I've been told that parents are never truly empty nesters. Acquaintances who have children older than ours say things like, "They still need us even after they've moved out," which is fine, and "We spend a lot of time babysitting the grandkids," which is also fine, and "They keep moving back home!" which I'm not so sure about.
But in a few short weeks we are going to have a very, very empty house.
And on one hand, I kind of feel like our job as parents is mostly complete - it's their life now and they will have to make of it what they will; hopefully we've taught them well. But on the other hand, we're still their parents and we still love them and want the best for them. So we worry about getting them through college.
Of course I realize that college is not for everyone - a lot of people do just fine without it and I have no problem with that. But many parents want to see their kids get a college degree, and in case you haven't been paying attention, college costs have been going through the roof. Our kids were looking at tuition costs of anywhere from $10,000 to $26,000 per year, with room and board at most colleges being another $12,000 per year.
So, just as a way of generating discussion, here's a poll for all parents or parents-to-be regarding how you paid for, or are planning to pay for, your kids' college expenses. After answering the poll question, feel free to leave comments!
Hopefully, someone will figure out how to reign in college costs in the next 10 years. Otherwise, people are going to start forgoing them.
ReplyDeleteNo kidding! I really wanted my kids to go to a university right out of HS, but for a lot of kids that just is not an option any more, even if they are very good students. There are a lot of scholarships out there if you are a great student from a low income family, but if you are just a good student from a middle income family then you are out of luck.
DeleteWe have savings plans for all three kids. Hopefully there will be enough in there by the time they go!
ReplyDeleteYou are very wise to start saving early! I think a lot of people - myself included - have good intentions of doIng that. But we never seemed to save as much as we intended, and the economy was NOT good to college savings funds the last few years. And then, of course, college costs went up much more than we expected. All of which combined to make it tougher than we expected. So there will be some loans, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest is 10 and I am panicking. I am hoping that she will not have to take out any loans. I was overloaded with them in college and I don't want that for my kids.
ReplyDeleteIt can be done, Tanya, and you still have a lot of time left. It just takes some saving, some hard work in school on the kids' parts, and probably a healthy dose of realism as well. Meaning that in-state public universities are much more realistic than Ivy League schools.
ReplyDeleteI told my three kids that if they wanted to go to college, they would have to pay for it themselves like I did! No harm in working your way through college that I see. Two of them are actually going on their own dime.
ReplyDeleteI don't disagree with you in principle. However, I suspect the ratio of "What a college-age person can earn" to "How much college tuition costs" is VERY different today than it was 20+ years ago.
ReplyDeleteMy parents instilled in me and my siblings that if you work hard in school, graduate in top 10%, and keep up your GPA, it wouldn't be an issue. And paying for college wasn't for any of us. So hopefully, my kids will one day be in that same boat! --dm
ReplyDeleteYep, that was pretty much the same message we gave to our boys when they were going through middle and high school. And then when our oldest was in the spring of his senior year...reality hit.
DeleteNot to be a purveyor of doom and gloom, but we found that the formula you suggest is - in today's college market - kind of a fairy tale.
While I don't doubt your own past experiences, I do believe that the economics of college tuition has changed quite a bit in the last decade.