Parents paying tuition

[Honolulu Blue]

First a little story, and I'll try to be brief. Back when dinosaurs ruled the earth and good universities charged .26 of an arm and .14 of a leg for tuition, I went to college. My expenses were paid for from many different sources - the feds, the state, the local school district, the college itself, a private sponsor or two, some chick named Sallie, my own work and savings, and even the church chipped in a bit. My parents didn't pay for any of it. Oh, they provided a ride to and from school (sometimes), paid for those financial aid form filings, and provided a place to crash when I wasn't in school. Don't think I sound resentful, because I'm not. I appreciate everything that Mom and Dad gave me, and I never wanted for what they could not provide. But it sure was an eye opener to meet others who had different circumstances.

So... I'm just curious about how the other half have live/lived.

[molson]

I definitely hear you on the eye opener thing. Everyone kind of seems like a financial peer pre-college, but then the difference in family wealth REALLY starts to stand out.

A lot of my freshman class just kind of disapeared for financial reasons. I was extremely fortunate to have my parents' help with rent and books, and then grants to cover most of tuition leaving a reasonable amount of debt. There were a lot of people worse off, and a lot of people better off who could play around Europe in the summers, etc. I feel lucky though, it would have been a lot more difficult without the help.

I think the next stage in this kind of eye-opener is when you reach your mid-30s, and people start inheriting money from their parents. It's a little demoralizing when you nickle and dime your way to a down payment on a cheap house, and then see peers, who basically live the same lifestyle, get a check for $100,000+, or a house out of the blue. I don't resent them though, and I'm definitely still lucky on the whole.

[ISiddiqui]

My parents paid all for undergrad, mostly because I got a scholarship that cut the tuition in half, and I went to a state school. I was on the hook for the entirety of law school though, and I took out a few loans.

[spleen1015]

I have never been enrolled in college. When it came time to figure out what to do after high school, I decided to join the Air Force because I knew there was no way my parents were going to be able to pay for college. I wasn't mature enough then to know what to do to do it on my own either.

If my kids decide to go to college, I will definitely be paying for it.

[Eaglesfan27]

My mother couldn't afford to pay for college or med school, but I'd gladly pay for my future kids college as long as they are making progress towards a degree.

[wade moore]

My mother couldn't afford to pay for college or med school, but I'd gladly pay for my future kids college as long as they are making progress towards a degree.

+1

[spleen1015]

I know it is early, but I am surprised by the results. I've always thought it was fucked up that my parents weren't financially responsible enough to do this.

[Logan]

I voted even, although I'm not sure exactly what the breakdown was. I took out loans for about half the cost, paying one back myself while my parents paid back another. Recently I started paying that loan myself as I'm doing ok financially and them not so great.

My parents paid for about 80% of my brother's and sister's educations, and paid less for mine due to some difficulties around when I started school. Any time I get upset about the extra burden falling on me I smack myself for not thinking about how much they've provided for me in all other ways.

[DaddyTorgo]

My parents paid for my undergrad entirely. I mean I had a job at the time and I was paying for books/commuting (once i started living at home to save them a ton), etc, but they covered all of the tuition.

Of course I feel hugely indebted to them at this point in my life given everything, and should I ever start actually doing well financially here I intend to pay them back via paying down/off their mortgage.

[Honolulu_Blue]

My parents paid all for undergrad, mostly because I got a scholarship that cut the tuition in half, and I went to a state school. I was on the hook for the entirety of law school though, and I took out a few loans.

Ditto for me. My folks paid for undergrad, but I paid for law school with a combination of federal and private loans.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'm not voting at this point because my situation is kind of outside the norm.
Had I have gone to college straight out of high school, my parents were paying for everything loans/aid didn't cover. Since I didn't go until I was nearly 30, I paid for it.

[Fidatelo]

My parents put away money in bonds and GICs each year from when I was born until I finished high school (I think it was usually 100 or 200 dollars, and my Grandma would chip in another 100 or so). When I graduated high school I had about 6000 or so, I think, to use for school. So they said I could go to whatever school I want, take whatever classes I want, etc, but once the money ran out I was on my own. Oh, and the money was not for anything else... it wasn't 'mine', they just used it to pay for my tuition and books.

I think it would have been enough to put me through about 3 years of university at the local ones, at the time. I took 1 year of university, then dropped out. A year later I went to college and took a 2 year program. When I was done, I think there was a few hundred dollars left over that they then agreed to give me to put into an RRSP.

All in all it seemed like a smart way to do things, and I really appreciated it. It put me in a solid position, but also put some onus on me to not eff around because it wasn't a bottomless pit.

[Butter]

I didn't pay a dime. Got a full academic scholarship.

My wife had hers almost totally paid for by her parents.

Neither one of us had to get loans. I am very thankful that we didn't have to start our lives together owing thousands of school loans.

[rowech]

In fact, my beloved parents in their infinite wisdom gave me a credit card to charge books on saying this was what they would pay. I graduate and I take over the credit card payments to find almost $10,000 in debt on there. Seems they paid minimum payments the whole time, were late just about every month, and then charged some things on their own.

Yep...you can say I'll never forgive them for it. Put me in a whole that was almost impossible to dig out of as I could only afford minimum payments myself after graduating so the fees just kept coming. As of two months ago, my credit card was paid off. One of the most amazing feelings in my life to have no debt other than cars, house, and my student loans.

[Calis]

I paid for all of mine, and will be paying for it many years to come.

I went to the Air Force out of High School because I knew I was on my own financially and at the time I wouldn't have taken school the least bit serious. I just finally finished school last December and am sitting on a decent chunk of student loans.

Hated having to take so many loans out, but the private school I attended was worth the extra cost for me.

I think paying for everything sure made me work harder and focus more. Makes me wonder if paying for your kids to go through college is as great as we think it is.

Maybe I will pay them for finishing insteadm :)

[MikeVic]

I paid for all of mine, and will be paying for it many years to come.

I went to the Air Force out of High School because I knew I was on my own financially and at the time I wouldn't have taken school the least bit serious. I just finally finished school last December and am sitting on a decent chunk of student loans.

Hated having to take so many loans out, but the private school I attended was worth the extra cost for me.

I think paying for everything sure made me work harder and focus more. Makes me wonder if paying for your kids to go through college is as great as we think it is.

Maybe I will pay them for finishing insteadm :)

Maybe it depends on how they were raised as well. I had around half of my tuition paid for, but once I started making alright money during school I had to pay for it myself. But I didn't slack any more or less just because school was being paid for.

[Logan]

I know it is early, but I am surprised by the results. I've always thought it was fucked up that my parents weren't financially responsible enough to do this.

I saw this coming. Where I grew up, I'm very much in the minority when it comes to my friends/people I know as far as what I paid personally for school, but knew I had it pretty good compared to what's typical across the country.

[Telle]

My first year they paid for half of what wasn't covered by grants and federal loans. After that I decided to move in with RendeR and they said they wouldn't pay for my schooling if I did so. So I promptly got a job and a bank loan and cut the apron strings.

[DeToxRox]

Currently paying for my own. Have about 7 grand in loans out now but I've paid half of one off up until this point. I am not planning on just stopping school after I finish up this degree either so one it's done I will be hopefully getting a job and payin' for round two.

Though I should note my lovely girlfriend of almost three years is finishing up nursing school soon and is a tireless worker who chances are will be working all the OT she can get her hands on. She herself has no student loans and not that I'd ever be so cunning but let's just say I won't have to worry about paying it all back myself.

[lungs]

I was much too high risk of an investment for my folks to kick in anything significant.

[BrianD]

I didn't pay a dime. Got a full academic scholarship.

Neither one of us had to get loans. I am very thankful that we didn't have to start our lives together owing thousands of school loans.

Similar situation here. My wife and I both finished in the top 2 in our respective high schools, so we had our tuition paid for. We also had enough other scholarships to take care of books and lodging. Neither of us had to take any loans.

I'm pretty sure both of our parents would have helped out quite a bit with tuition if we'd needed it, but we didn't.

[NoSkillz]

I went to university between 1992 and 1995 so tuition was much cheaper back then.

I worked a fulltime job Monday to Friday all summer long and netted about $8000.00 during the four month period. I also worked at the local grocery store for a full shift on Saturdays.

The Monday to Friday money went directly into the bank for school while the Saturday money was my summer spending money (usually around $100 to $120 per full shift).

Tuition and books were about $5000/year back then and my parents paid for my rent and my food. So I had about $3000 left over for spending money during the year, enough that I didn't need to get a job during the school year.

The cool thing was what happened once I was finished school. My old man took me aside and gave me a cheque for $24,000, essentially matching everything I had saved for my three years of school. He told me he just wanted to teach me about saving money and how important it was for the future as well.

I was extremely lucky, obviously, and I hope I'm in a good enough financial position to be able to do the same thing for my son when he hits college/university.

[Radii]

I took out a Stafford Loan(I think that's the one) up to the max limit I was allowed to, my parents took out loans for the rest.

EDIT: After my first couple co-op quarters at Georgia Tech, I moved into off campus apartments and was responsible for my own living expenses, which reduced(but never completely erased) the amount my parents financed.

[King of New York]

I paid about 15-20 percent for undergraduate, parents paid the rest. My parents wanted very hard for their kids to ascend the social/professional ladder, and that made them willing to pay tuition for a fairly expensive private school, even though I could have gone to a state school and gotten a free ride.

But I had several friends whose parents figured that all college degrees were the same, and who would pay only the bare minimum.

[DaddyTorgo]

My first year they paid for half of what wasn't covered by grants and federal loans. After that I decided to move in with RendeR and they said they wouldn't pay for my schooling if I did so. So I promptly got a job and a bank loan and cut the apron strings.


they really love RendeR hmmm? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[wade moore]

I paid about 15-20 percent for undergraduate, parents paid the rest. My parents wanted very hard for their kids to ascend the social/professional ladder, and that made them willing to pay tuition for a fairly expensive private school, even though I could have gone to a state school and gotten a free ride.

But I had several friends whose parents figured that all college degrees were the same, and who would pay only the bare minimum.

Fortunately for me I was able to go to a very good school, that was also in-state public. With that I had loans and need-based grants. I've been out of school for 7 years and I still owe around 20k.

[MikeVic]

I went to university between 1992 and 1995 so tuition was much cheaper back then.

I worked a fulltime job Monday to Friday all summer long and netted about $8000.00 during the four month period. I also worked at the local grocery store for a full shift on Saturdays.

The Monday to Friday money went directly into the bank for school while the Saturday money was my summer spending money (usually around $100 to $120 per full shift).

Tuition and books were about $5000/year back then and my parents paid for my rent and my food. So I had about $3000 left over for spending money during the year, enough that I didn't need to get a job during the school year.

The cool thing was what happened once I was finished school. My old man took me aside and gave me a cheque for $24,000, essentially matching everything I had saved for my three years of school. He told me he just wanted to teach me about saving money and how important it was for the future as well.

I was extremely lucky, obviously, and I hope I'm in a good enough financial position to be able to do the same thing for my son when he hits college/university.

That's awesome.

[JPhillips]

Parents paid for what wasn't covered by scholarships in undergrad, but grad school was all on me.

[Ksyrup]

My parents paid all for undergrad, mostly because I got a scholarship that cut the tuition in half, and I went to a state school. I was on the hook for the entirety of law school though, and I took out a few loans.

Same here, except my parents sacrificed far more than they should have for my college tuition.

[Honolulu Blue]

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your college funding stories. Please keep them coming.

One quick note - I meant for the poll to cover undergraduate tuition only.

I definitely hear you on the eye opener thing. Everyone kind of seems like a financial peer pre-college, but then the difference in family wealth REALLY starts to stand out.

A lot of my freshman class just kind of disapeared for financial reasons. I was extremely fortunate to have my parents' help with rent and books, and then grants to cover most of tuition leaving a reasonable amount of debt. There were a lot of people worse off, and a lot of people better off who could play around Europe in the summers, etc. I feel lucky though, it would have been a lot more difficult without the help.

I think the next stage in this kind of eye-opener is when you reach your mid-30s, and people start inheriting money from their parents. It's a little demoralizing when you nickle and dime your way to a down payment on a cheap house, and then see peers, who basically live the same lifestyle, get a check for $100,000+, or a house out of the blue. I don't resent them though, and I'm definitely still lucky on the whole.

I've definitely been lucky throughout life and I wouldn't trade my life for anyone elses.

Despite the patchwork nature of my funding, I was never in serious jeopardy of running out of money for tuition. What scholarships/grants couldn't cover, I dipped into savings for, then got a job, then started borrowing.

I don't think any of my closest friends have gotten big inheritances, but they've grown apart in ways that were both predictable and not. I think we're all richer because I've gone this-a-way and they went that-a-way.

From JimGA:

I'm not voting at this point because my situation is kind of outside the norm.
Had I have gone to college straight out of high school, my parents were paying for everything loans/aid didn't cover. Since I didn't go until I was nearly 30, I paid for it.

I'd say count what happened and not what could have or should have happened.

[gstelmack]

My father was a teacher and my mother was a nurse, there was very little money for college. I went to a state school on mostly scholarships plus some minor grants and a loan or two and worked for the rest of it. I had an opportunity to go to MIT, but most of it would have been loans and there was no way I was graduating with $40K-$60K in debt (we're talking late 80s here), so I stayed in-state where I could afford it. My parents helped with some cash-flow crisis moments, but it was pretty much all on me.

I'm in a much better financial situation than my parents and we are saving for our kids, but I firmly believe they should have to work for it as well. I don't want my kids thinking everything will get handed to them; I ran into enough kids whose parents were paying for everything who felt that way and had no clue how to actually survive if they had to rent an apartment or turn on the electricity or work for themselves. Our hope is to have enough put away to make sure they can graduate, but not tell them and hand it over very grudingly when they really need it. Anything left when they graduate will be their present...

[SportsDino]

Scholarships for most everything, a little bit in loans near the end for housing (on campus). I considered myself lucky to get my AP tests paid for by my mother, and had to convince her to do that (took nearly a year of the most inane requirements right off my college time). Did not get anything during college other than a place to crash during the summers I wasn't at school.

I qualified for a number of grants and such too, because we were poor, but none of them really applied until the last year or so which I used instead of loans as much as possible.

Left undergrad in pretty good financial shape, after that was a roller coaster in both directions. :eek:

[kcchief19]

My mom went through a bad marriage and divorce when I was in high school that virtually wiped her out. I went to school on an academic scholarship for two years and lived at home, then transferred and used scholarships, loans and my own money.

My political rant here: I was significantly screwed in college by the federal loan program. At the time, the federal financial aid program determined how much your family could contribute to your college expenses. You were only eligible to borrow money to cover expenses that could not be provided by your you and family minus scholarships. Unfortunately, my mom had a decent job but no savings and a ton of debt, but the financial aid program only looked at the salary. When I transferred my junior year, my loan eligibility was about $2,200. Midway through the semester when the loan check arrived, it was for $200 -- they didn't realize I had a $2,000 scholarship and knocked that off my loan. That destroyed my budget and I had to quit after the semester to work and save money. This was in the fall of '92.

Needless to say, I campaigned crazy for Clinton and one of the first things he signed as president was a measure that allowed college students to obtain loans for their entire college expenses regardless of their family background. As a result, I was able to comfortably resume my studies thanks to our good friend Sallie, who got her money back and then some.

[sabotai]

Parents covered my books, and would have probably covered everything that grants and loans didn't cover but as it turned out, my grants and loans pretty much covered my tuition and room & board so they didn't have to.

[lordscarlet]

I'm in a much better financial situation than my parents and we are saving for our kids, but I firmly believe they should have to work for it as well. I don't want my kids thinking everything will get handed to them; I ran into enough kids whose parents were paying for everything who felt that way and had no clue how to actually survive if they had to rent an apartment or turn on the electricity or work for themselves. Our hope is to have enough put away to make sure they can graduate, but not tell them and hand it over very grudingly when they really need it. Anything left when they graduate will be their present...

I am torn on this. If I ever do have kids, I agree, yet don't at the same time. I think (among other factors) that I didn't finish college because I was working 25ish hours per week (of course, so was Wade). Do I want to put that undue burden on my child when they could be spending that time studying? No. Do I think they'll use that extra time to study? No. :) It's hard to say. Perhaps only requiring work during the summer is enough. And not giving them a car or any of the crap they dont' need.

[gstelmack]

I am torn on this. If I ever do have kids, I agree, yet don't at the same time. I think (among other factors) that I didn't finish college because I was working 25ish hours per week (of course, so was Wade). Do I want to put that undue burden on my child when they could be spending that time studying? No. Do I think they'll use that extra time to study? No. :) It's hard to say. Perhaps only requiring work during the summer is enough. And not giving them a car or any of the crap they dont' need.

Oh, I agree that there is no exact line here. I worked about 20-ish hours per week to pay for stuff, but I was also one who didn't need tons and tons of studying time to get through classes. Finding the right blend of making sure they are contributing to their education while also making sure they have what they need to succeed will be a fine balancing act.

[Danny]

Bachelors my dad paid all of it. Grad school, I and the government pay all of it. I believe that if you have the means and your kid shows that they will work hard you the bachelor's should definitely be paid for.

Also, I went to a JC for as long as I could and then went to an in state, state school, so my education costs was likely much lower than most others.

[lordscarlet]

Oh, I agree that there is no exact line here. I worked about 20-ish hours per week to pay for stuff, but I was also one who didn't need tons and tons of studying time to get through classes. Finding the right blend of making sure they are contributing to their education while also making sure they have what they need to succeed will be a fine balancing act.

I also believe a huge factor was my school's foreign language requirement. The little bit of time I did spend studying was 90% to language and I still got D's. Everything else if I applied myself I did well in (of course, not goign to class and not completing the work load is never a good formula for passing classes).

[Noop]

Full ride. I am sure they would have paid if they had too. However they are helping me pay for Law School so that is always good. Hopefully I will be able to save another 20-25k since I am working until I go to law school. I have some friends who have 100k in debt while in undergrad. These people have majors that typically do not generate a lot of income.

[Marc Vaughan]

I paid for all living expenses AND drink while at university* - always knew I'd have to if I went because neither parent was in a situation where they could help (and to be honest I probably wouldn't have accepted more than a token amount if it'd been offered - I've always been quite proud of standing on my own two feet).

*No tuition expense in England at University (at least back when I studied - not sure what its like now).

[terpkristin]

My folks made an agreement with all 3 of us that they'd cover our undergraduate education if we went in-state (or the equivalent of in-state if we went out of state or private), anything after that was on our own.

I went to my state school (UMD) and finished in 7 semesters instead of 8, I was allowed to use the money they didn't pay for that 8th semester to purchase a (used) car.

I was fortunate enough to get a research assistantship for my grad work (tuition covered + stipend).

My sister went to a small private school in PA, and she's had more issues with grad school funding (she's getting her PhD in psychology), so she's got more debt.

My brother spent 3 days in college. They ended up having to pay for a semester.

If/when (I hope when!) I have kids, I plan to make the same deal with them that my folks made with us.

/tk

[Marc Vaughan]

I went to university between 1992 and 1995 so tuition was much cheaper back then.

I worked a fulltime job Monday to Friday all summer long and netted about $8000.00 during the four month period. I also worked at the local grocery store for a full shift on Saturdays.

The Monday to Friday money went directly into the bank for school while the Saturday money was my summer spending money (usually around $100 to $120 per full shift).

Tuition and books were about $5000/year back then and my parents paid for my rent and my food. So I had about $3000 left over for spending money during the year, enough that I didn't need to get a job during the school year.

The cool thing was what happened once I was finished school. My old man took me aside and gave me a cheque for $24,000, essentially matching everything I had saved for my three years of school. He told me he just wanted to teach me about saving money and how important it was for the future as well.

I was extremely lucky, obviously, and I hope I'm in a good enough financial position to be able to do the same thing for my son when he hits college/university.

Thats very very cool - would love to do the same for my kids if the chance arises, I think that knowing how to work hard and budget (ie. save) is one of the most important lessons to teach a kid.

[SteveMax58]

No college for me. I was too far off course and more interested in less productive things from 18-22(despite graduating a year early). So, my professional education is completely self-taught. It's been kind of a double-edged sword for me...or at least it used to be.

[RedKingGold]

My parents paid all for undergrad, mostly because I got a scholarship that cut the tuition in half, and I went to a state school. I was on the hook for the entirety of law school though, and I took out a few loans.

+1, well not entirely.

My parents saved up a certain amount of money for my older brother and I as we were growing up. I used that, and scholarships awarded, to fund about 85% of my tuition. The rest I covered with federal loans. I did, however, live at home for seven out of eight semesters of undergrad so I had no boarding costs.

Law school, on the other hand, was completely my financial responsibility.

Overall result:

Undergrad Debt: $6,400 (federal subsidized)
Law School Debt: $152,000 (subsidized/unsubsidized/private)
Bar Study Debt: $10,000

As far as my graduate debt goes, that's astronomical because the school I went to gave out next to no scholarship money or financial aid. So, I'm taking one on the chin for that degree.

[Suburban Rhythm]

I voted some. I am figuring somewhere around 20% of the total.

I applied to 3 schools around Pittsburgh-- Pitt, St Vincent's (about 1 hour east of downtown, where the Steelers training camp is) and California PA (state school, about 1 hour south of downtown).

I was accepted at all 3. St Vincent's was my first choice, and was $17,000 a sesmter. California offered a 4 year, full tuition, and that made the decision really easy.

Factor in grants, etc, and I was paying for books and some of room/board.

I would still be paying off student loans had I gone to St Vincents, instead I walked away owing $0.00

My parents gave me what they could, and I appreciate everything they did. I hope in 13 and 15 years I can help my kids out, but also that they take the responsibility to make the best decision based on school and future debt.

[Daimyo]

Went to a good, private university with tuition and all exceeding $30k/year. My parent's paid less $3k/year... the rest I paid for via work (workstudy and summer), loans, grants and scholarships. I graduated in 2000 with around $12k in stafford loans.

I really envied the kids who didn't have to work during the school year. I imagine my GPA would have been at least half a point higher if I'd had that 15 hrs/week back to study.

[RainMaker]

I got a scholarship that paid for about 80% of tuition. My parents had a small college savings account with I believe $3,000 in it when I left for school. It helped with books and stuff the first couple years.

I did work/study through the school the first couple years and then got a part-time job my Junior year. I would work 60 hours a week between two jobs in the Summer and try and save up as much as I could to get me by during the year. I took out some school loans to cover the difference in my tuition that the scholarship didn't cover. At one point I did have to buy a car to get to my internship at IBM which was 40 minutes away.

[RainMaker]

Went to a good, private university with tuition and all exceeding $30k/year. My parent's paid less $3k/year... the rest I paid for via work (workstudy and summer), loans, grants and scholarships. I graduated in 2000 with around $12k in stafford loans.

I really envied the kids who didn't have to work during the school year. I imagine my GPA would have been at least half a point higher if I'd had that 15 hrs/week back to study.
At the same time, paying for your own way I felt pushes students to show up more. If someone is paying your tuition, you may sleep in a few more days and take the class lightly. But when it's your own money paying for the class, missing it feels like throwing away money.

[wade moore]

At the same time, paying for your own way I felt pushes students to show up more. If someone is paying your tuition, you may sleep in a few more days and take the class lightly. But when it's your own money paying for the class, missing it feels like throwing away money.

Speaking from experience, the opposite argument can be made. I think it has a lot more to do with the person than the money.

(I paid my way and spent two years doing the exact opposite of what you were saying because I felt no obligation to someone else that was paying my way)

[SackAttack]

At the same time, paying for your own way I felt pushes students to show up more. If someone is paying your tuition, you may sleep in a few more days and take the class lightly. But when it's your own money paying for the class, missing it feels like throwing away money.

Speaking from experience, the opposite argument can be made. I think it has a lot more to do with the person than the money.

(I paid my way and spent two years doing the exact opposite of what you were saying because I felt no obligation to someone else that was paying my way)

I think the key is the person, yeah. I don't think it's an either/or proposition in either scenario. I can think of at least three for each one.

Someone else pays:

-Feels guilty about riding on someone else's dime, pushes themselves to make sure it isn't wasted
-No compunctions about riding on someone else's dime, but pushes to get it done so that s/he won't have to pay out of his/her own pocket to finish later.
-Not my money? Not my problem. Party time, bro!

Paying one's own way:

-Get it done so as not to be "throwing money away."
-Get it done because, if I don't, why the hell am I here in the first place? Money, and source thereof, be damned.
-I'm the one paying for it anyway, so who cares if I take a little French leave when I don't feel like going to school?

[Abe Sargent]

I paid my own way with some $$ from my church, a few small scholarships, work study, and loans, then my RA gig really helped the next three years of undergrad and two years of grad school, with loans largely paying tuition, books, and other expenses. My family didn't pay a cent. I never asked them too, and they never volunteered, and I'm glad of that. At the end of six yeas of school - 4 undergrad and two grad, I had about 20k in debt and that's it, and I think that's pretty good.

[RainMaker]

I think the key is the person, yeah. I don't think it's an either/or proposition in either scenario. I can think of at least three for each one.

Someone else pays:

-Feels guilty about riding on someone else's dime, pushes themselves to make sure it isn't wasted
-No compunctions about riding on someone else's dime, but pushes to get it done so that s/he won't have to pay out of his/her own pocket to finish later.
-Not my money? Not my problem. Party time, bro!

Paying one's own way:

-Get it done so as not to be "throwing money away."
-Get it done because, if I don't, why the hell am I here in the first place? Money, and source thereof, be damned.
-I'm the one paying for it anyway, so who cares if I take a little French leave when I don't feel like going to school?

Yeah, it can go both ways. For me it helped me go to class. I've always been someone who hated wasting money. I'm the guy who always gets a doggy bag at the restaurant and will chug the rest of my beverage before getting up from the table.

[Honolulu Blue]

Here is a fun chart (http://ctlr.msu.edu/COStudentAccounts/History.aspx) I found about tuition at Michigan State.

I started at MSU in 1985. A full load (45 credits) would have cost $1890.
Today, a full load (30 credits) would cost $10,410, an increase of somewhere north of 400% in a generation.

This isn't really news, I suppose. Everyone knows how fast and far tuition has skyrocketed over the time period, and many of the reasons why (hint: Economics 101, day 2 - the supply & demand lecture). It just hits home how much students these days are getting squeezed.

Carry on.

[flere-imsaho]

Parents paid for what wasn't covered by scholarships in undergrad, but grad school was all on me.

:+1:

Since my Dad was self-employed, though, and as a result we never would have qualified for financial aid, he started employing me at his company (doing actual work) 6 years prior to college so I could save money for college. So, I kind of worked for it "on my own" and I kind of got the money from my parents.

My folks made an agreement with all 3 of us that they'd cover our undergraduate education if we went in-state (or the equivalent of in-state if we went out of state or private), anything after that was on our own.

This is our plan with our son.

[molson]

Here is a fun chart (http://ctlr.msu.edu/COStudentAccounts/History.aspx) I found about tuition at Michigan State.

I started at MSU in 1985. A full load (45 credits) would have cost $1890.
Today, a full load (30 credits) would cost $10,410, an increase of somewhere north of 400% in a generation.

This isn't really news, I suppose. Everyone knows how fast and far tuition has skyrocketed over the time period, and many of the reasons why (hint: Economics 101, day 2 - the supply & demand lecture). It just hits home how much students these days are getting squeezed.

Carry on.

I read something about how the next bubble to burst will be higher education.

The private schools really just aren't worth the sticker prices, and they're being propped up by rich foreigners who pay the whole way for the prestige of an American degree.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I read something about how the next bubble to burst will be higher education.

The private schools really just aren't worth the sticker prices, and they're being propped up by rich foreigners who pay the whole way for the prestige of an American degree.

I think there's a pretty fair argument to be made that the cost of a degree from anywhere isn't going to be worth the current sticker price for much longer. That said however, my own personal experience is that the real world difference between the graduates of, let's call them higher profile schools vs others is pretty pronounced. Hell, I'll be honest & go ahead and say it, it's been EXTREMELY pronounced in my experience.

[Daimyo]

I read something about how the next bubble to burst will be higher education.

The private schools really just aren't worth the sticker prices, and they're being propped up by rich foreigners who pay the whole way for the prestige of an American degree.

But like most things, who really pays sticker price? All the really good private schools will meet the needs of their students with grants and other financial aid (at least they did up until the recent crisis -- some have cut back now) so the published tuition is pretty bogus for almost everyone. I do really question the value of the smaller non-tier 1 private schools though.

[Klinglerware]

The private schools really just aren't worth the sticker prices

I wouldn't go that far--if you consider the elite private schools. Take my home state of New Jersey. The home Ivy is Princeton, while the flagship state school is Rutgers (which is also well regarded). According to

Best Colleges, Best College Majors, Best College Degrees (http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/)

If this data is to be believed, the median starting salary of a Princeton grad is around $66,500, while for a Rutgers grad it's about $50,300. The mid-career (about 15 years) median for Princeton grads with no grad school is $131,000, and $91,800 for Rutgers grads.

Over a span of 15 years, that's an almost $400,000 difference. Four years of Princeton is $188,080, full sticker. Even if you compare paying full freight for Princeton with going to Rutgers for free, you will likely recover the cost of the Princeton education and start pulling ahead in about 9 or 10 years.

Finally, financial aid is very generous at these types of schools. For example, if your family makes $75,000 or less per year, Princeton is free. If your family makes less than $120,000, tuition is still free, though not all of room and board is covered...

[molson]

I wouldn't go that far--if you consider the elite private schools. Take my home state of New Jersey. The home Ivy is Princeton, while the flagship state school is Rutgers (which is also well regarded). According to

Best Colleges, Best College Majors, Best College Degrees (http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/)

If this data is to be believed, the median starting salary of a Princeton grad is around $66,500, while for a Rutgers grad it's about $50,300. The mid-career (about 15 years) median for Princeton grads with no grad school is $131,000, and $91,800 for Rutgers grads.

Over a span of 15 years, that's an almost $400,000 difference. Four years of Princeton is $188,080, full sticker. Even if you compare paying full freight for Princeton with going to Rutgers for free, you will likely recover the cost of the Princeton education and start pulling ahead in about 9 or 10 years.

Finally, financial aid is very generous at these types of schools. For example, if your family makes $75,000 or less per year, Princeton is free. If your family makes less than $120,000, tuition is still free, though not all of room and board is covered...

The Ivies are obviously off the charts in terms of quality and career prospects. But they don't even appear among the top 25 most expensive schools:

1. Bates College $43,950
2. Middlebury College $42,910
3. Colby College $42,730
4. Union College (NY) $40,953
5. Connecticut College $40,900
6. George Washington University $40,392
7. Vassar College $39,635
8. Sarah Lawrence College $39,450
9. Bucknell University $39,434
10. Colgate University $39,275
11. Carnegie Mellon $39,150
12. Kenyon College $39,080
13. Skidmore College $38,888
14. St. Johns College $38,854
15. University of Richmond $38,850
16. Tulane University $38,664
17. Wheaton College (MA) $38,585
18. Franklin & Marshall College $38,580
19. Wesleyan University $38,364
20. Hamilton College $38,220
21. Oberlin College $38,012
22. Reed College $37,960
23. Tufts University $37,952
24. Dickinson College $37,900
25. Bard College at Simon's Rock $37,860

I know these schools give a lot of cash away, I think to some degree the tutitions are intentionally inflated so kids feel like their special for getting some kind of package (i.e."OMG, Bates is giving me $100k! I'm so going there!".

I toured a lot of these schools in my high school college search. I'm so glad I didn't go to any of them.

I wonder if there's any stats out there about the average paid tuitution at these kinds of places (cash + loans, after substracting grants)

[flere-imsaho]

Bates (according to their website) has 1700 students. So, they bring in $74,715,000/year. I imagine colleges are expensive places to run. That expensive? No idea.

[finketr]

If/when (I hope when!) I have kids, I plan to make the same deal with them that my folks made with us.

/tk


this is my plan for my kids if/when they happen...

i paid for nearly all of my schooling in undergrad and crashed at homes during the summers...

my wife had hers (undergrad and grad school) paid for by her parents and i'm extremely grateful for that.

[clemsonfan]

My folks made an agreement with all 3 of us that they'd cover our undergraduate education if we went in-state (or the equivalent of in-state if we went out of state or private), anything after that was on our own.
/tk

This is pretty much what my parents did for me.