College Expenses

[boefixepa]

Good idea, I'm most certainly tossing that one into the brain bucket!

[b4freedom]

Not having a degree limits your opportunities. It might sound un-American to say this, but I think we’re slowly growing into a class based nation. Part of the class based differential is college. I know people with no experience but have degrees in stupidity that get jobs that people, with 15+ years experience but no degree, can’t get. Why? Because a company creates a requirement that says, “Everyone must have degree in order to get hired.” Worse yet are the situations where people lose their jobs because they don’t have a degree. For example, in NJ, to be a teacher’s aide, you must now have a degree. Or, if you don’t have a degree, you must pass a specific test. Sometimes, I administer those exams. Most of the questions on the exam have nothing to do with their job. I see people that have been working the same job for 30+ years trying to pass the exam, or else they lose their job. Many of them do. But, if they just had a degree in anything, they could keep it.

My children will go to college. They won’t have a choice. They can do anything they want, but they’ll have to get that degree before they do it. If they want to flip burgers at McD’s, they can do that after they get their degree. They just need to have that paper. I’m going to raise my children to think this way. Like high school, college won’t be an option, it’ll be a requirement and they’ll know this.

And, as their parent, I think it’s my responsibility to afford my child every opportunity within my means. I think that doing otherwise would be irresponsible.

[jodi]

Originally Posted by b4freedom

My children will go to college. They won’t have a choice.

Maybe this has a lot to do with area too. I live in a rural setting and at least half, probably more, of my class did not go on to school. Sure, some are probably flipping burgers, but many went into the armed forces or learned a trade. Some like by brother went into farming. I'm just playing devil's advocate here - but what if your child does not want to go to school? My brother is one of the smartest people I know in many ways, but book smarts was not one of them. He barely made it through high school because it was not the type of learning that was good for him (a lot of rote memorization). I just want to put in my two cents that a lot of learning that is good does not happen in college, and most of the learning I did in college did not prepare me at all for "real" life. I guess I am one of those people who has a job though simply because I have a degree, so I'm not knocking college. In fact, I will do everything I can to encourage and assist my children to go - but I will not force them. So here's a side conversation - if your child does not continue in their education, will you help them financially get set up in life (apartment, job expenses, etc.)?
Interesting topic!

[Crystallas]

Nice reply Jodi.

Historical wages of nurses vs janitors show how the times fluctuate. Once a skill becomes a demand, and that skill requires experience and aprentencing over schooling, then those with specific skill and experience make the money.

Nurse wages and Janitor wages like to swap places every 30 years in the world. Janitors become handymen jack of all trades that become a huge need, and nurses become middlemen that arent as important. Its a strange twist that defines how you can put a lot into a peice of paper of some sort. Some fields will require a degree no matter what, and some fields will require the knowledge of the ever changing industry. Getting a degree is the easy way out for most people. I'm a bit biased. I dropped out of high school because of family problems, never went back to school, but I can still retire securely 25 years earlier than the national average. Not everyone is meant to be prestigious. Not everyone can survive without a degree either.

My children know that they need a plan to get to what they want in life. Im not forcing them to go to college, and I'm confidant that they wont be doomed if they don't.
http://www.angelfire.com/stars4/lists/dropouts.html

[PrincessPerky]

Ill ditto that, but then Highschool isn't even a requirement in my house, learning is. NEVER stop learning, no matter what your age. but a piece of paper saying you spent 12 years in school? nope not required by me. (course if you want one of those jobs requiring a degree it would be for the college)

I will require my kids to look at what they want to do, and what is needed to be done to get there, if you have to jump thru hoops first, do it, even if you don't like em, so long as you are not comprimising our ethical standards (no murder!) you do what you gotta do, you play the game or you take the consequenses. (yes DH pays by having long hair, but he is willing to deal with that, a minor complaint on how prejuduced America is, and we are off dealing with it)

The money my kids save is theirs, weather they choose to get a house, a car, or a degree it is theres to do with as they see fit, if they waste it, I failed long ago. It is there money, not mine, and it came small lumps at a time. they chose to save it, so I hope they are thinking about it. (or will in the next 14 years anyway)

[b4freedom]

Originally Posted by jodi_m

Maybe this has a lot to do with area too. I live in a rural setting and at least half, probably more, of my class did not go on to school. I'm just playing devil's advocate here - but what if your child does not want to go to school? I just want to put in my two cents that a lot of learning that is good does not happen in college, and most of the learning I did in college did not prepare me at all for "real" life. I guess I am one of those people who has a job though simply because I have a degree, so I'm not knocking college. In fact, I will do everything I can to encourage and assist my children to go - but I will not force them. So here's a side conversation - if your child does not continue in their education, will you help them financially get set up in life (apartment, job expenses, etc.)?
Interesting topic!

97% of my high school class went to college. I was one of the 3% that didn’t initially go. I went a year later and dropped out because of financial reasons. I don’t have a degree. However, I continue to take 1 or 2 classes at a time until I get my degree. I hate school. I’ve always hated school. I don’t enjoy learning in a classroom environment. But, I love to learn. I read tons of non fiction books.

What if my child doesn’t want to go to college? I think this is more of a social economic question. 97% of my high school class went to college. Not because 97% of them wanted to, but, because it was expected of them. The parents treated it as a part of life, the next step in a process. Not an optional step. Just like most people are expected to go to elementary, middle, and high school. My child will think that college will be that next step after high school. It’ll be expected, just like it is expected that the chores get done on Saturday morning before they go out to play. I think that most “well to do” people treat their kids this way in terms of education. “College is part of life, and you’re going to do it. When you’re done, you can do whatever you want.”

The high school I graduated from was in a “well to do” area of the country. In terms of wealth, it was probably within the top 1 to 2% of the country. Now, I wasn’t really a part of that community. I came from the opposite side of the tracks. My mom, for absolutely no reason (she was crazy), had kicked me out of the house and a nice “well to do” family took me in. I got to see a lot of “that’s how I want to do things when I grow up.” And one of the things I got to see was how the rich expect their kids to graduate from college. It’s not really an option. In fact, many of them told their kids that if they didn’t graduate, they got s**t for life. If they did graduate, they got a new car. Most of their parents also paid 95% of the way.

If my children don’t continue their education will I help them out financially? They’ll certainly think that I won’t. But, in reality, I probably will. Just don’t tell my kids that.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

My children do not have to go to high school or college. They did not have to go to grade school, either. They are free to direct their own education from within an institution or not. My oldest child just finished high school. He has known all along that if he went to college, we would help him pay for it. We would even try to pay for the whole thing if possible, depending on several factors which would include his needs, his ability to pay for himself, and our ability to pay. He also has known all along that if he wanted to start a business when he was finished with high school (or before if he wanted to persue another route), we would help him as much as we would for college. He is choosing college.

Child #2 may choose a different route that we will support as well. On the other hand, they also know that we are saving for retirement and that we must all be frugal. They are conservative with money and very modest in their needs. They uderstand that the family money supply is finite and that they too have obligatons to the family.

A help in affording college is the fact that there are so many scholarships available these days. When I went to college I had slightly higher SAT & ACT scores than my graduating son has. I got no scholarship offers; yet he has many scholarship offers including "full rides" to his top two choices. Both schools are out of town, so our contribution will go toward living expenses.

[Lori63]

Originally Posted by Joan.of.the.Arch

A help in affording college is the fact that there are so many scholarships available these days. When I went to college I had slightly higher SAT & ACT scores than my graduating son has. I got no scholarship offers; yet he has many scholarship offers including "full rides" to his top two choices. Both schools are out of town, so our contribution will go toward living expenses.

There really is so much available-my son got $23,000 off his $33,000 bill-other wise he would have had to pick another school.
Check out www.fastweb.com early.

[kealina]

jodi m... i'm glad to find that you can understand exactly what i was saying...lol, i almost posted what you posted about the "startup cost" the other poster posted about too.... i really does't cost that much to start a life if you're willing to keep it simple and work toward a better standard...
btw, i really like your hubbys idea about helping pay student loans under certain conditions... we may just have to go with something like that depending on what happens in the future and what our kids are like...