parents, believe me, I do feel for the kids as well. But I can see there are parents simply stupid and did not have plans for their kids education. Yes, the family is not destitude, but with poor planning, they maybe bearly surviving with 134K in NYC, we really don’t know this family’s finances and we are critisizing for nothing. For example, they may have a big mortgage to pay and they are under the water on home prices and cannot move. There might be a number of mistakes that make that $134K very low income. Yes, they had a choice, but the choice they made maybe an irrevocable mistake at this point of the game.</p>
<p>The kid will be who he is, going to Hunter or Harvard is not going to change much. The difference is $250K upfront money and bankruptcy.</p>
<p>I find it funny that many judge the parent for not paying for college. And no, it is NOT a moral obligation to send a child to college. I have been in education for 20 years, and we have fed this line of bunk to far too many children. There are many educated successful people who did not feel they had a right to a four year degree and made their own way in the world. </p>
<p>That said, our oldest two children are in a state school in our city. They got full tuition scholarships for four years. We do not pay for their schooling and made that clear from the beginning. They had choices: work hard, both at grades and saving money, think about joining the military, be active in school so scholarships were possible, and do not make ridiculous college selections that they nor us, the parents would be able to afford. No, we do not send them out destitute. When they need grocery money or other necessities, we are there, and have fronted a dorm payment or two. However, we have two other children we are supporting, we have worked hard, we have high mortgage costs and our own college loans to repay from graduate school, lost $$$ in a business deal that went bad, and live in a stagnant economy. Our children work at a grocery store they don’t like to work at, and that alone is a motivator for them to keep going in college. This is a college forum, but I am sick and tired of seeing parents getting bashed for not wanting to go into debt for their own children’s education…</p>
<p>Go to one of those local colleges, work hard, eat your parent’s food and don’t pay anything for the house upkeep, and your Mom IS supporting you. Then when you find a way to pay your own way, I am sure she will be supportive if and when she is able to help you out.</p>
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<p>I’ll save my comments for the screwed kids. Those are kids whose parents CAN pay, but simply won’t. I’m not talking about those kids whose parents have hardships that don’t show up on financial aid forms, I’m talking about kids whose parents CAN but won’t pay. These kids cannot attend the best schools and have definitely lost opportunities that those more fortunate AND LESS FORTUNATE have. </p>
<p>I KNOW the difference between Harvard and Hunter. I’d eat noodles every night before I’d deprive my kid of an education that I CAN afford.</p>
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<p>I hope you feel better and get some sleep, but we clearly have different values, and I have no intention of shutting up.</p>
<p>Agree 100% with ClassicRocker…I feel parents owe their children an education,and should pay for as much of it as they can afford…</p>
<p>As a family we have always had education as a priority. Some parents don’t, obviously.</p>
<p>While I believe parents should be making wise choices with their money, including having sufficient retirement savings, I also know that a parents job is to insure that their child has the social/emotional/academic foundation to make their way in the world.</p>
<p>For some parents- it will be all they can do to get their children a good education through high school. They are to be commended- they likely don’t have any education beyond that themselves, & it is hard ( & expensive) to raise children.</p>
<p>Other parents are better situated & it is easier for them to insure that their kids have a strong college education than it is for the above parents to get their kids through high school.</p>
<p>On the internet like this, mostly we can only hear one side of the story. In this case, we know the fact that OP’s parents refuse to pay for education. But we have not seen the other side of the story or the real reason why. Until we do, we are just making judgements on hearsays or statements from the OP which may or may not be the truth.</p>
<p>Op says that her parents make $134k. </p>
<p>However, we do not know how that money is configured. Is it based on one person’s income or the income of both of her parents? Do both parents have equal incomes? We don’t know if one parent is responsible for all of the household items (food, mortgage, utilities) and the other parent will be paying for college.</p>
<p>Perhaps, mom is going to be the person responsible for making the tuition payments. Unless mom is making the lion’s share of the money, remember that the decision to pay and how much to pay was not made in a vacuum.</p>
<p>@sybbie- Why does it matter who makes the money? It’s all going to the same household.</p>