Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion college plan

We're not doing any college finance planning. While I do have two college degrees, I'm a stay at home mom and my husband is a trucker. If I went to work in the next few years, we'd spend more money on care for our special needs kids than I'd bring home ... or it would balance out but in the end we'd be worse off. So we're doing it all on one working income, while living in a fairly expensive area (northern Illinois). If the boys want to go to college some day (and we don't push for it unless it's what THEY want and take responsibility for), they will have to have the smarts (they do NOT have the athletic ability! lol) and grades to get in with as much financial aid (and by that I don't mean loans) as possible ... coupled with workstudy / resident assistant / or other on or off campus jobs that will pay for most or all their remaining expenses. Does not matter what school as long as it's a decent quality / safe school. If they have the will, they can do it.

Your kids won't really have a choice on the loans... very few colleges give need based aid packages that don't have at least federal loans as part of the package. Also, regardless of whether you intend to pay or not, the colleges will require your financial information and assume you will help out as they believe you are able (which may truly not be much, but they will ask for the information). It used to be true that kids could work their way through college without parental help when we were that age, but it is far more difficult today. Any help parents can give is a pretty huge benefit. There are ways to keep college expenses down - living at home and attending state schools are the most obvious ones, although that depends on your state. Even in-state tuition is climbing pretty high in a lot of states.

Yes, indigo, what I meant was that most tax-deferred savings options for retirement lock up the money so you could not use it for college expenses. And I have to say that schools that use the CSS Profile do look at those assets -- I don't believe most count it as money you could spend on college, but they do look at what you contribute during the years you kid is in college and add at least some of that back into what they would expect you to be able to pay for tuition. I am not an expert on the calculation (go to the financial aid forum on College Confidential to find those wizards), though.

We plan on helping both DDs with post secondary education and have been saving in general for both of them. I plan on returning to work within the next five years to help with our financial goals. Hopefully we will be in a position to pay for both of their entire tuitions when the time comes however, they are being raised with the idea that they have to contribute towards paying for the cost of whatever further schooling they choose.

They will be expected to get summer or after school jobs during high school and university. Some of the money earned from these jobs will go towards tuition or paying for books. We will help them with any shortfall.

We've decided that we will only help in terms of the actual cost of attending school (tuition, other associated fees and books, possibly transportation). We live within commuting distance to several good universities/colleges/trade schools. The girls are free to move out and live on or off campus. As this will be their own choice, it will be their responsibility to pay for residence. They are welcome to stay at home for free.

DH and I both contributed to paying for our educations in various ways (scholarships, bursaries, part time jobs) and we feel that doing so was a positive experience. We want the girls to have the same experience.

I'm pretty sure that at most colleges / universities being an RA still gives you free housing and food ... work studies pay for part of your tuition ... and then there are scholarships. If that doesn't work, there's always the option to go to school part time while working. Quite honestly I consider the 4 years of on campus life a pretty big waste of time and $, basically a high school re-do, so while we might do our best to help out if we think they do deserve it and are working hard for it, we will be leaving it up to them.

I just don't look at school loans as "financial aid" ...to me they are a serious burden, no aid at all. I'd rather my kids spend 8 years going to college part time and be debt free than be done in 4 years and be living on Ramen noodles for the next 20 years.

You can't be an RA as a freshman. And not everyone who applies for an RA position gets one after that. Work study is a federal aid program (you have to fill out the FAFSA, and the college decides whether and how much to award if you meet the qualifications). But work study is not a lot of money usually... Also, at many colleges if they award you a merit scholarship, they just turn around and reduce the need based aid by that amount, so your cost of attendance is the same. Some colleges even do this if you earn outside scholarships (so they knock that amount off your need based aid). It is much, much harder to go to college "on your own" than it used to be.

Regarding loans, the most a student can take out on their own in loans is $5,500 each year freshman and sophomore year, $6,500 junior year, and $7,500 senior year. Total is $25,000. Any loans beyond that require a co-signer (usually a parent). So there is some cap of how much they can take out on their own.

And... sorry, but it seems ridiculous to give up four years of full time earning power with a college education to avoid taking out any loans at all. There are some situations in which really limiting loans make sense -- for example, kids who expect to go to grad school in areas where they typically would need to pay full price with no stipends. Or those who major in areas with very poor employment prospects -- although federal loans have a forgiveness component built in if your income is low over a long period of time. The odds are a whole lot higher of living on Ramen for 20 years for people who don't go to college at all.

We'd prefer DD to go to a university in Europe so we're not planning to save the full cost of a college degree in US. If she decides that she MUST go to Harvard or Stanford then we won't tell her she can't go (we're poor enough that she'll get a full ride) bet we're also not going to do crazy things to increase her odds.

Mana ... that's another option for us too. Dual citizenship means many other options in Europe for our kids too.

I was simplifying. Just naming various options that are out there. I have plenty of friends who have done it and not that long ago.

I do find it important to get out of college debt free if at all possible. Far too many people aren't even using their degrees and the last thing I would want my kids to have to do is paying off loans for something they decide not to do or not be able to find a job in that field.

Yes, dual citizenship comes handy.

There are also some countries in Europe that offers free education to foreign students but the cost of living and lack of FA might make it more expensive at the end.