Are You Going to Pay for Your Kids' College?

[Ximena]

I am not sure how I am being misinterpreted here, but it must be my writing. I am not saying parents need to or should do anything. I am also not saying that college costs less or more than it used to. I am just saying what my experience is which I am very aware will differ from other people's experiences.

My apologies nkarma for my last post I certainly didn't mean to nettle you or anyone else. I just wanted to share how expensive schools that you pointed out can actually be. Offering a complete stake for grad instead of undergrad in your initial post seemed a bit unrealistic to me that's all.

 

[4_cs]

I have 4 sons. Son #1 didn't go to college. His choice. Son #2 graduated in 4 years from top UC. First year had academic scholarships for tuition. We paid room and board.Next 3 years he was RA and had free room and board. We paid tuition. Tuition doubled from the time he started to graduation.Son #3 is a junior at the smallest CSU. Very specialized school. Same as #2 son with 1st year scholarships and now he is an RA. We expect him to continue to be an RA until graduation.Son #4 is a senior in high school.Waiting on acceptance letters. He applied only to CSU 's and UC's. We hope he will get enough in local scholarships to cover his first year tuition. We will pay room and board. After the first year we pay tuition. Room and board will be up to him. Hopefully he will get an RA position. He has the option to live at home and go to a CSU closer to home or go to a junior college and transfer. Neither appeals to him. They are also on the 4 year plan-graduate in 4 years,after that they are on their own. While at college we expect them to take a full course load and maintain decent grades. I wish we could help them out more but it is a huge sacrifice for us. I think that having them contribute and be accountable for their education gives them a greater appreciation of the opportunity they have been given. This is what works for us. Everyone I know handles it different.