Originally Posted by intparent
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This is why I'm gently encouraging DD8 to take up softball. She's got a cannon of an arm already, a very strong build, and she has the hands to make good contact. With some normal development with a bat and glove, and given the limited amount of competition for Title IX scholarships, she can get me off the hook for college tuition.

Dude, not sure if you are serious about this post or not... but if you are, you are assuming she would want to attend a college with D1 or D2 sports (where the scholarships are). A lot of the higher powered academic schools (not all, but a lot) are D3 and don't give sports scholarships. No Ivies give sports scholarships, for example... Plus the cost of traveling squads and development to really be eligible for a full scholarship in any sport is high. And the kid has to really want it... not because mom or dad wants them to earn a college scholarship, but in their hearts. Partly just to get good enough to earn the scholarship and partly to be willing to completely devote themselves to the sport all the way through high school and college.

And counting on the bottom falling out of the college market and prices dropping down to where you can easily afford them without savings... again, you are day dreaming.

I'd suggest you start putting money in a 529 account now and don't count on either of these things happening. Your D won't thank you for having no college savings because you expected one of these two very unlikely outcomes to come true. Or... maybe you were kidding...

I'm kidding on the square. You may also have noticed the term "gently" there earlier.

I'm not kidding at all when I say that my DD will not be attending an overpriced, brand-name school. I would consider forcing a child to play a sport she doesn't like to be kinder than trying to shoehorn her through the requirements for an Ivy acceptance. I consider that game to be like global thermonuclear war... the only way to win is not to play. I knew kids who were trying for that when I was in school, and I openly pitied them. And that was before helicoptering and gaming the system became recognized as necessary components of the process.

As for tuition declines in the next ten years... look through the news today and you'll easily find an article giving sound financial reasons for NOT pursuing a degree. That says the current price point is not sustainable at current demand levels. Impressionable young people (and the parents who finance them) are reading those articles with interest, and that can lead only to a decrease in demand. You'll find other articles that speak to a trend among young adults to reject debt accumulation. So no, I don't think I'm dreaming there at all. What goes up, must come down.

Now, I don't expect the Ivies to be among those hurt in price, because that's an arms race.