What does your kid get besides (perhaps) some college tuition?

[LRS]

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).

 

[Lusitan]

My savings target is 4 years of of tuition+room+board+fees at an average public 4 year university, which is about $40K in current dollars per kid.

This is probably the ideal plan for us too. It will give the kid the option to graduate from a "good" school debt-free, and if he wants to go to a private school or whatever, it will cover some of that cost while he learns the value of money (if he hasn't already) and pays for the rest himself through work and school loans.

 

[SecondCor521]

By the by, I gave a wrong figure above. According to the College Board, the tuition+room+board+fees number for an average public 4 year university is $13,589. That is as of last September; they update their numbers annually in the fall. So the real 4 year total is about $54K right now, and that's going up at about 6% annually.

Anyway, the real point I'd like to make is to not trust what anyone is spouting off on a message board and check the numbers yourself with a reputable expert.

2Cor521

 

[Lusitan]

Thanks for the update, 2Cor521

I had been ballparking 50K, but I've got a ways to go on hitting that number for kid #1 anyway, but it'll probably be more like 60K by the time I reach that goal. Still, it's an attainable goal.

I'm using a 529 for those savings, the state income tax deduction in NY is nice, and Vanguard administers the plan so I think the expense ratios are reasonable.

 

[Texarkandy]

Although I was among the many of you who
1. "suffered"
&
2. learned a "good work-ethic"
&
3. learned the "value of a dollar" -

I don't necessarily believe #2 & #3 are a direct result/consequence of #1.

Mine doesn't go to college for four more years, & I expect good grades & to learn something that applies a "real" career, but I want and expect her to have a good time (within reason) too.

 

[saluki9]

In the case of our two daughters, we established some guidelines:

- They were expected to return home during the summer, work (both had lifeguard jobs at our neighborhood pool) and save for future expenses.
- Both were encouraged to take a few basic courses during the summers prior to their Freshman and Sophomore years. Kept costs down and allowed them to take slightly lighter loads during the school year.
- We would pay all tuition, fees, books, room & board costs for four, and only four, years of school.
- They would be provided an experienced but reliable car to drive beginning their Soph year, provided they maintained a 3.0 or higher GPA. If grades declined, the car was gone.
- We would provide a very modest monthly allowance for gas and spending money. If they wanted more, they had to save from summer jobs or find part-time jobs.
- They were both encouraged to find part-time work beginning the second year of school provided they worked no more than 15-20 hours per week.
- We would not pay for non-essential items (Spring break trips, etc.) nor would we pay for either to join a sorority.

Looking back, I wonder if we (OK, if I) wasn't a little too strict. But they both made it in 4 years, made good grades, got good jobs...and off my payroll!

This is exactly what my folks did with me to the letter. It worked out well for both of us.

I know it can be done, but looking back I'm very glad I didn't have a job while school was in session.

 

[Rustic23]

I got this from a friend after our kids were through college, however, it sounded like a good plan.

He told his kids they were going to school on student loans. When they graduated he would pick up those loans. If they did not graduate, they were their loans. His first son went for a couple of years and dropped out. When the loan payments started to come due he ask his dad if the deal was still good. It was, he went back to school and graduated. It took our son almost double the normal time to get through school. After the first 5 years we told him he was on his own. It took a girl to get him through.

 

[accountingsucks]

I have no kids, but if I do they will get absolutely nothing. Why would I pay for a four year university education that will yield a poor paying job for them when they can go to a trade school and be making 6 figures 3 or 4 years thereafter? I'd be setting them up for failure - at least where I live.

 

[Bestwifeever]

I went to a really cheap college that my parents paid for (with no discussion beforehand of how it would happen--and my father was quite sarcastic every time he sent a check to the college about what else he could be doing with that money). My three siblings barely graduated from high school and did not go to college.

We paid for our kids' tuition, room and board, books, and travel. They worked summers for spending money. One had a partial scholarship, the other a campus job that by senior year gave us an 85% tuition credit (she worked, we benefited). One is now in grad school with a full scholarship and a grant for housing expenses.

Our kids always knew we would pay for their college--I think knowing how college will financially "happen" (no matter what your family plan is, to help them pay for it or not) was important to our kids and helped keep them focused on academics. They had summer jobs in high school but did extracurricular stuff during the school year that brought us all a lot of pleasure.

DH and I have always lived far below our means so we were able to choose to do this. But we know other parents who choose not to and that's fine too--from a kid's perspective I guess it's more important to know either way up front.

 

[kumquat]

My kids got their education paid for. I think I broke even on this. DD decided to go for post secondary education at MRC in Calgary in 1999. Did a 'rent vs buy' analysis. Thought I might do a bit better by buying. Put 10K down on 90K condo. A year ago, asking price in the complex was $250K, now $220K. DD is now moving, did I do OK (DD paid most of the payments, one term she worked full time as a full time student)?

Beyond that, I have 2 kids. My SWR is about 2%. Sometime the kids will be glad I've finally croaked. Better them than the SallyAnn.

 

[bow-tie]

Our little one is a ways away from college. I'm not sure exactly how we'll handle. I want him to have some skin in the game, to hopefully keep him motivated.

If mom and dad are footing tuition AND room/baord, then the kid(s) can surely come up with the rest. I remember stretching the dollars month to month until summer came and I could replenish my savings.