Paying for College

[UTfball68]

OH!

You guys that are freaking out about costs, something to keep in mind.
Especially if you have "big boy" kids.

Remember when they move out, you're gonna save a TON on groceries! We're realizing that a solid 40% of our food expenses was our son, lol.
That's a lot of cash available for tuition!

I'm sure @Ron knows what I'm talkin' 'bout.

I’ll always remember the day I was smacked in the mouth by life. In high school I always loved the Wendy’s spicy chicken and I’d always bitch if my dad only grabbed me one, I was a growing boy. I was in college and was gonna grab 3 of those Sammiches…got the price…and slowly backed away from the counter. Went to the grocery store, decided I’d get all the stuff my mom never got me, loaded up a cart…got to the check out and ended up leaving damn near everything but ramen, bagels and some frozen pretzels. Immediately called my folks and apologizing for being so damn greedy, ungrateful and expensive. And that’s the story of how I learned to live on $50/wk spread across food, tobacco and beer…suddenly free church meals didn’t sound so bad.

 

[RatLabGuy]

…suddenly free church meals didn’t sound so bad.

Ah yes. I did not enjoy church in college but its amazing how coincidental it is I made it there the same week every month they had the family dinner afterward.
Wife-to-be and I's first "date" was a lecture on the hstrory of BBQ in the South... bc they advertised free samples.
Turns out it was a pretty damn interesting lecture too.

 

[Bebop]

My parents were supposed to pay for college.
I never worked in HS. Got A+ everywhere doing fuck-all.

Got accepted into the french equivalent of an Ivy League school. Parents were super proud and decided to pay for it.
I fucked around during the first year. Didn't make passing grade. Got kicked out.
My parents divorced during that year and my mother didn't have enough to pay for me.

I went to a shitty public university and started working to make ends meet. Life taught me a lot of shit that year.

Later on, I got a full ride for my masters.

 

[jeepinmatt]

My parents were supposed to pay for college.
I never worked in HS. Got A+ everywhere doing fuck-all.

Got accepted into the french equivalent of an Ivy League school. Parents were super proud and decided to pay for it.
I fucked around during the first year. Didn't make passing grade. Got kicked out.
My parents divorced during that year and my mother didn't have enough to pay for me.

I went to a shitty public university and started working to make ends meet. Life taught me a lot of shit that year.

Later on, I got a full ride for my masters.

So, based on your knowledge/history/experience, if you had kids, would you pay for their college?

 

[RatLabGuy]

Later on, I got a full ride for my masters.

This bring up another point.
Depending on the field - sciences in particular - a LOT of the time there are fellowships and research fellowships that pay for graduate degrees. Often in exchange for TAing a class or running a lab for a professor.
I chose Wake for my Masters in Psych specifically bc it cost me $0 in tuition. I did extra work for a research fellowship to male $$. As a PhD student I received a (rather meager) stipend + free tuition.
Obviously this is much less common for MBAs and things that are high-demand degrees that put people into higher income brackets.
But the point is for a science career, if you're halfway decent the only cost is the BS degree.

 

[Bebop]

So, based on your knowledge/history/experience, if you had kids, would you pay for their college?

Depends on the kid. I needed the slap in the face to wake up.
In said Ivy League school, I made friends that were a lot richer than me, parents paying for everything and they still worked hard. I follow a couple through LinkedIn and they have very nice jobs these days.

This bring up another point.
Depending on the field - sciences in particular - a LOT of the time there are fellowships and research fellowships that pay for graduate degrees. Often in exchange for TAing a class or running a lab for a professor.
I chose Wake for my Masters in Psych specifically bc it cost me $0 in tuition. I did extra work for a research fellowship to male $$. As a PhD student I received a (rather meager) stipend + free tuition.
Obviously this is much less common for MBAs and things that are high-demand degrees that put people into higher income brackets.
But the point is for a science career, if you're halfway decent the only cost is the BS degree.

I got a company to pay for my Masters while I was working for them.

 

[jeepinmatt]

Depends on the kid. I needed the slap in the face to wake up.

Same here. Or at least a higher level of accountability.

 

[RatLabGuy]

I got a company to pay for my Masters while I was working for them.

This is a great option also. A lot of bigger engineering companies will do it.
For Federal employees there are programs also with a 1:1 service payback

OH - and if a student is really a go-getter and knows they want to do Federal work, especially R&D - the SMART program is a killer deal.

 

[DSM Turbos]

I’ll always remember the day I was smacked in the mouth by life. In high school I always loved the Wendy’s spicy chicken and I’d always bitch if my dad only grabbed me one, I was a growing boy. I was in college and was gonna grab 3 of those Sammiches…got the price…and slowly backed away from the counter. Went to the grocery store, decided I’d get all the stuff my mom never got me, loaded up a cart…got to the check out and ended up leaving damn near everything but ramen, bagels and some frozen pretzels. Immediately called my folks and apologizing for being so damn greedy, ungrateful and expensive. And that’s the story of how I learned to live on $50/wk spread across food, tobacco and beer…suddenly free church meals didn’t sound so bad.

Can’t wait for our kid to have that lesson. Their chikfila lunch if they get what they want is like $17.

 

[DSM Turbos]

My mba was paid for about 50% from my employer. A lot of jobs will pay 5,250 per year ( I think that’s right if remember right) because that is the max they can write off. I picked an mba that was cheaper but also had the good accreditation so I wouldn’t have to pay much out of pocket. I wasn’t trying to be a ceo or exec so paying for duke or unc for me would be a waste.