Ok so last night whilst watching Trading spouses (If you saw my other thread.. yes they (wife swap + trading spouses) are on the same night 2 hours apart.. diff channels)



I thought about something I'd been meaning to start a thread on for quite a while.. because I really dont understand.



Parents on US tv programmes seem to mention college accounts.. and sending their kids to college.. and paying for it.. A LOT.



Here I've never heard of ANYONE whos parents pay.. EVERYONE gets a student loan (I guess a select few would have mummy and daddy pay for it)



but is that the norm for the parents to save up for their kids to go to college?



Its even in an eminem song.. so many references to it.. and im just like.. huuuuh?

I'm taking my first two years of college at a community college, and my parents pay for that. After two years, I'm on my own for the second half of my bachelor's, and any more college. I think that's a pretty fair way to do it... I pay for all my own stuff otherwise, aside from housing (I live with my parents) and some food (I buy a lot of my own vegan-friendly stuff, but rice, pasta, veggies, etc. we often have anyway). Clothing, gas, car, car insurance, school books and supplies... are all on me. I have a job, so that's what my money goes for. I have no complaints, I think it's very generous of my parents to pay for what they do pay for. A few of my friends' parents are paying for their college, bought their kid a car, insurance, that whole shebang. I just can't see that, sorry.

My parents don't pay for my college education. Most of my friends' parents do. My mom helped pay an outstanding debt when I transferred from an expensive private college to a public university in my hometown, but I have to pay her back for that. Sometimes my dad gives me a couple hundred here and there to pay off my debt when he can afford it but other than that I'm on my own. Books and all.

Well.. that's the way everyone (well, ok magority.. ) of people here do it.



Cultural differences are weird.



I want someone to pay for my education. Haha.

(someone who isnt me.)

my parents would have paid for college for me at a public school if i were doing well enough and being a "good" daughter. they wouldn't have needed to save specifically for it.



they fully supported my sister through college. they also talked about loaning my sister money while she went to grad school. i'm not sure if they are doing that now or not. they gave her one of their cars, too, and then took that one back when it had problems and gave her a newer one.

if i hadn't had financial aid to pay for the bit of college that i went to, i most likely would not have been able to go. my family is not very well off at all.



i just hope my brother can get a basketball scholarship when he does graduate from high school so he can go to a good school like he wants to.

Oh, I should say that at the school I now go to, I get enough financial aid that I don't have to pay for anything. I got a really good scholarship for next year and I'm set. Even for books, now.





I'm still way in debt for my adventure at the expensive private college, though.

Yeah, my parents saved-up and sent me off.

On my own (er...on my loan) for grad school though.

I looks, right now, like I almost have enough. This should be interesting.



ebola

My grandmother started off paying for my education when I was 16 and went to college the first time. After I dropped all my courses and decided I wanted to take some time out to "find myself", I "found myself" without any support because she cut me off. Now since I went back, she helps me out with books, or if I'm really in a bind. I wouldn't want her to pay for my education now anyway. I'm too old, and now its my responsibility.



There are some that do save college funds for thier children though. I plan on saving one for mine if I have any, but I don't plan to just "give" it to them. They're going to have to get some type of part time job and earn some of thier own way.

you know that sounds a lot like what someone told me about their family. this person's sister was supported throughout college, given a car, graduation gift and all that , and the person just b/c he/she got into some trouble from hanging out with the wrong kind of people at some point in their life got nothing. but then, this person can proudly say that they have achieved everything on their own....



i am going to get a sudent loan when i transer to a good school, for now i'm at a community college and so far i get financial aid that covers most of my education, w/e is left we cover up. i can't say if i pay for it or not b/c in my family we do things a little different - i put all my checks on my mother's and mine joined account, and whenever i need money for gas/coffee/stuff i just ask my mom so i dunno what exactly i cover - i try not to spend to much

Nope, I paid for it all myself. My dad sent me money for groceries sometimes but I am mired in debt from paying for school on my own. That said, I have almost no debt from grad school because I now have the income to pay it out of pocket. My undergrad debt scares me though (I went out of state).



Since I went to a UC near the bay area, I went to school with a LOT of spoiled brats who bragged about their parents paying for everything. One of my friends had everything paid for (School, books, rent, food) AND got $1000/month for "spending money" I went to a party once and walked past a car with the license plate frame that read, "my car, daddy's payments"



If I were to have kids, they'd pay for their college education too. I'd probably help with food or something, but that's it. I personally think that once you're old enough for college, you're old enough to take care of your own finances and pay your way.

Oh and DK it might not just be a cultural difference, but a financial difference too. How much does college/uni cost there?



It is about US$5000-$7000/year (NZ$6500-9000) for a state college, and you go up from there (TAFE type schools are cheaper of course). So maybe that is part of the reason. If it's not that expensive in NZ, maybe it is easier for parents to choose not to pay for it -- it doesn't seem like such a financial burden on their kids...?

Schools within the US differ greatly, too.



The school I went to my freshman year cost $42,000 for that year. I owed a fraction of that after scholarships and financial aid, but that was still more than I could afford.



The in-state, public university I attend now costs me less than $4,000 per year, before scholarships or loans. I don't live on campus, though, but if I did that would only be about $1500 more per year.

Others have mentioned state schools. These are run by, or at least sponsored by, each state government. I believe that the initial intent was for them to serve a broad spectrum of residents of the given state, though as some departments of state schools have distinguished themselves in various areas, there's been a fair amount of crossover. Residents do typically pay a *lot* less, and these tend to have a large number of students. The Univ. of Pittsburgh is public, I believe, and has something like 30k-40k students.



Private schools don't receive the same subsidies as public/state ones, and tend to be way more expensive and harder to get into, and to have fewer students. Carnegie-Mellon had about 4k undergrads when I was there.



The financial aid office at CMU came up with a "package" each year, where they added up how much money they decided my parents could pitch in (which, being >0, was inaccurate, what they assumed that I could earn in a summer job, any scholarships (I had a couple) and grants. They factored in a student loan, which has a low interest rate because IIRC the government guarantees them -- but which can only be for a limited amount. A certain amount of "work study" was also awarded -- on-campus jobs where the hiring department paid half my wage and the university paid the other half. By the time I was a senior I was working 35 hrs/week, though I think work study only covered 20 of those. I think the state/federal government kicked in a bit as a "grant", too, and the remainder was "granted" by the university.

Is that a typo? Assuming a 9 month school year thats like $170 a month.

Not a typo. That includes room, board, and other residence-related fees.



At RMWC, where I used to go, room and board was ~$2800 a year.

I have a studio on campus, $555 a month, I thought that was a steal. It includes internet, cable, phone, electric. A similar size, but older and crappier studio off campus 3 blocks from here was $690 a month including only water, and electric for the water heater. I think a dorm room is like $450 a month here for a double.

I went to one of the most expensive universities in Canada at the time, so most of the people there had Mommy and Daddy pay. However, in meeting people my age who went to other schools, I have yet to meet anyone who doesn't have a full studen loan in the range of $10-$40k.



But schools are much cheaper in Canada then in the US. We don't have the same set up of private vs public. Universities are pretty much all in the same price range; obviously, there are differences (ie smaller schools vs larger ones, undergrad only vs full program schools, locations, etc).

That's really expensive. From what I understand, UNCG students aren't made to pay by the month; your "room and board" covers a dorm room (double or triple. Suites are more, somewhere around $2000 a year) with a bed, a closet, and a desk for each student, and meal plans are a seperate fee. Everything else - electricity, T1 internet connection, one phone line - is included. But this is the University of North Carolina at Greensboro I'm talking about here - North Carolina universities are a really good value and the state pays for a lot of things, but I mean... this isn't Harvard or anything.

wow, on-campus housing at ucla is $9,000 - $12,000 a year for a double or triple.

Our dorm / managed apartment costs varied by class -- there were standard and premium places, depending on size, [semi] private bath, ugliness, etc., and it varied by single/double/triple, too. Freshmen were pretty much required to live in a dorm unless they already lived nearby with parental types.

apparently it scales with with the local real estate market, I'm guessing this is all in proportion with apartment rents in greensboro, dowtown portland, and LA respectively.

I think that's the crux of comparing college education between the US and other countries: The US colleges cost a whole lot more than other countries, hence the need for US parents to 'chip in' with the costs. In other countries where college eductation is subsidised by the government, the costs to students is far lower so help from parents is not needed.

my family is very poor. were it not for student loans, i never would have been able to go to college. i'm going to have to take out more student loans when i go back to school (which i have, definitively, decided to do ). in short, i am going to be in debt for the rest of my life

My dad paid for my college education. It was upwards of $30,000 a year, so there's no way I could have made enough money to pay for it myself. In the US, there are rules about how much financial aid you can get based on your family's income and assets, so I wouldn't have been able to get nearly enough money in loans/other aid to cover the cost.



And ya know, I really hate the holier-than-thou attitude of some people whose parents didn't pay for their education. It's admirable to take that on yourself, but just because I didn't slave away at a fast food job through school and end up with thousands and thousands of dollars of debt doesn't mean that all I did in school was eat take-out food, do drugs and waste my dad's money. (Not that anyone's saying that here, but I can sorta feel it coming.)

Ahh ok. That clears it up a little!



Its just something I've always been confused about!

My parents are paying for part of my education but most of it is going to be up to me. I will have to get a part time job and a student loan, I will get most of my support from that.



By the way I live in England if anyone wants to know.

My parents didn't save for college.



Currently I've got a few loans to pay tuition room and board. Once I graduate I'll pay them back. I think my mom has already started to pay back some of my loans.



I spend the money on books and gas and whatever else I need.

I don't think that it reflects negatively on you that your dad payed for your college education at all. I think that's probably everyone's dream, and anyone with that sort of attitude is simply jealous (and those without that attitude, too ). It's wonderful that your father paid for it, in my opinion. I want to be able to do that for my kids, because having to worry about my bills and debt has put me under more stress than my classes ever could. It's a distraction, really. Plus I have to work almost every night, until really late, so I can afford books and other expenses, and that really affects me when I have morning classes. I never want my kids to go through this, so I will do all I can to pay as much as I can for their education. Your dad rocks!

My tuition was roughly $5,000 a year for four years. I got half of it covered by a scholarship I had to maintain an A average to keep every year. As for parental support, the first year I got a couple grand but after that, nothing. It's a long drawn out story. I ended university two years ago with about $10K in debt but I've paid it off.



I find that many of the people I grew up with supported themselves through school, and have large debt now. However, the people I met at school (and most people from this city) had the good fortune of their parents paying for everything. Anyone who worked part time did so to have fancy clothes and to pay for their beer. I have found that paying for your own education is the exception, rather than the rule, at least in a city like this. Most people seem in awe when they find out I paid my own way.