Oregon, Tennessee, Minnesota and Washington State are offering the two years of free community college for state residents.
Other states are looking at these two year free education plans:
http://www.ncsl.org/research/education/free-community-college.aspx
One unintended consequence : These free plans hurt Public Flagship 4 year institutions in these states some. (less freshman and sophomores who are at CC)
We did urge older child to take a merit scholarship as he was undecided on major, and the scholarship school offered more academic options than the first choice LAC.(where we would have payed cash). Younger child, we pay cash for OOS state technical school. He was more sure of his direction, match to the OOS school and himself. It can depend on the child, whether one should pay full price or not, depend on his ACADEMIC maturity, motivation, and chances of success. (assuming one can afford the college ).
Child one is doing fantastic and now planning a PhD in mathematical physics. While it felt tough at the time, in retrospect, he thanks us for not just caving on the Liberal arts college! School he attends offers more courses in his major, more research as well, than his more expensive first choice LAC.
With that, I like paying college tuition as it is a good cause to a nonprofit, so the payments do not pain me, in the sense that I believe in the colleges I sent my sons to, and happy with the education they provide for students.
Of course you should pay for their education.
You pay for their medical expenses to make sure they have a healthy life, why would you not pay to give them the foundation for a fulfilling and successful future?
" why would you not pay to give them the foundation for a fulfilling and successful future? " - because you may not want to…your life, your money, your decisions…
True, but on their own they usually can only borrow $27,000 over 4 years. The in-state COA at our state flagship for one year exceeds that.
Also, many students receive a parental contribution in-kind, by being allowed to live at their parents’ place while attending a local college.
It is probably much more difficult now for a college student to self-fund without any financial aid grants or scholarships or parental contribution (including being able to live at his/her parents’ place) than it was a generation ago.
Hi! I am new to this forum and this is my first post. I am in dilemma right now whether to send my eldest son to a state college in town where I could afford to pay the tuition fee and also, he has to stay in my home, or to send him to a state university out of town where I have to take a loan for the dorm/food and other expenses. Again, I can afford to pay the tuition fees, but have to take a loan for all others.
Also, I have another son who will go to college a year after my eldest son. If I send my son to state university out of town, it is unfair for my second son to be sent to state college in town. So, I am in dilemma. It means, I have to take 2 loans 2 years from now, which mean 30k dollars a year x 4 = $120k minimum.
They will not qualify for FA and if both of them go at the same time, they may qualify for 5k each only.
My question is, should I pay for my son’s college of his choosing, or college of my choosing?
“Should you pay for your child’s college education?”
it’s not that simple. in a perfect world, yes, but we don’t live in a perfect world. the finances of many have taken a serious hit via the stock market, divorce, medical issues, legal troubles, scams, crooked companies raiding their 401K’s, unemployment, underemployment, economic turmoil, etc. so what do they do? give up?
I think you should do what you can for your children’s education. for many who have the means, that entails writing a big fat check every year for every child.
for others, it could mean feeding and housing your kids while they commute to college, spending hours researching merit aid and plugging numbers into NPC’s, driving your dual-enrollment kids back and forth to high school and community college while they rack up free college credits, stressing the importance of studying for a high GPA and SAT/ACT scores and making sure they know that can be a pathway to scholarship money, educating yourself and them about the rising cost of college, and of course combing through College Confidential for effective college strategies.
even if you can’t afford what many others can, by doing these things you could wind up contributing far more to your children than parents with big houses and fancy vacations, who go back on their word and yank the rug out from under their hard-working high-achieving kids.
What did you tell all of your sons about how much you are willing to pay before your first son made his college application list last fall? If you had not told them about a price limit (or worse, led them to believe that you could contribute significantly more than you actually can), then you will have to have a difficult conversation with them (including having to own up to overpromising as well as issues of fairness between multiple kids).
In any case, if there is need for loans beyond the student’s federal direct loans ($5,500 first year, up to $7,500 later years), then that is usually not advisable, since these would either be parent loans or parent-cosigned loans, which mean that the parents do not really have the money.
@dad3sons
what are the colleges you are considering? a lot depends on how close they are in the quality of education they will provide.
right now i would say that i don’t think it’s unfair to insist on the affordable option. you are paying for their education and allowing them to graduate without debt. that is a great gift.
what i don’t think is fair is if they would expect you to assume $120K of debt so they can go where they want. they should have set their sights on a more affordable option, or done more to earn a scholarship.
I did tell them that I could afford to pay for tuition up to 15k each and after that, it will be a loan. I can afford only 30k a year.
Since my eldest son will go to college first, I could pay 30k now (tuition and dorm, etc.) but the following year when both my sons go to college at the same time, the 30k will be split between the 2 of them, 15k each. Then, both of them (or I, parent) have to take a loan for the remaining expenses. If both go to state college in town, that would solve my dilemma. But my eldest son insists on going out of town state university.
As per my calculation, I will end up with 120k debt and each of them will end up with 30k debt, after graduation.
@Wien2NC
" what are the colleges you are considering? a lot depends on how close they are in the quality of education they will provide…"
I am talking about UC Irvine or SD (out of town) vs. CSU (in town).
@dad3sons
sounds like you told them you could afford $15K each. so you have every right to insist upon the only choice here that you can afford.
and if he insists on going elsewhere, then you can insist he figures out a way to pay for room and board.
dude. you’re the dad here. you are offering to pay $15K for tuition plus cover room and board by them living at home. that is more than fair.
if you don’t mind sharing, what are the schools?
“As per my calculation, I will end up with 120k debt and each of them will end up with 30k debt, after graduation.”
I would not take on that much debt for undergrad either for us or our kids, but that’s a personal decision each person has to make-I can’t see inside your checkbook, I don’t know if you’ll die in debt with that number or have it paid off in a few years.
@dad3sons
well, those are very good schools. but you cannot afford them.
is CSU for 2 years then transferring for 2 a possibility? would second son insist on UCSD or UCI, or would he be happy with CSU?
$120K is a LOT of debt to saddle you or your kids with. it’s up to you to decide how much debt you feel like you could take on and come up with appropriate solutions.
but if my son insisted on attending a school even after telling him i could not afford it? that would really stick in my craw.
I am talking about UC Irvine or SD (out of town) vs. CSU (in town).
@Wien2NC
I am in dilemma. I haven’t finished college myself.
CSU transfer to UC is a remote possibility but a possibility because I think UC takes transfer students from community colleges. I might be able to convince my second son to stay in town. He is more of a person that can easily understand the situations. Both of them are 4.2 plus GPA students, and taking many AP classes with “A” grades. So, I feel like it is unfair to my 2nd son.
In that case, “a deal is a deal” works in your favor. Remind them that you did not promise more than $15,000 per year for each of them; if they want to attend a more expensive school, then they need to come up with the extra on their own – federal direct loans ($5,500), work earnings in the summers and part time during the school year (probably at most around $5,000 is a reasonable expectation), and living frugally (finding the cheapest housing, minimizing non-essential spending, etc.).
Does the local CSU (Bakersfield?) have the student’s desired majors?
Starting at a (less expensive) community college is probably a better option if the goal is to transfer to a UC.
@ucbalumnus
The local CSU (yes, Bakersfield) doesn’t have the major he desires…he wants to be a chemical engineer. CSUB is not even accredited for engineering.
@dad3sons
please provide SAT/ACT scores and weighted/unweighted GPA.
break down SAT by Critical Reading + Math + Writing
if CSUB does not have engineering that is a big problem
@Wien2NC
I am not sure of his un-weighted GPA. His weighted GPA is actually 4.5 out of 4.5 (second son is 4.29 GPA). His SAT is 1900’ish. I’m not sure of the breakdown but I’m sure his Math is high.