How much money did your parents give you for college?

Providence College?

The next bubble....paying big for college and not being able to find that big job.

My parents paid nothing. I paid tuition. Two years at a local JC and then the last two years at a local state college. I earned the money working summers, weekends and after school.

I kept it in perspective. I got my degree in history but didn't want to teach. School kept me out of the draft.

I'm 26 and my parents didn't contribute anything towards my college education. That includes food, clothes, gas, etc. I was completely on my own. The only reason I made it through was thanks to a full academic scholarship, a partial track scholarship, student loans, and working 2 nights each week and all day Sunday. However, everyone else I knew received some kind of aid from their parents. Many parents contributed partially towards tuition, but just about all received either a credit card or an allowance each week for food, gas, and other "essentials". Today, it is near impossible to go through college on your own without assistance from parents. I made it, but I didn't have any luxuries, I didn't get to eat out, and I was always scraping by.

You are very fortunate, but it is also fairly normal.

patti wrote:

Good for you. As a parent, my hubby and I are paying nothing towards our children's education. We told the kids from a very early age that they were expected to go to college. However, mom and dad were not going to pay.

Both kids are 4.0 and have full scholarship. They are thriving.

However, we do give them a small allowance of fifty dollars a month and send care packages.

I was the kid with the 4.0 and full scholarship (to a state school) and parents who sent $50/month (for the first year) but owned a sail boat. So far I've saved ~$130K for my two kids in the hope that I won't have to tell them they can't go where they want. Sadly, it's a drop in the bucket given college costs these days. Now, my parents, who didn't save for retirement either, are burning through their inheritance from my depression era grandfather who never spent a penny.

As an at home mom, I told my kids that as a parent I wanted to give them what I could afford. I had time. That is what I could afford. And the fifty dollars a month comes out of grocery money ( I use coupons) and I do send care packages on a regular basis. I do what I can do.

Now given that thought, I do not know what I would have done if I was a millionaire.

My kids know that they are loved by mom and dad. And we in turn I receive their love.

My hubby and I are there for our kids.

Well, actually, their income forced me to get high interest loans. That was my point, the system is set up so that parents are "expected" to pay...HENCE the Expected Family Contribution value I quoted in my original post. Since they are expected, and the entire financial aid scheme is based on parents contributing, kids of middle class families, who do not contribute, get screwed! In my situation, because the EFC was only $5k less the total cost of the in-state university I went to (which by the way was the cheapest place you could study mechanical engineering and end up with a good career upon graduation, which I did), I could only get about $5k in federal loans. I got another $5k in scholarships, and my parents took out a high interest personal "parent plus" loan, that I am now paying back. A loan in which compounded interest all four years, and my parents didn't pay a cent on, and so all the interest added up to about $2500! on a $10,000 loan! kind of crazy in my opinion. I would have paid my parents half the interest if they had saved up, and were able to loan me the money, instead of being raped by the banks. But anyways, like I said, it worked out fine for me, because I went STEM, and got a good job, and can afford to pay off this ridiculous loan. I worked in school, got a full scholarship for the rest of the years, and was an RA, all to avoid more loans. I have learned from my parents' poor financial planning and saving, and save all that I can, and plan for the responsibilities I take on...I don't plan on having kids, but if I chose that route, I believe educating them would be my responsibly as a parent.

newname wrote:

Flagpole,

Wheredjugotoschool? $22k a year was a LOT when we were young.

I remember not being able to go out of state because it was going to be $15k a year instead of $7000. It was a lot more by the end of my career, but I remember pleading with my Mom for $1000 a year (which would have been 2.5% of her net income) and her refusing.

Keep in mind Min. wage was $3.10 an hour back then.

Ohio Wesleyan University. Expensive now. Expensive then. The only way it was possible for me to attend was because of the half off deal I got. Nice.

I made $3.85 at McDonald's ($3.35 was minimum wage at the time), $4 at my work study job, $6 an hour working for the prescription drug magazine and $7.75 an hour at The Columbus Dispatch!

osu fan wrote:

I got about $40k from inheritance recently. I'd taken out a zero interest loan (for 18 months) previously and set aside that money to pay it off when i have to. I put the other $20k aside in savings for my kid's college fund, who is about 18 months old.

what should i do with it? If people here say they're getting $40k from their parents to pay for school, what can I do to make sure that my kid doesn't have to pay a dime? I'm hoping for public, in-state tuition 18 years from now. That, or an awesome athlete.

osu fan,

I have no issue with people who want to save for college for their kids, but let me give you another perspective. We opted not to save a penny for our kids for college. Many colleges (especially the BEST ones) will give you lots of money based on need. If you have $100,000 saved in a college savings account, guess what...they will get every penny of that (assuming their published cost for 4 years equals at least that much), but if you have ZERO in savings for college and you don't make a truckload of money, you will just be awarded a grant from the college to cover the shortfall. 62 colleges in this country meet "full financial need". See here -

Yes you will still pay some money, but not nearly as much as the $100,000 or more that people save for college over the lifetime of a kid up to age 18.

Then, there are LOTS of colleges in this country that will give full tuition or even full ride just by meeting some very reachable academic achievement goals. Got a 28 or up on the ACT? Well, you can start shopping for a deal somewhere. In-state schools aren't that expensive and can be taken care of with income if you make sure you are debt free once your kid begins college (no more student loans for you or your wife, no car loans, and only a reasonable mortgage).

Some read that and think, "yeah, but I want my kid to go to an Ivy League school, and those are EXPENSIVE." Well, first of all, it is tough to get accepted to an Ivy League school, but secondly, they are among the most generous with financial aid. If you currently make less than $120,000 and don't have big assets or savings, you will pay about one tenth their published cost. If you make a TON of money, then you will pay full price and perhaps saving for college is a good idea. For MOST people though (those who make less than $120,000 or so family income), saving for college isn't necessarily the best idea.

When I went to college many years ago, my parents paid what they could and I got scholarships, worked and took out some loans to cover the rest. I still can vividly remember how hard it was to be chronically short of money, eating crap that was cheap, pawning jewelry to make ends meet and freaking out if a big expense came up. Character building but pretty miserable at times. In any case, I didn't really want that for my kids so I put away money when they were born so their college funds are full now. My son (in college now) seems pretty grateful about not having to take on debt and financial hardship but in retrospect, having some challenge in life is not a bad thing either.

Flagpole, don't you have to avoid having ANY savings for your advice to work? It was a while ago now, but I think the FAFSA asked about things like retirement accounts and home value.

Freelove wrote:

Flagpole, don't you have to avoid having ANY savings for your advice to work? It was a while ago now, but I think the FAFSA asked about things like retirement accounts and home value.

I don't think it's quite this black and white. I'd hope they don't give a negative incentive to saving and it appears for federal aid at least that they try and mitigate that effect --

The colleges, however, probably go for every penny based on your FAFSA.

recent grad makes good points. The kids live with the consequences of the parents' irresponsibility, but I guess that's an unavoidable part of life.

Are academic scholarships really that common? I scored a 1450 on the SATs (old system) and had around a 3.7 GPA and didn't get offered more than $10k from any school. These were all relatively highly ranked private schools so I am sure my scores were nothing outstanding but they were generally pretty good.

Is it mostly a state school thing?

Flagpole,

Are you sure the money has to be in a college savings account?

According to what you write on here, you do make a truckload from investments. Is financial aid really so messed up that they don't touch money not ear marked somehow for college? Why wouldn't they take it from your retirement account? How do you really know this, isn't your daughter a senior this year?

Freelove wrote:

Flagpole, don't you have to avoid having ANY savings for your advice to work? It was a while ago now, but I think the FAFSA asked about things like retirement accounts and home value.

The FAFSA asks about retirement accounts and home value, yes, but it's not near the same as having a ton of money saved in a college account (they will get it all) or some other liquid account.

Also, many colleges will base their financial aid decisions without looking at retirement accounts at all.

patti wrote:

Good for you. As a parent, my hubby and I are paying nothing towards our children's education. We told the kids from a very early age that they were expected to go to college. However, mom and dad were not going to pay.

.

I don't understand this attitude. If you aren't paying for their college, then you shouldn't have any say in whether your kids go to college or not. It turned out well in your situation, but I can't imagine telling my son that I expect him to go to college if I'm not paying for it.

90435mkla wrote:

Flagpole,

Are you sure the money has to be in a college savings account?

According to what you write on here, you do make a truckload from investments. Is financial aid really so messed up that they don't touch money not ear marked somehow for college? Why wouldn't they take it from your retirement account? How do you really know this, isn't your daughter a senior this year?

My investments are all in retirement accounts.

See here -

I'll pull out the important part for you:

"A good type of asset to own when applying for financial aid is a retirement account such as an IRA or 401(k). These qualified retirement accounts, whether owned by you or by your child, are not counted at all in determining EFC for purposes of federal financial aid."

DC Area Runner wrote:

patti wrote:

Good for you. As a parent, my hubby and I are paying nothing towards our children's education. We told the kids from a very early age that they were expected to go to college. However, mom and dad were not going to pay.

.

I don't understand this attitude. If you aren't paying for their college, then you shouldn't have any say in whether your kids go to college or not. It turned out well in your situation, but I can't imagine telling my son that I expect him to go to college if I'm not paying for it.

I can understand it. We parents have high expectations for our kids. I'm not buying your notion that if I'm poor and can't help junior pay his way through college then I shouldn't encourage him to go.

Your line of reasoning suggests parents should not give advice to their young adult children on any topic if they don't support them financially. Nah, not buying it.

DC Area Runner wrote:

patti wrote:

Good for you. As a parent, my hubby and I are paying nothing towards our children's education. We told the kids from a very early age that they were expected to go to college. However, mom and dad were not going to pay.

.

I don't understand this attitude. If you aren't paying for their college, then you shouldn't have any say in whether your kids go to college or not. It turned out well in your situation, but I can't imagine telling my son that I expect him to go to college if I'm not paying for it.

Yeah, that's BS. Fine to not pay for college, but then you get no say whatsoever if they go or not. You can decide to take them out of the will or shun them which are both dick moves, but you get no say.

Flagpole wrote:

90435mkla wrote:

Flagpole,

Are you sure the money has to be in a college savings account?

According to what you write on here, you do make a truckload from investments. Is financial aid really so messed up that they don't touch money not ear marked somehow for college? Why wouldn't they take it from your retirement account? How do you really know this, isn't your daughter a senior this year?

My investments are all in retirement accounts.

See here -

http://www.savingforcollege.com/financial_aid_basics/financial_aid_and_your_savings.php

I'll pull out the important part for you:

"A good type of asset to own when applying for financial aid is a retirement account such as an IRA or 401(k). These qualified retirement accounts, whether owned by you or by your child, are not counted at all in determining EFC for purposes of federal financial aid."

To be clear, the above only deals with federal aid. it has nothing to do with whether a college will award you a need-based grant. Colleges that do that can use whatever criteria they want. if, for example, you have $4 million in a retirement account and you are only 45 years old, they might not consider it, but if you are 59 or 60 years old (getting at the money with no penalty at age 59.5), they might.