Paying for college.

[Longhorn]

We have four children, now 20 to 25. We realized early on that we couldn't afford to send all four of them to college, plus we both paid for most of our college education and we felt there is value in doing that. So we told them we would pay for the first year of tuition, books, and housing, but after that, we would only pay tuition and books, which meant that they needed to work while in school after the first year for their other expenses. They would also be welcome to live with us, but that would limit their choice of schools. We could only afford tuition equivalent to that of a Texas state school, so if they decided to go to school out of state or attend a private school, they would have to get a scholarship or loans to pay the difference.

Our oldest only attended for two years, mainly because we pulled the plug after her grades got worse and worse (she was having way too much fun!) One twin graduated with honors in three years; her sister left after one year. However, she and her older sister are continuing to take classes at community college now and then, which we pay for. Our son lasted one semester but, again, we don't pay for 0.9 GPAs! Since he's a Marine, if he returns to college, it will be paid for (which is only fair, since we paid for two years of private high school for this guy.) During this time, I also went to graduate school to get a masters.

So now we are paying off college loans to the tune of about $500 a month for the next ten years. I consolidated the loans last year so I have a decent interest rate, though parents don't get as low a rate as students. I think we're paying about 4.6%. We had our children fairly young -- the first was born when we were 23, follwed by the twins in 2-1/2 years and our son in another 2-1/2 years. We just never had the extra money to save ahead of time and when we did, we decided to start saving for retirement instead.

What are your stories and views about paying for college for kids?

[LWolf]

1. I'm still paying for my own education.

I will have finally paid off the student loans for the BA & teaching credential in another year. Then I'll look at finishing either of the two masters I was working on. I was 3 classes shy of one, and about 5 classes shy of the other. I won't finish either if I can't find a way to pay cash. Since I'm now single, living on a single teacher's salary, that may not happen.

I was a classified employee at my school district for 12 years while I finished my teaching credential. As a public school employee, I paid into state retirement instead of social security. When the time came that I had to quit my job to do the student teaching portion of the credential, with no guarantees of a job waiting for me, I cashed in that 12 years worth of retirement to pay the bills and buy health insurance for the 9 months before the next school year started. So I'm not only paying student loans, but am 44 with only 10 years into the teacher's retirement program, and no social security.

When my oldest son graduated from high school, he applied for a pell grant. I made "too much money" for him to get it, so he went to the local community college for his AA, which I could afford. At that point, he looked at what it would cost to transfer to a 4-year school, looked at what he would have to major in to be able to pay off his own student loans, looked at me still paying for mine, and did not go on. He took a corporate job. 3 1/2 years into the job, and he makes more money than I do, with no student loans or out of pocket expenses. Still, he wants to go back to school and is trying to find a way to finance it. It won't come from me; there is no safety net, cushion, or support system for me. I'm doing ok, but there's nothing left at the end of any month, and no way to pay off any debt that I might take on.

My youngest son left high school, started at the local community college, and immediately ended up "pregnant" with a classmate he met there. He quit school and found a job to help take care of her, and has been paying ever since. She's on her 3rd baby from the 3rd man; neither ever went back to school. My son pays 50% of his minimum wages to her for child support, and spends the rest renting a room. He'd like to go back to college; has a school and a major all picked out, but no way to finance it. He can live with me, but I'm 100 miles away from the school. And I can't pay his tuition. Again, there is no other family support; no safety net, no "cushion" for any of us. I don't know if he will find a way, or continue working at low-wage jobs.

[Baja Margie]

2. We help our nieces as much as we can,

both of us worked our way through college.

[LuLu550]

3. I am drowning in debt

I had my kids late: I was 33 with the first and 37 with the second, and I've been a single mom for 15 years. My oldest, 21 is attending a private college. I agreed because he is learning disabled and found something her really loves: technical theatre.
His course load is too heavy for him to work, too. So I took out parent plus loans up the wahzoo. Will do the same for the second kid. Pay off their loans until I retire and then take the dogs and move so far away the kids will never find me! ;)

[Liberty Belle]

4. We have the same problem.

My son's 18 and our daughter's 16. We have enough saved for only 1 or 2 years of college for each of them, depending on where they go.

Our son really wants to go to an Ivy League school, and has the grades and test scores to get in, probably. So we're working on convincing our daughter to stay home and go to a University of CA in San Diego. If she lives at home and we don't have to pay living expenses, I promised her I'd give her $100 a month out of the money we'd save. She'd been gung ho to move away from home, but when I raised this subject, she smiled and said, "Mom, I think I can be bribed."

Meanwhile we're telling our son that if he goes to a school back East, he'll need to leave his car at home. That way our daughter could drive it to school if she's commuting from our house.

Even then, paying for two at one time may be more than can manage.

Did I mention our daughter's a competitive figure skater, too? It's been almost as bad as paying for college. The one good thing is she can start coaching soon, and maybe earn some money to help pay her own way.

Our son has a part-time job while in high school, working at a movie theater, and also does computer consulting on the side. He'll be responsible for his own spending money for gas, clothes, entertainment, etc., and may be paying for his own books, too.

Meanwhile, I'm discovering the joys of shopping at the $5 clothing store, Suzy's Deals , and the 99 cent store!

If you need tips on how to squeeze the budget to save money, I'm the expert on that.

[LuLu550]

5. You get better financial aid

with both in college at the same time. Mine will go back to back and there is no help for that.

[shanti]

6. unfortunately

as a single mom, i was unable to send any of my 4 sons to college. i'm still raising one more (he's 15), but if he doesn't get a basketball scholarship, he'll be going to JC.

[fortyfeetunder]

7. Even if he wants an athletic scholarship

he needs to have stellar grades to show he can handle the workload of school and athletics. A decent B average and good progress on the PSAT and SAT can potentially write his own ticket to scholarships.

And if not the athletic scholarships, he can research for other types of scholarships through his school. It's not too early for him to research this.

[SW FL Dem]

8. Hubby and I got scholarships and worked our way

through college and grad school. I finally paid off the last of my school loans almost 20 years after I got my degree. We don't have a lot saved for our 14 yr old son, but we are making progress. Our son has a chance for an athletic scholarship, but we aren't counting on it.