<p>Hey</p>
<p>School costs are skyrocketing<br>
But you can dip into your savings, have your s/d take out a loan, or get some financial aid. With those options…</p>
<p>I would be really interested to know</p>
<li>The maximum tuition you would pay for your s/d dream school</li>
<li>The maximum tuition you would pay if community college was the only alternative to this dream school.</li>
</ol>
<p>Ill start</p>
<ol>
<li>$45k </li>
<li>$75k</li>
</ol>
<p>Can you be more specific? $45K per year? Parents contribution only?</p>
<p>My top out of pocket would be about half of that. No difference if community college were the only alternative. I will pay out of pocket (borrow or fund out of cash flow) an amount equal to in state public tuition, room and board on campus, health insurance, books and incidental expenses. Anything north of that will have to be covered by the kids themselves or by the institution.</p>
<p>I meant the total amount the university would charge every student. </p>
<p>Doesn't seem to matter which name the loan is in, the parents end up paying for it all :)</p>
<p>I really don't want to think about this!!! I'm sure the actual number is higher than whatever I say it is. I would cry, kick and scream..... and pay!</p>
<p>njres unfortunately i think that is true for all of us</p>
<p>After any merit or need based loans.</p>
<p>I expect my kids to work part-time in college and in the sumer. The goal is to come out of school with less than 20K in loans.</p>
<p>SO with my contribution of 10K per year and a 5K student loan then. </p>
<p>1) 15K
2) 15K</p>
<p>I know several doctors in major hospitals from my class who went to a JC. No big deal there.</p>
<p><20k would give them such an advantage over their peers who have $100k+</p>
<p>oracle, you better not be doing some marketing study for a college thinking of raising tuition and fees!!</p>
<p>I still don't understand the question. Are you looking for the maximum amount I would let my CHILD pay or the maximum amount WE would pay?</p>
<p>And can you clarify this statement: "I meant the total amount the university would charge every student." Do you mean what amount would we completely balk at if a school listed it as its tuition?</p>
<p>Either way it doesn't matter much because the price the list is so rarely the price anybody pays.</p>
<p>Change your dream. </p>
<p>There are no dream cars, houses or colleges. What there are is the best possible fit for the situation at the time. Then it is up to you to make the best of it. If you didn't make it to your dream school, would you fail or be a failure?</p>
<p>I told both my 2 children in school the same thing."We will pay for a State school education". If the kids want private they need to get enough finaid to cover it but we will only let them incur 15k of debt.</p>
<p>Ended up paying a bit more than that but it let the kids know what the parameters were so they could apply to the appropriate schools.</p>
<p>interesting how this ? is worded. I think rather than how much will I allow my son to borrow, the question should be- how much will I let him make me pay!</p>
<p>I'll pay $10k yr toward any school of his choice. If there is a shortfall, he pays the difference any way he can make up the difference. Grant, loan, work, etc. No add'l parent loans, no parent cosigning, its his loan, his debt. My adult son can and may incur any debt he feels appropriate, but I put a limit on what I am able to give him as a gift.</p>
<p>We didn't really set a limit and consequently have spent more on each subsequent child. Guess we have looked at it like orthodontia or a medical bill -- a financial part of parenting-- and if it doesn't totally break us and they keep grades on dean's list, we pay the bill.</p>
<p>We will continue to PRAY and pay whatever it takes as long as our D maintains at least a 3.0. We have always felt that financing her education was our responsibility.</p>
<p>Freshmom:</p>
<p>Does that mean if she falls below a 3.0 she has to drop out?</p>
<p>I don't think that undergrads should take out more than $10k-$15k in debt. Anything more than that cannot be paid off (comfortably or not) on a college grad's salary. Now, there are like two exceptions: if your kid is an investment banker at Goldman Sachs (i.e. got straight As at Harvard and has connections up the wazoo) or your kid is going into engineering. Then maybe $20k could be appropriate.</p>
<p>We told the kids that if they work hard in school and take it seriously, we'll pay whatever for the best (fit) college that they can get into. As someone here already posted, its like orthodontics or summer camp.....the cost of being a parent. We've been saving since their birth for it. Can't think of anything better to spend the money on.</p>
<p>I started saving when my son was born and had over $200k in the bank when he graduated from HS. He could have gone anywhere he wanted and chose a service academy. Go figure. Now I guess he can use it on a down payment on a house or grad school.</p>