<p>“For example, a friend’s daughter attended Harvard undergrad. and then Yale Medical School ($600,000); she then announced that she was getting married and would stay home to raise a family.”</p>
<p>In that case, the $$ spent will be put to one of the best possible uses: future generations. A well-educated mother will, on the whole, happier, healthier kids. Quite possibly she’ll work with and impact the teachers in the schools her future kids attend, contribute to the community in all kinds of ways. Sounds like a great investment to me.</p>
<p>neuron, aren’t there always risks associated with investments? to invest in an education seems like a good risk. it may not turn out as planned, but there are always surprises and one never knows where those surprises might take one. . .such is life. btw, congratulations on what sounds like a smart and caring family.</p>
I agree! It is wonderful for parents to pass on their love of education to future generations, but one certainly doesn’t have to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars at elite, private schools to do so. Just look at the generations of poor immigrant parents, many illiterate, who managed to pass on the importance of a good educaiton and work ethic to their children. Education happens everywhere.</p>
<p>
I think what is needed is an loving, attentive and motivated mother (and father!), not necessarily a formally educated one. It seems like the mother mentioned realized the value of face-to-face time with her kids. It is nice that she was able to attend Harvard and Yale, but she clearly realized that her presence was more valuable and she gave up a lot of income to that end.</p>
<p>You don’t need a $600,000 education to raise happy, healthy kids and be a stay at home mom fortunately unless like oldfort says she met a guy with a trust fund and a good job that she would not have met at the state school. Unfortunately those parents could have financed an $80,000 education but maybe they have a half million that doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Maybe so katliamom, but it is a question many families have when they are in the “gray area”. Paying for HYP-type schools is pretty much a no-brainer since really needy students go for free and others are usually happy to have the opportunity to pay for it. Affordable options like the state U or local community colleges are the reasonable pick for the cost-conscious or those on a tight budget. But there is a huge gray area where the cost-benefit analysis is causing many families some massive headaches!</p>
<p>I think its horrible to see college as an investment rather than an opportunity in a child’s life. A child’s “financial return” doesn’t necessarily have to do with the college that they graduated from but rather their abilities to succeed in life. I know many individuals that have graduated from top ten colleges only to be making slightly above minimum wage. Then there are individuals that are making fifty times that graduating from a low tier school or not even holding a degree.</p>
<p>College is not worth it if you have to struggle to make ends meet. Everyone should leave within their means and this applies directly to college. If you can get aid then fine, but if you’re not able to fork out $50k/year for your child’s college education then you sensibly shouldn’t. If you can afford it then go ahead.</p>
<p>It’s just so depressing to see families struggle with two jobs in order to get their children into a top rated college. There is no guarantee they will bring back that investment after graduation.</p>
<p>The million dollar issue is one I have experienced myself. In my case, I “lost” over a million dollars in income during the years I stayed home to raise my kids. I will lose far more than that over the course of my lifetime, though, because I had to take a job that pays less than $40k/year when I finally returned to the workforce. Do I consider it worthwhile? ABSOLUTELY. There is no doubt in my mind. </p>
<p>Now, if my family had been living on a sidewalk as a result of my lack of income, I would not consider my time off from the paid workforce as a smart move.</p>
<p>If the family who paid for their daughter’s expensive education could afford it if she worked afterward, they could afford it if she didn’t work afterward. Such is life.</p>
<p>What I find ironic are the people in my community who won’t think twice about spending 13 x $20K+ for a K12 education, then they criticize people spending 4 x $50K for college.</p>
<p>We started the process with exactly the OP’s opinion, we would pay full ticket for HYPSM and perhaps a few others, but not for most of the 50k schools. In the end though, a kid that had the credentials to be seriously considered for HYPSM is going to offerred loads of merit money at a wide range of schools. </p>
<p>Alas, our offspring was waitlisted, then rejected by Harvard, so we were not forced to act on our opinions…</p>
<p>Yes, it is a weird combination of feelings…For my son as well. I think, he really, really wanted to be accepted at Harvard, but did not want to actually attend Harvard! I, OTOH, really wanted to give him “the best”, but am pretty excited about not living on beans for the next four years…</p>
<p>There is something out of whack with need-blind Harvard’s $50K COA when 70% of its admitted class needs FA to go there. Since socio-economic status correlates to academic performance, one would assume that if H is truly need-blind, then the majority of the high-calibre students admitted to Harvard would turn out to come from the higher-income backgrounds.</p>
<p>If H was priced correctly, one would think it would be affordable for the average admitted student, and therefore less than 50% of its students should need FA. Either H is giving an advantage to a very large number of lower-income kids, or most likely, it is simply priced way too high for the above-average American to be able to pay for.</p>
<p>I believe Harvard and similar schools have given preference to URM’s (underrepresented minorities) over the past two decades - when endowments were swollen. IMO, now, with a reduction in endowments, students who don’t require financial aid have an advantage in admissions despite schools claiming need-blind evaluations.</p>
<p>Harvard’s recent policy of limiting a family’s outlay to 10% of income up to $180,000/year obviously helps more potential students - but it also helps Harvard compete for those students who would otherwise go to a top state school for a similar cost.</p>