Is it logical for parents to tell their kids that they will pay for college if they get into good college. These parents earn between 175K to 225K
I’m not sure what you are asking. Do you mean that parents with that kind of income won’t pay for college if the kid doesn’t get in to a “good” college? That sounds to me like parents who are only willing to pay for something they can brag about and not interested in supporting their child’s needs.
Yes, it is logical but there might be an upper limit to the generosity. People in the income group might not be able to afford $65-$70,000 per year.
Also to note that these parents also have at least 2 kids…
Are you poking your nose into someone else’s financial business? If this question isn’t about your own circumstances, then it probably isn’t your business.
Or is the Op trying to define a “good college” compared to a “bad college”?
In response to mathyone’s reply…
" Do you mean that parents with that kind of income won’t pay for college if the kid doesn’t get in to a “good” college? That sounds to me like parents who are only willing to pay for something they can brag about and not interested in supporting their child’s needs"
… kid’s psychology would be if you can pay for good school, it is obvious you can pay for any other avg school.
This is very vague…what exactly do you (or more precisely do they) mean? What do you mean illogical? Do you think these people shouldn’t pay for their kids college? Or do you think they shouldn’t stipulate that it’s “good”? Are you assuming “good” means tippy-top ivy? Do you think they can’t afford to pay for college? (Do you really know what their financial situation is?)
Not necessarily…it could mean they only want to pay for something they feel has value. No one defined “good” college to mean tippy-top (i.e. ivy). Maybe their definition of “good” is value.
I’m lost at what the question really is here…
I think good colleges to these parents mean ivy league to MIT, Standord, Harvard, Caltech,etc.
What is logical to me is being unwilling to pay more for a private college that isn’t much better than a state U. It surprises me that so many people are willing to do this, but I guess they see some value in it. And I wonder if this was what the OP was really asking.
That’s what my parents told me. Anything out of the top 20 and not a UC, I would need a big merit scholarship or else they wouldn’t foot the bill. To them, it’s not worth paying 60k+ for undergraduate unless the school has good branding.
Wouldn’t it be more logical if parents tell their kids that they will try to support as much as possible rather than saying they will bear the college expense.
then if nmc is correct, “good colleges” are defined as- well-known big name?
Or is it the case that if the student doesn’t get into a tippy top college, the parents, who make about $200k per year, will say you aren’t worth investing in, go work your way through cc?
Let’s assume a household income of 200K. Take out 30% for taxes/SS/disability, etc = 140K remaining. 1K per month for health insurance = 128K. 1.5K per month for mortgage = 110K. Subtract 70K for college. You’re left with 40K for car payments, car insurance, gas, utilities, cell phone bill, food, clothing, health costs not covered by insurance, life insurance, etc. to cover the people in your family, however many that may be.
Not considering assets/savings, is it possible to do this out of salary? Depends on the cost of living in your region and how large your family is. For example, if your mortgage is double than the random number I selected, that would leave precious little cushion for unforeseen emergencies like loss of a job, catastrophic illness, or major home repairs. Personally, that level of financial exposure would make me uncomfortable.
Is your son trying to use a classmate’s circumstance to get you to pay more for college than you can afford? If not, I wouldn’t worry about what other families are doing.
Your other threads indicate he’s dual enrolled in what seem like high level math classes at a community college and is making excellent grades. What grade is he in? If you tell us his SAT/ACT scores, GPA, and your budget parents here can suggest some options that may be affordable for you.
in response to younghoss-
if nmc is correct, “good colleges” are defined as- well-known big name?
Not in my opinion. But I guess people often associate good colleges with big names. In a way it is true. The reason some of the real good kids would want to go there is that they will find competitive and learning environment to their level only in those colleges.
It would be best if the parents figure out the budget before application season and tell that (including any conditions, if the parental contribution varies based on which college) to the student before s/he makes the application list.
The stories of parents who overpromised or were too vague with promises early on and then finding that most or all of the student’s acceptances in April are too expensive are not ones that parents really want to get into themselves.
To the OP: You seem to know the parents’ income, but that doesn’t give you a picture of their total financial status. Some people at that income level have substantial savings or have inherited a significant amount of money. Others are in debt up to their eyeballs.
You could easily have two families with identical incomes, living in identical houses on the same street, who have drastically different financial situations. But this is hard for kids to understand.
Well, if the kid’s psychology is that if you can pay for a “good” school you can pay for an average school, my response would be, you can get a fine education at a state school for a lot less than an average private school, so why pay more?
And plenty of parents aren’t willing to pay more even for “good” schools. Most of the parents I know, in fact, and many parents on this forum feel that any added value of a “good” school isn’t worth the substantial extra cost for full pay families over a decent state school. So rather than looking at it as a given, encourage the student to look at it as a gift.