<p>I’m quite sure most people on this forum think I am abundantly generous with my kids. BUT we did set firm guidelines for them as they set off to their expensive private schools which we largely funded. First…we agreed to pay for ONLY four years. No more. We also did not provide a nickel of discretionary spending money…including for books. The kids were expected to work to earn that money. We expected a GPA of 3.0 or better because that was what it took to continue their merit awards. We made it very clear that if they lost the merit awards, they would be invited to come home to one of our instate public universities. And we also made it VERY clear that they would sign the privacy paperwork giving us access to their bursars account for billing purposes, and their grades. We never needed to look at the grades because another condition of payment was that the grades be given to us…in writing…at the end of each term. No grades…no tuition payments made. GPA below 3.0…no tuition payment made.</p>
<p>Oh. And our kids did take the Stafford loans each year. That way some of the money for college was THEIRS.</p>
<p>Maybe that sounds like hardball, but we spent a LOT of money to fund the education our kids received. They had NO problem with our guidelines. They were very grateful we agreed to pay for their schools.</p>
<p>I would bet that there were times when they had to make a decision about studying vs. partying.</p>