<p>Part of the problem is that most colleges do not take into account cost of living. A family with a gross income of $120K has much more disposable income if they live in a rural area than if they live in the DC, Boston, NYC or SF Bay areas.</p>
<p>So perhaps you could ask why this family making double median income is choosing to live in DC/Boston/NYC , if it’s so unaffordable?
;)</p>
<p>No one needs a quarter million dollar education. Sorry but $100k income can pay for an education at very good schools.</p>
<p>Here are the median household income estimates for some of the most expensive areas in the US:</p>
<p>Anchorage, AK: $71,769
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH: $69,983
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ: $63,915
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA: $75,707
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA: $86,286
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV: $85,660</p>
<p>There’s no question that $95,000 is more in some places than in others. But it’s not really low anywhere.
Perhaps you’d like to try being poor?
I’m not convinced that we are good enough at measuring the ‘quality of education’ to increase ‘quality’ by spending more.</p>
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<p>Uhhh . . . perhaps because that’s where the jobs where?</p>
<p>Again, hindsight is 20/20. Perhaps if the parents could have predicted in the early 1990s how all of this was going to play out, they would have made different decisions. But most parents simply can’t just uproot and move to a rural location and keep their high-paying jobs.</p>
<p>^exactly. That’s where the good paying jobs are.</p>
<p>We’ve known for some time that we would be hit hard, that the system is stacked against us. The problem is the attitude of entitlement the pervades our society. Many of these families may not have saved for college because they were saving for their retirement. Those at the $100,000 range (and even those with $200,000 split fairly evenly between 2 parents), pay Social Security taxes on their whole income, yet know Social Security won’t be enough to support themselves in retirement. And, when they collect Social Security, they are likely to be taxed on a significant portion of it. Meanwhile, they make sacrifices - they don’t enjoy the benefits of that higher income, because they have to save for their retirement plus their kids’ education. Meanwhile, down the street the family with $40,000 income lives in subsidized housing, gets food stamps, and drives a brand new car or has the latest game systems hooked up to a 50" television. I won’t argue I’d be better off with less income, but they’re living a similar lifestyle on far less income!</p>
<p>All along, they are aware that with $100,000 income, and 3 kids, they will end up with a family contribution of $20,000 or more. And because rates have gone so high, they will be expected to pay that $20,000 for their child to attend the state university, nothing fancy. Maybe they were smart, and socked $4,000 away every year for their child (x3), which was of course AFTER taxes, so it accounts for a total of almost $20,000 in earnings each year. But wait, I have 3 kids, and $150,000 saved to send them to school. We’ll get dinged for higher EFC directly because of that money we saved! And down the street, those kids can get the same education with me (as a taxpayer) once again paying. The value of the education is the same, the ability to pay off loans will be the same, yet by virtue of our ability to pay our own way, we are charged more.</p>
<p>I realize that $100,000 sounds like a great deal to those making only $50,000 but it doesn’t go very far, particularly in certain parts of the country. It may be “rich” in areas with a low cost of living, but where we live many with that income are still living paycheck-to-paycheck. It’s hard not to resent that families with significantly less income are living the same lifestyle, if not better, at our (taxpayer) expense, and it continues on through the college years. Why should I save $20,000 to be chipped away as EFC over the next 11 years while my kids are in college, when I could spend the same $20,000 on a nice car, or use it to replace the room or windows in my home? If course, if my kid wants to go to a profile school, even doing that won’t help.</p>
<p>Don’t even start about low income people having nice cars and such. It’s by and large a myth and those who do are getting cracked down on considerably.</p>
<p>And Connecticut (which I’m assuming you’re from by your name) has a five year cap on at least many transitional welfare benefits so what do those families do for the other 13 years of their children’s lives?</p>
<p>I was interviewed for this article. (Not quoted, though.) The reporter, Ruth Simon, contacted me through CC. Did anyone else get her PM?</p>
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<p>That wasn’t very nice. I’m not from money and i’m paying for all of my college myself.</p>
<p>So yes, i’m going to find myself being very poor for a while. Paying for college seems to be a crapshoot for a lot of people involved, parents and students, rich and poor alike.</p>
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<p>Simply not true. Yes, the kids would likely get enough federal assistance to be able to afford community college - but not without also having to take out loans, in most cases. And that only gets them through the first two years of college . . . what about the other two? The kids are going to graduate with significant debt - like your middle class kids - but may well not have the same job opportunities as the middle class kid. That middle class upbringing had its advantages.</p>
<p>I proudly saved $100/month for each of my kids since they were born. Now my oldest is 18 and the $45,000 in her college savings account seems like a pittance.</p>
<p>
Not trying to be mean; just pointing out that this thread clearly belongs in the ‘first world problems’ category.</p>
<p>A household income above $95,000 is solidly on the upper end of the middle class even in high cost-of-living areas. There are a lot of people making do with less, and quite frankly even the ‘poor’ in America are on the upper end of global living standards.</p>
<p>So, that’s why I really don’t think it “sucks to be middle class”. Sorry if my point was unclear.</p>
<p>FWIW, I’m from a relatively high-income household in an expensive city. I was fortunate enough to find a merit scholarship, but I also applied to schools that would have been affordable even at the rack rate. The rate at which college tuition has risen is a problem but you can still shop around and find a fair deal.</p>
<p>This issue can be simply fixed…Go to a school you CAN afford…Why should you feel cheated that you can’t afford a pricey education? There IS an affordable college for almost everyone, perhaps not your dream school,but it will get you a college degree</p>
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<p>What kind of “fair deal” (other than community college) is going to be affordable to a family that can’t afford to pay more than $10 - 20k per year??? Yes, some state schools fall within that range . . . and some don’t.</p>
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There is nothing wrong with community college.</p>
<p>Almost every state has affordable four-year colleges. If not, there are cheaper OOS options if you take the time to look.</p>
<p>Every state school system has colleges with much lower COA then 20k, perhaps you may have to commute,but if thats all you can afford, that is what one needs to do</p>
<p>For many of us, even when the finances have worked out nicely, sending a kid or kids to college is a financially scary and difficult thing. Which is not to say that scary and difficult things aren’t worthwhile, but especially when the parents haven’t attended college, the whole process can be a little overwhelming and it would be nice to have a free ride so that there is less to deal with and worry about for four years. So sometimes when people are complaining and stressing about the money, it’s actually more than that. Worry that the kid won’t get in somewhere affordable, worry that the parents don’t have the knowledge and experience to find a place that is appropriate and affordable, worry that we will make a mistake that has dire consequences for our kids. I don’t know about all of you, but at 3 am I can frequently convince myself that the choice of fine College A over fine College B is a mistake of epic proportion for my kids. So oftentimes it’s the money that’s the trigger, but it’s a much more comprehensive set of concerns.</p>
<p>I’ve been criticized for saying this before, but I think there should be support (not financial, but academic and social) for all students who are first generation because there are so many things that non-college-attending parents don’t know and can’t pass along.</p>
<p>* . . . perhaps because that’s where the jobs where?*</p>
<p>Right, so they have a good job, as opposed to those living in rural area with possibly lower costs of living.
And their complaint is?..</p>