Parents paying tuition

[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]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

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 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]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

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

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

This is our plan with our son.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Honolulu Blue

Here is a fun chart 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]

Originally Posted by molson

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]

Originally Posted by molson

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]

Originally Posted by molson

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

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]

Originally Posted by Klinglerware

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

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]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

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]

Originally Posted by 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.
/tk

This is pretty much what my parents did for me.