<p>My parents have no money set aside for my college. When I began saving for college around age 13 my parents laughed at me and told me to spend it, they would let me go anywhere I want. Now I'm really looking into colleges and realizing with a budget of zero I can't do this. They won't sit down and talk about prices rather but they say not to worry about money and keep telling "later". So how do I discuss this or should I go about this by myself?</p>
<p>Big points to you for asking about this. </p>
<p>With the best of intentions, you can’t go about this yourself. Your parents have to be part of the process, and you (and they!) need to know how much your family can afford to spend per year. They also need to understand how much college costs.</p>
<p>Here’s a quick rough rule of thumb to get their attention: at a minimum, colleges will generally expect you and your family to contribute between 25-33% of household income every year for college expenses. Sometimes they expect families to pay even more. </p>
<p>So, question #1 for your parents: can they manage to pay that amount every year for four years? And no, scholarships by and large aren’t going to be able to adjust that number much. If they can’t, ask them how much they can afford each year. If they can afford to meet what’s called EFC (for expected family contribution) and that number is below the cost of attending the most expensive schools you’re considering, ask them if they could afford to pay that maximum amount. </p>
<p>It is totally normal for parents to freak out on realizing for the first time just how expensive this is going to be. I remember running a FAFSA forecaster for the first time, seeing our EFC and thinking “surely this is for all four years!” :)</p>
<p>If you can’t get them to give you answers or they can’t meet their EFC, you’ll need to start hunting for schools that would offer you significant merit-based aid. People here on this forum will be able to help you figure out what schools would work for your budget.</p>
<p>Slithey has given you some good basic advice. You need to understand that MOST college students do not have college savings plans. If you read this site, you will get the feeling that every student has a 529 or other college savings to pay for their college educations. This is simply not true. </p>
<p>I agree with Slithey. You need to try to engage your parents in conversation about life after high school, and try to get a realistic dollar amount that they are able to give you each year.</p>
<p>Another thing…look at your SAT or ACT scores, and your GPA and see if those are high enough to garner merit aid to ease the cost burden. </p>
<p>If you have an idea of a college or two, see if your parents will run the Net Price Calculators for those colleges. They will be most accurate the year you are a HS senior, but you can get a general ballpark of your potential aid by doing one now…just to see. This also might help both you and your parents understand the costs associated with attending college.</p>
<p>What year are you in college?</p>
<p>What state are you in?</p>
<p>Is your family affluent? If so, maybe that’s why they said that you can go wherever you want?</p>
<p>What are your test scores and GPA?</p>
<p>Ok…you’re a junior and a NC resident</p>
<p>3.75 UW, 4.2 W A couple boring EC’s</p>
<p>Maybe your parents think it’s too early to discuss cost. It’s really not.</p>
<p>How do you know no money is set aside if they won’t talk about it? Agree that asking them to please run the net price calculator and print the results for you for a few schools is a good idea. And check out the automatic scholarship thread:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>Some parents are very uncomfortable talking about money with their kids(that was my H). Some are totally clueless about the cost of college these days(that was me when we got into it) and the whole application process. If you can get them to sit down and talk seriously with you about these things, you can figure out where you stand. It’s the time when parents HAVE to start talking about money with the kids and educate themselves so they know what they are in for. You have to have a basis to start from or you can’t even think about what are reasonable places to apply. Do you anticipate that either of them will be involved in the process(next year?) or will you have to manage mostly on your own?</p>
<p>This is all important. I watched a couple of D’s friends’ families totally botch the process and kids are at CC living at home when it didn’t have to be that way.</p>
<p>I guess it’s possible your parents are wealthy and can pay $60,000 a year out of current income. Anyway you need to find out. You could pick out a couple of sample colleges, maybe a state school and a private you might like and check the cost to attend(COA) if you have to be ‘full pay.’ All colleges have an estimate somewhere in the financial pages of their site. They’ll list tuition/fees, rm/bd, and then various other expenses that are estimates like books/travel. These are for the current year. Except at a few schools like UIUC which has tuition fixed at the freshman rate you enter with, those numbers will climb every year, 5% at least. So you can ask how much disposable income they have and how are they planning to pay since they tell you not to worry. If it turns out they aren’t fabulously wealthy and don’t have a huge inheritance stashed away somewhere, you can go on from there. Go with them to check the school’s net price calculator(NPC) also somewhere in financial pages.They’ll need all the tax type info to enter. The NPC will tell you how much you may be awarded in grants(free money) and loans and what the yearly balance will be that you and parents pay after that. They may also ask you about your financials if you have a job and bank accts. and also grades and test scores to include possible scholarship awards. Loans have to be paid back so these numbers have to be digested carefully, especially if they haven’t looked at these things before.They may be shocked and not have ready answers, or their answer may be to shriek wildly and tell you to join the Navy. You never know. But probably they’ll need time to think and talk and after a couple weeks you can approach them again and have a real conversation about what the possibilities are. Keep calm, but assert your right to know. How much money are they willing and able to spend on college? Numbers alone aren’t good enough. You need to find out where the money is coming from. 2nd mortgage on house, or current income, or what, and pin them down on this so you can plan. Do they really have $X leftover every month or a vague plan to spend less money? Good luck. I hope it turns out you’re rich, but if not, you have time to work out a plan. What are your stats like? Do you think you might qualify for scholarships somewhere or have you even had a chance to look at that yet? Are you taking the PSAT this week? How are you on standardized tests?</p>
<p>If you already know all this then sorry. I don’t mean to patronize you. Let us know how it develops. There are a lot of really smart knowledgable people on these forums, not me, I’m a newbie still. They can give you loads of good advice.</p>
<p>Yes, look at the sticky threads at the top of this forum section to find the automatic (safeties) and competitive (match/reach) full ride scholarships that you may qualify for. Having those schools on your application list can prevent you from being shut out in April by your parents not being able or willing to contribute enough money to the colleges you get admitted to.</p>
<p>Other threads indicate that you are looking at Boston University. While its a great school, it is quite costly. However, their net price calculator is a pretty good one. So see if your parents will work that with you.</p>
<p>If you really are a NC resident, you are most fortunate. You have some good instate public options in NC…and the costs for instate residents are very favorable!</p>
<p>If you do have a community college within 20 mins of driving time, you can go there, and it wont cost you more than $2,500. My parents didnt save for me either, so now I have to go to debt BECAUSE they didn’t let me go to my amazing community college (they say it’s not gonna help me succeed/waste of time).</p>
<p>You need to have an honest discussion with your parents on how the college costs will be paid for. The earlier, the better. Never hesitate to ask.</p>
<p>Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that there is anything wrong with CC. It’s a great option for those who want to do it, very inexpensive, and some state colleges have deals with the CCs to transfer credits so one can go the last 2 years at the 4-year college if you want. </p>
<p>But these kids I mentioned really had hearts set on a 4-yr sleep away, thought it would all work out, and it fell apart at the end because parents were… not up to the task , didn’t understand financial language, and kids also weren’t well-versed in the process.</p>
<p>YegorK…ahem…YOU can only borrow the Direct Loan and Perkins Loan in YOUR name only. Any additional loans would need to be taken out by your parents or cosigned by your parents. In fact, those would be THEIR loans. No one can force you to be in debt. If your parents cosigned a loan…and you don’t pay it when it comes due…THEY are responsible for repayment.</p>
<p>A lot of valuable information here! Yes, my parents do believe it is too early for me. Yes, I am looking at Nc public schools. (If Nc State was smaller I’d love it) Yes, I did look at Boston but it’s more of a “Wow this is awesome” than being able to actually afford it. No, we’re not affluent (That weird, too much to need but too little to afford amount), its more that my parents didn’t have my love for learning/the opportunity to learn so they want me to be happy but whenever I bring it up they seem to throw that notion out the window and tell me to go to the cheapest college out there. I just need to coax them into discussing it and I’d like to thank you all for your responses. Also I am taking the Psat and do quite well in standardized test. I did very well on the PLAN (The pre ACT) top 90% in everything but math. Also Celeste, you didn’t patronize me, it was quite good information although I did know about the net price calculators which are scary.</p>
<p>North Carolina has a small public LAC, UNC - Asheville, to consider if you want a smaller school and it has the academics that you want to study and a price you can afford.</p>
<p>This is a very difficult situation for many kids. My husband’s cousin and that whole side of the family was that way. It was imperiative that no one knew their financial information, especially their children. The problem with that stance is that in order to even find out what kind of aid you might be eligible to get, one needs the tax return numbers and a list of aseets to fill out the estimators, not to mention filling out the forms to apply for aid. I’ve known a large number of parents who flat out refused to fill out the forms so the kids got no financial aid. They were eligible only for the Direct loans, the basic amounts with no subsidy and only after a lot of trouble and paper work. THose loans ($5500 freshman year-$7500 senior year) are still available even if parents refuse to cooperate, but not easily. Most all financial aid requires a FAFSA. I know kids who lost out on Promise awards because their parents would not fill out the FAFSA. </p>
<p>So what to do when parents are that way? The most important thing to get from the parents, next to acual payment itself, is commitment to an annual amount for the next 4 years. My kids did not even bother to look at our financials, though I tried to include them in the process. All they wanted was “the number” which is how much we were making the commitment to pay each year. In their situations, they trusted us entirely, but that is often a luxury as well. But for starters, you do need to know form you parents how much money they are willing and able to pay each year. </p>
<p>If they will not give you a number–, a range, an idea, then you need to start looking locally for a school to which you can commute, a state school, maybe a community college, talk to your counsleor at school about what schools she knows that have been generous in scholarships for kids with your stats from your school, and looking for colleges where you will be a top pick student and have merit money for which you might be a contender. </p>
<p>In many cases, more info will be forth coming as the time comes closer. We told our son $30-40K, but we looked at all ranges of cost, with the understanding that the schools with sticker prices beyond that were going to have to come up with merit money. He had some local choices, state schools all on his list as well as some schools where he could possibly get scholarships, and some lottery tickets. Even if we had given if no info or erroneous info, his bases were covered, even if those choices were not his first ones. So you should start looking at those schools.</p>
<p>Also, find out what it costs to go to your state school, room and board and other expenss, and ask outright if that is even something feasible for you to consider. Ask if you will be expected to borrow or cosign loans with them with the expectation of repaying the money when you graduate. Too many parents have too high of expectations for their kids doing this. THe reality is that borrowing should be taken very seriously.</p>
<p>For middle-income families, it seems to be a rational economic strategy NOT to save for college. If one saves, one is eligible for less FA grants.</p>
<p>Need is mostly based on income and very few colleges meet need so it’s not a rational strategy.</p>
<p>It is not a rational strategy NOT to save, because the fact of the matter is that very few schools meet full need for college, and savings are not hit as hard as income. Having, say $50K saved for your kid is not likely to hurt your student’s financial aid prospects and can open up the options greatly.</p>
<p>Here in NY, none of the SUNYs meet full need for most students, and the cost of going away to school is about $20K a year. A family making low six figures, but needing nearly every bit of income for living expenses for which commitments have long been made are going to be hard put to come up with that kind of money each year if no savings are involved. No aid is available either and schools that meet full need are likely to expect parents to contribute about what the state U costs are or more at that income level, so opions are severly curtailed with no savings in the picture. </p>
<p>A big advantage of having saved each year, is that families could also contribute the amounts they were saving while the kid is in college, and could more safely borrow as those amounts are already out of the spending circuit. That’s how the past, present, future model of payment works for paying for college. If you haven’t saved, and used every bit of income, not only do you not have a pot of past income, you don’t have extra to pay out while your kid is in college, and if you borrow, how the heck are you going to pay back those loans?</p>
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<p>But you can’t know what’s the cheapest college until you know how much your family can afford to pay and how much they’ll be expected to pay. </p>
<p>Compare, say, Princeton (about $60k a year) and NC State (a lot less). If your family’s household income is high enough to be full pay at Princeton, than NC State is cheaper. But if your family’s household income is low, Princeton would be close to free. </p>
<p>All stuff you may know by now, just phrasing it so that your parents can understand. :)</p>
<p>OP, you most often have little or no control over what other people, including your parents, and later, your children, have done, are doing and will do. The control is there as to what YOU do. If it appears to you, that your parents have not saved money, have little extra money these days after paying the bills (or not paying bills), then the prospects of them having it later are small. Even if they have the money, can cut back and can pay some of the costs out of income and may have some irons in the fire for the future, they may not want to pay for college, or will pay much less than the calculators will come up as what they should be paying. Whatever they do end up paying, whatever cooperation they give you in filling out the financial aid forms, be grateful. </p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that you are going to be an adult soon, and it’s up to you to make some plans for yourself that are not dependent on the whims of others for which you have no control. If you can live at home, that’s a big contribution towards your college costs. That means a state school in the area will likely be affordable. If things are truly dire, you might want to look at going to college on a part time basis, and find work. The average college student is in his/her 20s and working full or part time and going to school part time. </p>
<p>If your test scores and grades are high, or you have some other things in your resume that make you a desirable student to colleges, see if you can get scholarships. But be aware, that getting a lot of money is truly a long shot, a lottery ticket. Give some of this a go if something catches your eye and seems to be a possibility, but focus most of your time on realistic opportunities. </p>
<p>If when the time gets closer, your parent are willing to pay for some options like going away to a state school, or if they fill out the fin aid forms, and you get sufficient money for other choices, so much the better. But every student, even those whose parents are willing and able to pay, should have some choices that they know are affordable and will take them. My kids were confident we would pay up to a certain amount, but they each had local, state schools on their list that were pretty much sure things. Each of them had local options that were full pay, and my one currently away at college now thinks that was not such a bad choice. A number of friends took that option and are doing well, are comfortable financially, and enjoying staying local.</p>