We're on the west coast, our son goes to school on the east coast. We pay for two round trip tickets home (Christmas break and a trip home after school is out). No spring break in Mexico, no car, but I pay for his phone on my family plan.
DS pays one quarter for his education (a little more than that, actually) through work and scholarships. He has a modest loan each year which will amount to about $20,000 when he graduates. (Funny how that number keeps coming up).
We pay one quarter of the total cost (tuition/fees/room/books) through a monthly payment plan, from our salaries and from income from a rental property. The remaining half is a gift from his deceased grandparents on both sides. Bless their hearts.
This year DS is staying in a dorm but not buying the meal plan--he says the food is expensive and lousy. He will work a few more hours per week during the school year to support himself. He feels he can do this without affecting his gpa (about 3.4 last year).
My parents didn't pay for my college. I was independent of them by age 17. That doesn't mean I think it is a swell idea to raise children like that. I think my son is doing a good job of becoming more independent by taking on more work, getting good grades in school, and by wanting to live on his own during the summer. He's back on the east coast right now, living with friends and working (and not asking for money).
DS pays one quarter for his education (a little more than that, actually) through work and scholarships. He has a modest loan each year which will amount to about $20,000 when he graduates. (Funny how that number keeps coming up).
We pay one quarter of the total cost (tuition/fees/room/books) through a monthly payment plan, from our salaries and from income from a rental property. The remaining half is a gift from his deceased grandparents on both sides. Bless their hearts.
This year DS is staying in a dorm but not buying the meal plan--he says the food is expensive and lousy. He will work a few more hours per week during the school year to support himself. He feels he can do this without affecting his gpa (about 3.4 last year).
My parents didn't pay for my college. I was independent of them by age 17. That doesn't mean I think it is a swell idea to raise children like that. I think my son is doing a good job of becoming more independent by taking on more work, getting good grades in school, and by wanting to live on his own during the summer. He's back on the east coast right now, living with friends and working (and not asking for money).