<p>I've seen the idea of paying by percenatage a lot on this forum--i.e., parents pay X% of the COA, kids pay the remaining percentage--and I honestly don't understand the logic. If the kid goes to a 21k/year school, the parents will only pay 14k, but if the kid goes to a 45k a year school, the parents will suddenly pay 30k a year? I could understand if it was a certain dollar amount "ceiling" or the equivalent of the costs (or a percentage thereof) of, say, an instate school, but using simply straight percentages doesn't make much sense to me.</p>
<p>Could someone shed some light on this, please?</p>
<p>Well I think it gives a kid more of a sense of how much an education costs and gives him/her the ability to determine how much his/her education is worth. Does s/he really want to come up with an additional 8-9k to go to that LAC as opposed to the state school where his/her cost would be substantially less.<br>
Just my take.</p>
<p>In our case, we could comfortably afford the full cost of college for each of our kids, whether that be $200,000 at a private school or $40,000 at a public school. The fact that we require our boys to pay 10% of all required costs: tuition, room, board, books and 100% of their discretionary expenses has nothing to do with saving us money or even costing them money. It is simply a teaching tool. It helps them think about the cost-benefit of used versus new books or of public-versus private school or on campus versus off campus living, etc. All costs are input into a detailed Excel spreadsheet and divided up appropriately. Because the boys have a stake in the outcome, they care about those numbers and it teaches them record-keeping skills. Finally, this process removes us from the financial decision-making and puts it in the hands of the student. </p>
<p>For example, our older son is in a 6-month study abroad program right now. He chose to share an apartment with a grad student rather than live with a host family and share a bedroom. That choice costs about $150/month more than the alternative. However, our 90% contribution is the dollar amount we would spend if he were going to summer school at his home university and living in the dorm on the school meal plan. We are therefore indifferent to what living arrangement he chooses. He found a job overseas in a restaurant to help him fund his wants and it is worth it to him.</p>
But that lesson is even clearer if the parent says we can pay x and y-x might be zero or less for some schools. </p>
<p>The only reason I can see for the percentage rule is that it ensures that the kids have some skin in the game too. Perhaps more incentive not to slack off.</p>
<p>Right now, we’re in a position to be full-pay. (Not easy full-pay. Just full-pay.) If our circumstances change, we’ll shift a portion of COA to the kids. </p>
<p>After mulling things over, I think we’ve decided against the percentage formula. Instead, we’ll put the kids in charge of room and board. We’ll pay tuition if we can’t do it all. This way, our budget can still cover everything if they choose in-state. Or, at an expensive school, they’re still getting off easy since R&B charges are somewhat predictable. Heck, if one gets an RA job, that keeps it even more manageable.</p>
<p>Oh, and before we cough up the first “full pay” dime, the kids will be taking out unsub staffords.</p>
Mind if I ask how your boys earn enough money to pay 10% of all required costs?
At an expensive school this would add up to a tidy sum - several thousand a year + their discretionary expenses.</p>
<p>edit: would you count any merit scholarship as part of their 10%?</p>
<p>I worked part time through highschool (atleast part of it), and I made about $8000 a year at minimum wage. I’d assume that’d be atleast 10% anywhere you go.</p>
<p>We told our daughter that we would meet our EFC every year, and I ran numerous calculators in advance so we/she would have some idea of what that meant in dollars and cents. By CC standards, our EFC is relatively low (over the years it’s ranged from
$7K to $13K), and after the first two years, the funds have come out of current income…we’re fortunate that I stumbled across CC’s financial aid forum during my daughter’s sophomore year in high school, or we would have had much less saved for college.</p>
<p>My daughter has taken out Stafford loans every year, and she receives significant merit aid. Because she has received so much merit aid (and applied for/received outside scholarships every year), we will be paying off her student loans once she graduates, a fact we won’t mention until she graduates (or sooner if it appears that the existence of the loans is swaying her decision-making on her future plans).</p>
<p>I think paying by percentage only makes sense if you are deemed to be a full-payer and find that designation a reasonable assessment (not easy, but realistic in terms of FAFSA). Otherwise, I think it fails to take into account changing financial or employment situations and has the potential to create disappointment and stress for both parents and students.</p>
That is quite a tidy sum. I assume that is gross wages?
That would be about 1100 hours a year or over 20 hours a week. deducting payroll taxes, gas, clothing, lunch and other incidentals, how much did you save?</p>
<p>I saved almost all of it. My parents pay for my food (you don’t pay for your kid’s food?) I didn’t drive much, didn’t buy much stuff at all (bought a computer, that’s about it, beyond that I spend less than $1500 I think). I worked about 24hr/week, and usaually more during the summers.</p>
<p>Allow me add a different perspective. I’m a full-pay parent. I didn’t require my dtr contribute to her education. She interned in DC two summers, one paid, one not, and at Yale for a summer (paid). Although she was paid at two of her internships, it was break-even at best. She did work 6-10 hrs/wk her jr. year and 1st semester sr. year, but that was her choice.</p>
<p>There is no question, her job search has been very fruitful b/c of her internships. In my opinion, interning proved far more valuable than if I had required her to be employed summers to pay a percentage or fixed sum for her education. I’m also of the belief, college and writing a thesis is work. My dtr. has the rest of her life to work for compensation; consequently, giving her some slack during her colleges years was a choice I believe was warranted. It gave for her the ability to pursue various interests (internships) and extracurriculars. The extracurriculars also added valuable experience to her resume. My dtr graduated with honors in May. Your mileage may vary.</p>
<p>The logic has to do with choices and consequences. Even if I have or can find the extra $16k in your example, I will think hard before I spend it. I want DD also to think hard. </p>
<p>The logic also has to do with child taking some responsibility for his or her needs. We are weaning our children away from being completely dependent on Mom and Dad.</p>
<p>How do they come up with it-- that’s part of the learning experience. They have to decide whether it’s worth borrowing for.</p>
<p>We went a hybrid route-- we’ll pay the first $x, then it’s shared. DD pays for books and incidentals from the get-go. If there is anything left of x at graduation, the remainder can be used for grad school. Otherwise grad school is on their own. If DD1 had chosen state school, she could expect about $30k for grad school. If she had chosen very good school with nice merit offer, she might have $10- 15k for grad school. She chose Brown. Her choice. A good choice for her, but she will have to scramble a bit. Choices have consequences, even good choices.</p>
<p>We all do our best to come up with a reasonable plan based on our resources, our values, and our desires. In our case we have resources (or EFC calculator says we do!), we’d like to instill some responsibility, and I like giving my DD things they enjoy/appreciate/can use. There is some tension among these factors. We resolved the tension one way. Other families will resolve it differently.</p>
<p>We went with a two tiered approach with S4. If he chose to go to a state university, we’d split tuition and books/supplies in half, with any scholarships counting towards his half. If he chose the private college, we’d subtract scholarships and grants before splitting the cost in half. The wife decided we’d pay for room and board for a dorm or half for an apartment, which we figure he’ll do in his 3rd and 4th years. Turns out that the private college will cost us about 50% more than the instate option. An OOS public university would have cost us more than the private because aid would have been student loans. </p>
<p>As to the original question why we would be willing to pay more, we see the value of S4 attending a private college over a state university for where we live. He’s likely to have more ownership with a school he’s chosen versus one we’ve chosen.</p>
<p>I agree with mom58. We could afford more than half of our son’s college costs, but he needs to take responsibility for this also. If he chooses a more expensive school, he must realize that there are real ‘costs’ associated with that choice.</p>
<p>I know i’ve said this alot…but i really want to understand…
Why do you pay such and such amount. For those who pay more than half, how/why do you do it?
Where i live, no one’s parents pay for college. It’s unheard of. Most kids start at community, then transfer. They work, they take out loans, they pay for it themselves. </p>
<p>Even a girl going to BU is taking out 20k/year in loans(she got scholarships and grants to cover the rest)</p>
<p>Shouldn’t kids pay 100%???..its their education, not yours…</p>
<p>(and i’m not trying to diss paying full way or partial, i just want to understand)</p>
<p>Not necessarily. My kid wears clothes I bought, eats food I paid for, and lives rent-free in my house. I paid for his music lessons and summer camps. </p>
<p>I’ve always planned on contributing to his college costs, and have saved at least something every month since he was born. (Sometimes, it was only $25/month, but still, anything I could put away was better than nothing!) I cannot cover the full cost of the college he will be attending, but I CAN cover the EFC for a couple of years out of savings/cash flow (and maybe for three years, depending on the recovery). My son will have Stafford loans and will have to work for his incidental expense money. He may have to transfer after two years to a less expensive school.</p>
<p>But that’s our family. Another family may do things completely differently, either by choice or necessity.</p>
<p>R6L: Because my parents did for me (even though there were a lot of strings that I won’t attach to my kids) and because my DH’s did for him to the point they were able to (which was half of tuition; we both lived at home and commuted.) And because we are able to, to some extent. </p>
<p>We are not in the position to be full pay at a 30, 40 or 50K/year school. But certainly we could cover state tuition, room & board; my DD knows that we will pay up to the full COA of our state flagship towards another school, but that then the rest is up to her (whether it be scholarships, loans, work study, etc.) I’ve also told her that if she has full rides on the table she would have to have a really good reason for us to consider co-signing a loan for her.</p>
<p>So why? Well, it’s really expensive to live an adult life now, even with a college degree under your belt. The idea of my kids having to start their lives with a large loan every month, before a mortgage, car payment, kid expenses, etc. makes me blanch. I won’t sacrifice my retirement savings for them to go to school (per most financial experts advice) but I will do what I can so that hopefully I won’t have to help them out financially later.</p>
<p>I think it’s a very regional thing, R6L as I don’t know many parents in my area that aren’t paying for their kids to go to college.</p>