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Kids College Tuition (1 Viewer)

J

James Daulton

Footballguy
Paying for tuition sucks. If you have not done so, for the love of all that is good, set up some kind tuition savings plan when your kids are young.

From personal experience, I know both options are hard, however, the $500/month I put away for my daughter (now fully funded) is way less than the $1,600/month I have to pay now for my son.

Just a psa.

 
Question for anyone who's been there - are the Net Price Calculators on college websites usually fairly accurate?

 
James Daulton said:
The_Man said:
Question for anyone who's been there - are the Net Price Calculators on college websites usually fairly accurate?
Click to expand...
From my experience they skew a bit high but are in the ballpark.
Click to expand...
Blech.

Confounding how the Expected Family Contribution can be twice as high at some "meet full demonstrated need" schools as it is at others.

Junior is filling out applications now. He better get into one of those more generous schools or score some merit aid.

 
The_Man said:
James Daulton said:
The_Man said:
Question for anyone who's been there - are the Net Price Calculators on college websites usually fairly accurate?
Click to expand...
From my experience they skew a bit high but are in the ballpark.
Click to expand...
Blech.

Confounding how the Expected Family Contribution can be twice as high at some "meet full demonstrated need" schools as it is at others.

Junior is filling out applications now. He better get into one of those more generous schools or score some merit aid.
Click to expand...
I bet you'll be surprised at the amount of grant money he gets. The more expensive the school, the more he'll get. Unless he's a fantastic student though, U of M will give him nothing.

 
I put 2 kids thru college. We started saving for college before the first one was born. Its NEVER too soon to start. A LOT of people take advantage of guaranteed admissions programs here in Northern VA between the community colleges & the 4 yr state schools. I have a niece & nephew spending 2 years at the local community college (saving $) before they go off to state schools a year from now. (GO Hokies!)

Check that out.

 
Probably not still a thing, but UMBC used to give a LOT of schollys for their chess team. The school pres was a chess nerd.

 
James Daulton said:
The_Man said:
James Daulton said:
The_Man said:
Question for anyone who's been there - are the Net Price Calculators on college websites usually fairly accurate?
Click to expand...
From my experience they skew a bit high but are in the ballpark.
Click to expand...
Blech.

Confounding how the Expected Family Contribution can be twice as high at some "meet full demonstrated need" schools as it is at others.

Junior is filling out applications now. He better get into one of those more generous schools or score some merit aid.
Click to expand...
I bet you'll be surprised at the amount of grant money he gets. The more expensive the school, the more he'll get. Unless he's a fantastic student though, U of M will give him nothing.
Click to expand...
I linked this in one of the other college threads. Things don't look nearly as bleak as you're led to believe.

 
The_Man said:
James Daulton said:
The_Man said:
Question for anyone who's been there - are the Net Price Calculators on college websites usually fairly accurate?
Click to expand...
From my experience they skew a bit high but are in the ballpark.
Click to expand...
Blech.

Confounding how the Expected Family Contribution can be twice as high at some "meet full demonstrated need" schools as it is at others.

Junior is filling out applications now. He better get into one of those more generous schools or score some merit aid.
Click to expand...
Just went through all of this last year with my triplets and it was an eye opener for sure. More like a kick in the balls.

The bolded above is where a lot of people get confused. It is an Estimated Family Contribution but more of a financial strength indicator. FWIW the number used for the cutoff to receive federal aid for 2015 was 5500-. It's below poverty level. The whole thing is antiquated and needs an overhaul. Not saying you won't receive anything but from most I've talked to the federal aid is slim pickings. For example, if a school costs $42,000- to go and your EFC is 15000, don't think that you will get $27,000- in federal aid. That is a huge mistake. With those numbers I am willing to bet you will barely see anything at all in federal aid.

Institutional Grants are where you can make up some money, but even those are hit or miss. Have the kids concentrate on getting their GPA's over a 3.0 at a minimum. That's where most schools start giving out merit aid. Also have the kids take the SAT's or ACT's as many times as needed because most schools superscore and the GPA combine with those scores.

The net price calculators are a very good start and are fairly accurate.

Use the FAFSA4Caster You will need some specific info (have last years tax return ready) but other spots where it is optional you can leave blank if you choose to do so. This will give you a fairly close number to the regular FAFSA that you will fill out soon.

Also, use the schools websites for important info like the % of students who get aid. This can come in handy and in your favor if you have to call and ask ( beg really) for grant money or more merit.

I'll try to answer stuff for others but I am not an expert. I can only give my experiences with several colleges and hearing the same stories from a bunch of others.

**Edit - The fafsa 4 caster link might not work. Just google it for yourself if it doesn't. Its a great tool.

 
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BowieMercs said:
I put 2 kids thru college. We started saving for college before the first one was born. Its NEVER too soon to start. A LOT of people take advantage of guaranteed admissions programs here in Northern VA between the community colleges & the 4 yr state schools. I have a niece & nephew spending 2 years at the local community college (saving $) before they go off to state schools a year from now. (GO Hokies!)

Check that out.
Click to expand...
This is the route I'll be pushing for with my kids.

 
Paid off first year with 529.

Been having him take his max loan and me paying cash the difference and I pay his loans monthly with what I was putting in his 529. Knock on wood everything will be paid when he graduates

 
Use a good rewards credit card and pay off as you go. Thanks to USC a couple times through, Pepperdine and UCLA grad schools of the kids of a family I was "adopted" in- had a couple of Hawaii trips out of it.

 
belljr said:
Paid off first year with 529.

Been having him take his max loan and me paying cash the difference and I pay his loans monthly with what I was putting in his 529. Knock on wood everything will be paid when he graduates
Click to expand...
Do you put the money through the 529 plan before you pay it to the school for the state tax break (if your state gives your plan the break)?

 
I'm sending my kids to europe for school.

jesus christ if i am dropping 40k a year on my kids school in 10 years only to see them posting selfies all day on beatlechat or whatever the new hip social media site will be I will slice someone with a protractor

 
comfortably numb said:
I'm sending my kids to europe for school.

jesus christ if i am dropping 40k a year on my kids school in 10 years only to see them posting selfies all day on beatlechat or whatever the new hip social media site will be I will slice someone with a protractor
Click to expand...
40k seems like a steal for me. I have 3.5 year old and 1.5 year old. Expecting a quarter million each unless there is a huge overhaul.

 
xulf said:
comfortably numb said:
I'm sending my kids to europe for school.

jesus christ if i am dropping 40k a year on my kids school in 10 years only to see them posting selfies all day on beatlechat or whatever the new hip social media site will be I will slice someone with a protractor
Click to expand...
40k seems like a steal for me. I have 3.5 year old and 1.5 year old. Expecting a quarter million each unless there is a huge overhaul.
Click to expand...
Jesus christ.

At what point is college not worth it?

 
comfortably numb said:
xulf said:
comfortably numb said:
I'm sending my kids to europe for school.

jesus christ if i am dropping 40k a year on my kids school in 10 years only to see them posting selfies all day on beatlechat or whatever the new hip social media site will be I will slice someone with a protractor
Click to expand...
40k seems like a steal for me. I have 3.5 year old and 1.5 year old. Expecting a quarter million each unless there is a huge overhaul.
Click to expand...
Jesus christ.At what point is college not worth it?
Click to expand...
The problem is that colleges/universities are allowed to increase tuition 7% (I believe) per year. If they don't they can't make it up later. So EVERYONE increases it that much every year...because why not?

I get why they do it but when it is outpacing inflation by over two fold something needs to change.

What's worse is that these same institutions are screwing over professors by only hiring adjuncts and completely underpaying them. So you pay more for lesser quality and even those teaching are severely underpaid. Great system.

 
My son is 6. I started a 529 for him when he was born and he has about $5k in there but i stopped a long time ago because life got in the way. Ugh maybe i should start it up again. Alot of people are doing that two year in a community college and then two year in a state school thing. I just figured he can take out student loans like i did. I definitely cant swing 500 a month though.

 
comfortably numb said:
xulf said:
comfortably numb said:
I'm sending my kids to europe for school.

jesus christ if i am dropping 40k a year on my kids school in 10 years only to see them posting selfies all day on beatlechat or whatever the new hip social media site will be I will slice someone with a protractor
Click to expand...
40k seems like a steal for me. I have 3.5 year old and 1.5 year old. Expecting a quarter million each unless there is a huge overhaul.
Click to expand...
Jesus christ.

At what point is college not worth it?
Click to expand...
College costs are insane. Send them to a decent CC for 2 years to knock out all the basics. Then transfer in and pay for two years instead of four.

 
fourd said:
belljr said:
Paid off first year with 529.

Been having him take his max loan and me paying cash the difference and I pay his loans monthly with what I was putting in his 529. Knock on wood everything will be paid when he graduates
Click to expand...
Do you put the money through the 529 plan before you pay it to the school for the state tax break (if your state gives your plan the break)?
Click to expand...
No once I depleted the 529 I stopped contributing to it.

It's not going to grow in 4 years and I don't get anything, I don't think.

I just pay straight to the school or fedloan

 
I feel like college has become a keeping up with joneses of sorts

It's like no matter how much money they make colleges people are jumping at the chance to keep saving for a 500k education for their kid.

Is a 500k education gonna be THAT much better than say a 80k education in 10-15 years?

I get wanting to give your kids the best chance but idk man, just seems like such a large amount of stress on a family to save that much for a kid to hopefully go to school and hopefully finish with a degree that they may use in a job?

It's probably just me, I think i'm just selfish/cheap. I mean if you can comfortably afford a good nest egg for education that is great but for a family chugging along to be constantly told with every latest report that you're gonna need at least 200k-300k for a decent school in 10+ years just leaves one REALLY questioning is the education worth that cost.

 
comfortably numb said:
I feel like college has become a keeping up with joneses of sorts

It's like no matter how much money they make colleges people are jumping at the chance to keep saving for a 500k education for their kid.

Is a 500k education gonna be THAT much better than say a 80k education in 10-15 years?

I get wanting to give your kids the best chance but idk man, just seems like such a large amount of stress on a family to save that much for a kid to hopefully go to school and hopefully finish with a degree that they may use in a job?

It's probably just me, I think i'm just selfish/cheap. I mean if you can comfortably afford a good nest egg for education that is great but for a family chugging along to be constantly told with every latest report that you're gonna need at least 200k-300k for a decent school in 10+ years just leaves one REALLY questioning is the education worth that cost.
Click to expand...
Really sets retirement back for sure.

 
As the cost of money for education dropped, the tuition increased to use up that "bonus" liquidity. It's insane. I know a lot of people who would have advanced degrees but they ran the numbers & found they'd end up with a negative ROI on the tuition. The private diploma mills are some of the worst offenders in helping students qualify for loans for overpriced programs that have little or no change of paying off.

My first semester of college (tuition & fees only) at Maryland in 1978 was under $400 (in state, full time).

My son's first semester (tuition & fees only) at Virginia Tech in 2005 was about $3000 (in state, full time). Add in room & board books etc and it was about $5500 per semester. Tuition & fees at VA Tech this year are almost $15000 per semester.

Who saw their pay triple in 10 years? That money is going somewhere.

 
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They can get loans. I worked my way through with some grants and some loans.

Many of those I saw who had a free ride on their parents didn't know the value of the dollar and wasted their opportunity.

If you're going to spend $200k - $500k on college I believe you're better off starting a business with them. That amount is a heck of a start plus you can leverage it.

 
belljr said:
fourd said:
belljr said:
Paid off first year with 529.

Been having him take his max loan and me paying cash the difference and I pay his loans monthly with what I was putting in his 529. Knock on wood everything will be paid when he graduates
Click to expand...
Do you put the money through the 529 plan before you pay it to the school for the state tax break (if your state gives your plan the break)?
Click to expand...
No once I depleted the 529 I stopped contributing to it.

It's not going to grow in 4 years and I don't get anything, I don't think.

I just pay straight to the school or fedloan
Click to expand...
If you get the state tax deduction you should still run it through the 529. Put it into the money market and take it right back out. If you don't get the deduction it's not worth it, but if you do why not take advantage of it?

 
I was fortune to get a promotion last year. When the first paycheck came I got is set up on the Florida pre paid plan. I chose the most expensive option the 4 year university plan and even bought the first two years of room and boarding. ~$500 a month for 13 years.

It sucks to pass up on a BMW, but at least I have the peace of mind of knowing the $$ is there and so long as she stays in state can go to any public school she wants.

Plus when she moves out I won't feel bad installing a mini Sports Bar in her room.

 
Been looking into this for our 6 month old. Been back and forth on a 529 and a Roth. Can anyone push me in either direction?

 
Very timely thread as I was #####ing to my wife about a recent conversation my daughter and I were having over text about registering for her next semester. The crux of the conversation was that she was trying to get the dance department to allow her in a ballet class and have the athletic department "count" this as fulfilling her required wellness credit for graduation. If she can't make this happen, she thinks she will just take yoga or meditation. Not to become my dad, but SERIOUSLY, this is required to graduate?!?!? I am already paying a credit hour for her too be in the marching band. Rant over.

We have done 529 plans for both kids since they were born. Both will be in college starting next fall. My daughter is a sophomore and I have not tapped her 529 plan yet, opting to pay cash until both kids are in school. She has done well with scholarships so far which has made this much more manageable. I recommend parents team up with their kid to work on the scholarship apps together. To be honest, my daughter hated applying and we had all kinds of arguments about getting them done; but in the end it paid off. Mt son will likely not qualify for any academic scholarships, but we are currently pursuing Track and XC opportunities hoping for a little something. Regardless, we'll have to use the 529s next year. Depending on the scholarships of one or both of them, we'll likely exhaust the 529s for both around my daughter's last year. At that point, I am kicking around either having the kids take loans from us from my 401K (tax free as I understand and I would rather have them pay us the interest vs a lender), take the cash value of a life insurance policy and/or liquidate other investments and take the tax hit.

The thing that frustrates me is that there is no simple playbook on how to attack this. For every good argument to go one way, there seems to be a polarizing opposite opinion. Thanks to the OP for starting this thread. I am sure this will prove to be a very valuable read as posts continue.

 
fourd said:
belljr said:
fourd said:
belljr said:
Paid off first year with 529.

Been having him take his max loan and me paying cash the difference and I pay his loans monthly with what I was putting in his 529. Knock on wood everything will be paid when he graduates
Click to expand...
Do you put the money through the 529 plan before you pay it to the school for the state tax break (if your state gives your plan the break)?
Click to expand...
No once I depleted the 529 I stopped contributing to it.It's not going to grow in 4 years and I don't get anything, I don't think.

I just pay straight to the school or fedloan
Click to expand...
If you get the state tax deduction you should still run it through the 529. Put it into the money market and take it right back out. If you don't get the deduction it's not worth it, but if you do why not take advantage of it?
Click to expand...
I don't get a deduction

 
I am not paying 100% of my kid's education. College is just so expensive now that I think if the kids choose to go away and have the full college experience (which I totally support), then they need to understand that nice things cost money. At my son's college, the kids are automatically given a federal loan of $5k/year unless they opt out. I will let my kids pay this themselves once they graduate.

 
James Daulton said:
I am not paying 100% of my kid's education. College is just so expensive now that I think if the kids choose to go away and have the full college experience (which I totally support), then they need to understand that nice things cost money. At my son's college, the kids are automatically given a federal loan of $5k/year unless they opt out. I will let my kids pay this themselves once they graduate.
Click to expand...
This is what we did. However I am paying those loans and h3 is paying his room and board. He lives off campus now and his coop money goes straight to that.

We only pay tuition

 
doowain said:
Been looking into this for our 6 month old. Been back and forth on a 529 and a Roth. Can anyone push me in either direction?
Click to expand...
IMO, you shouldn't even think about a 529 plan until you've maxed your Roth. No-brainer.

ETA - you mean a Roth for the kid? Unless your 6-month old is employed and earning income, he/she isn't eligible for a Roth yet.

 
Last edited by a moderator:
xulf said:
comfortably numb said:
I feel like college has become a keeping up with joneses of sorts

It's like no matter how much money they make colleges people are jumping at the chance to keep saving for a 500k education for their kid.

Is a 500k education gonna be THAT much better than say a 80k education in 10-15 years?

I get wanting to give your kids the best chance but idk man, just seems like such a large amount of stress on a family to save that much for a kid to hopefully go to school and hopefully finish with a degree that they may use in a job?

It's probably just me, I think i'm just selfish/cheap. I mean if you can comfortably afford a good nest egg for education that is great but for a family chugging along to be constantly told with every latest report that you're gonna need at least 200k-300k for a decent school in 10+ years just leaves one REALLY questioning is the education worth that cost.
Click to expand...
Really sets retirement back for sure.
Click to expand...
Retirement should be the first priority.

 
comfortably numb said:
xulf said:
comfortably numb said:
I'm sending my kids to europe for school.

jesus christ if i am dropping 40k a year on my kids school in 10 years only to see them posting selfies all day on beatlechat or whatever the new hip social media site will be I will slice someone with a protractor
Click to expand...
40k seems like a steal for me. I have 3.5 year old and 1.5 year old. Expecting a quarter million each unless there is a huge overhaul.
Click to expand...
Jesus christ.

At what point is college not worth it?
Click to expand...
I saw a poll not too long ago where they asked recent college grads if it was worth it and a clear majority said no.

 
James Daulton said:
I am not paying 100% of my kid's education. College is just so expensive now that I think if the kids choose to go away and have the full college experience (which I totally support), then they need to understand that nice things cost money. At my son's college, the kids are automatically given a federal loan of $5k/year unless they opt out. I will let my kids pay this themselves once they graduate.
Click to expand...
Depending on your tax bracket you can get a tax break of $2500- per child. Was given advice to take that 2500- and set it up in a bank account in their name that pays equal payments monthly towards that loan. The biggest thing it does is develops credit for them coming out of college. They will need every break they can get at that point.

 
ffjunk said:
James Daulton said:
I am not paying 100% of my kid's education. College is just so expensive now that I think if the kids choose to go away and have the full college experience (which I totally support), then they need to understand that nice things cost money. At my son's college, the kids are automatically given a federal loan of $5k/year unless they opt out. I will let my kids pay this themselves once they graduate.
Click to expand...
Depending on your tax bracket you can get a tax break of $2500- per child. Was given advice to take that 2500- and set it up in a bank account in their name that pays equal payments monthly towards that loan. The biggest thing it does is develops credit for them coming out of college. They will need every break they can get at that point.
Click to expand...
I forgot to add in my reply to be sure to know about and understand the tuition tax credit info: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Education-Credits:-Questions-and-Answers This was a pleasant surprise come tax time.

ETA, be sure to note the other qualifying expenses. I have an email folder where I store the email receipts (mostly Amazon for books).

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Chadstroma said:
comfortably numb said:
xulf said:
comfortably numb said:
I'm sending my kids to europe for school.

jesus christ if i am dropping 40k a year on my kids school in 10 years only to see them posting selfies all day on beatlechat or whatever the new hip social media site will be I will slice someone with a protractor
Click to expand...
40k seems like a steal for me. I have 3.5 year old and 1.5 year old. Expecting a quarter million each unless there is a huge overhaul.
Click to expand...
Jesus christ.

At what point is college not worth it?
Click to expand...
I saw a poll not too long ago where they asked recent college grads if it was worth it and a clear majority said no.
Click to expand...
Let's see what they are saying in 10 years.

I didn't actually use my degrees for more than a decade after I graduated. Now I'm in a career (appraising) that you cannot even get into without a bachelors.

 
Plaid Boxer said:
xulf said:
comfortably numb said:
I feel like college has become a keeping up with joneses of sorts

It's like no matter how much money they make colleges people are jumping at the chance to keep saving for a 500k education for their kid.

Is a 500k education gonna be THAT much better than say a 80k education in 10-15 years?

I get wanting to give your kids the best chance but idk man, just seems like such a large amount of stress on a family to save that much for a kid to hopefully go to school and hopefully finish with a degree that they may use in a job?

It's probably just me, I think i'm just selfish/cheap. I mean if you can comfortably afford a good nest egg for education that is great but for a family chugging along to be constantly told with every latest report that you're gonna need at least 200k-300k for a decent school in 10+ years just leaves one REALLY questioning is the education worth that cost.
Click to expand...
Really sets retirement back for sure.
Click to expand...
Retirement should be the first priority.
Click to expand...
This post reminded me Ive been meaning to increase my 401k deduction. Thanks!

 
Another frustrating part of tuitions is outside scholarships. Kids apply for a bunch of these and put in a lot of time and effort. Some scholarships do not count against "aid". Others do. If a college gives $5000- in institution aid, and you reveive $1000- in outside scholarships, they want to know how much you got and will then reduce the aid to $4000- because of the scholarship. Some are protected and stack on the aid, I just can't remeber which.

 
Plaid Boxer said:
xulf said:
comfortably numb said:
I feel like college has become a keeping up with joneses of sorts

It's like no matter how much money they make colleges people are jumping at the chance to keep saving for a 500k education for their kid.

Is a 500k education gonna be THAT much better than say a 80k education in 10-15 years?

I get wanting to give your kids the best chance but idk man, just seems like such a large amount of stress on a family to save that much for a kid to hopefully go to school and hopefully finish with a degree that they may use in a job?

It's probably just me, I think i'm just selfish/cheap. I mean if you can comfortably afford a good nest egg for education that is great but for a family chugging along to be constantly told with every latest report that you're gonna need at least 200k-300k for a decent school in 10+ years just leaves one REALLY questioning is the education worth that cost.
Click to expand...
Really sets retirement back for sure.
Click to expand...
Retirement should be the first priority.
Click to expand...
Yes, absolutely. I max out my 401k and get 10% added by my company. What I meant by my statement is that, while I should be fine in retirement, a multi-hundred thousand dollar hit will still require me to work more years than I would have if that expense didn't exist.

 
2Young2BBald said:
\The thing that frustrates me is that there is no simple playbook on how to attack this. For every good argument to go one way, there seems to be a polarizing opposite opinion.
Click to expand...
Every situation is different. That's why you get such a wide variety of opinion's on how to attack. It's time consuming, but for planning purposes you really need to review all options to determine the best path.

 
ffjunk said:
Another frustrating part of tuitions is outside scholarships. Kids apply for a bunch of these and put in a lot of time and effort. Some scholarships do not count against "aid". Others do. If a college gives $5000- in institution aid, and you reveive $1000- in outside scholarships, they want to know how much you got and will then reduce the aid to $4000- because of the scholarship. Some are protected and stack on the aid, I just can't remeber which.
Click to expand...
:goodposting:

Before applying for a scholarship definitely review this information. It is disclosed somewhere in the process, but where and how depends ont he scholarship. This is a very common issue that's not realized until shortly before or even after a student has already started school.

 
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