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S/O Paying for College...

aliciamarielaliciamariel
in Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months

The post got me thinking...I posted, but I'll recap: We're going to do our best to pay for college and we have started saving, but we're going to take care of our retirement first.

But those of you who are going to pay for college, are you putting limitations?

This may sound harsh, but we won't pay for college if DS doesn't know how he will use his degree for a career - he has to be moving towards something.  I'm all for learning for fun, but I'll do that on my own dime.  I know so many people who majored in things they enjoyed and can't find a job because their degree isn't really 'marketable' in an already difficult job market.   

For example, if he's like "Hey mom, I'm going to major in stamp appreciation, cuz it sounds like fun" then I'm going to tell him to get a job to fund his education.  If he says he's going to major in something so he can then open a business doing a certain thing, or get a job as something else, even if I think it's far-fetched, I'll help him out.   

He can switch tracks and all that, but he has to have an intent and some sort of plan for what he does, unless he wants to do it on his own dime, KWIM? Is that harsh?

 

alicetera ~ the blog
twitter: @aliciamariel
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Re: S/O Paying for College...

  • AfterAllAfterAll

    Yes and no.  We have done nothing to begin saving specifically for college yet.  We have a savings account for him with quite a bit of money in it, but that is it.

    That being said.  We are extremely lucky.  DH works for a university, so our children's tuition at that school will be taken care of.  We will just have to pay for room and board.  Or if DH"s salary is above the cutoff, 80% of tuition will be taken care of for us.

    So our restriction is that our kids have to go to that school.  We both went there, it is a great school, and it is going to be "free", so it is either there, or community college.   May be "unfair" but that is the way it is going to be.

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  • CiconradCiconrad member
    We will pay 100% for whatever college they choose (public or private) provided that they maintain a minimum of a B average.  We will pay for 4 years only.  We will not pay for extra semesters because they screwed around, dropped classes and switched majors 4 times.  There will be no conditions as to what they major in.  We will make it clear that our financial support will end after college so if they choose to educate themselves in an area that is not necessarily financially lucrative, they will have to learn to be more frugal with their money or work a 2nd job...whatever they need to do to support themselves.
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  • ljlkmljlkm
    The only limitation on our paying for college will be our financial circumstances. I'm sending him to become a well-rounded, educated, socially-responsible person. What he chooses to do for a career afterward and whether his degree furthers that choice are secondary considerations for me.
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  • aglennaglenn member

    I get your intent, but it's kind of hard to enforce because what is "marketable" changes so fast.  I think of all the people I know who majored in IT and thought they were so smart for doing so, and made tons of money...for a couple years.  Now they can't find jobs at all.  I majored in psychology, which might be considered a lame major, but I've stayed employed and am doing pretty well, albeit working in a field that has nothing to do with psychology...so it's just not black and white.  I think having internships and early work experiences that get you where you want to go is more important than your major in a lot of instances.

    That said, I do plan to help DD work through choosing a major because I got zippo from my parents in terms of guidance.  They were very hands-off, "do what you want to do," and as a high school/early college age kid, what the heck did I know about what I wanted to do with my life?  I probably would have made some different choices if anyone would have really helped me with the decisions.

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  • etude de la vieetude de la vie member

    no limitations in our house! 

    I will always pay for my children's education and if it takes them longer than 4 years and they are not in a discipline a think they will be successful in....oh well. As a parent we should never put educational limitations on our children.  

    I went through a few majors including music. My parents supported my education 100% no matter what my path and as long as I kept good grades and was always full-time status.  With my parents support I felt like I could accomplish anything and wasn't pressured. I was lucky and as a result went on to get my degrees and start teaching at the University part-time. 

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  • aliciamarielaliciamariel
    imageaglenn:

    I get your intent, but it's kind of hard to enforce because what is "marketable" changes so fast.  I think of all the people I know who majored in IT and thought they were so smart for doing so, and made tons of money...for a couple years.  Now they can't find jobs at all.  I majored in psychology, which might be considered a lame major, but I've stayed employed and am doing pretty well, albeit working in a field that has nothing to do with psychology...so it's just not black and white.  I think having internships and early work experiences that get you where you want to go is more important than your major in a lot of instances.

    That said, I do plan to help DD work through choosing a major because I got zippo from my parents in terms of guidance.  They were very hands-off, "do what you want to do," and as a high school/early college age kid, what the heck did I know about what I wanted to do with my life?  I probably would have made some different choices if anyone would have really helped me with the decisions.

    I

    alicetera ~ the blog
    twitter: @aliciamariel
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  • aliciamarielaliciamariel
    imageaglenn:

    I get your intent, but it's kind of hard to enforce because what is "marketable" changes so fast.  I think of all the people I know who majored in IT and thought they were so smart for doing so, and made tons of money...for a couple years.  Now they can't find jobs at all.  I majored in psychology, which might be considered a lame major, but I've stayed employed and am doing pretty well, albeit working in a field that has nothing to do with psychology...so it's just not black and white.  I think having internships and early work experiences that get you where you want to go is more important than your major in a lot of instances.

    That said, I do plan to help DD work through choosing a major because I got zippo from my parents in terms of guidance.  They were very hands-off, "do what you want to do," and as a high school/early college age kid, what the heck did I know about what I wanted to do with my life?  I probably would have made some different choices if anyone would have really helped me with the decisions.

    I

    totally
    alicetera ~ the blog
    twitter: @aliciamariel
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  • arte79arte79
    We don't have any limitation. We're actually open to paying for undergrad and grad school. We are aiming to save $250k for each kid. That's probably not going to be enough though considering how fast tuition rises every year.
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