<p>The U our S is graduating from just called the other day about the “senior gift” that the seniors are giving to the university, in addition to the many years of tuition, board & fees! It is a private U and while S did get generous merit aid and does have a job waiting, we are still paying for his sister’s tuition & all expenses at the same U. </p>
<p>I was rather astounded that they are saying that the seniors are CHOOSING to GIVE the school some rather expensive present–a photovoltaic system for the gym or something (can’t remember, I had the girl repeat it a few times because I was so taken aback).</p>
<p>I can understand a modest gift from the graduating class but especially in these tough economic times, I am surprised when asked to hand out ever more money. I thanked her, got her contact info & promised to pass it on to S, in case he wanted to contribute to the “senior gift.”</p>
<p>How common is this? When I graduated college (public OOS U), we were not asked to contribute to a senior gift. When I graduated from law school, I believe we may have donated a bench or something, but NOT a photovoltaic system or similar. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>I gaduated from your Son’s univ. They still ask for my money. I quit gving and asked them to stop asking 5 or 6 yrs ago. </p>
<p>When son graduated from Redlands I thnk they asked for $10. Maybe $5 and they got a really neat medallion to wear at graduation. I don’t remember what the money was supposed to purchase. I haven’t heard of any other requests from schools. My dear univ will probably send requests to my funeral :)</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of this, but whenever we have gotten calls asking for donations to a college that is already taking a big chunk of our savings, a simple, “Sorry, we can’t afford it at this time” ends the conversation quickly. I think the students who make these calls have an awful job, and must get a lot of shocked reactions. I guess it never hurts to ask, but I feel it’s one thing to seek money from alumni who’ve had a chance to establish themselves, quite another to solicit graduating seniors or parents of current students.</p>
<p>Same school as your son, we gave a gate, seems less expensive than this year’s class. I do seem to remember that there is some sort of vote, so maybe that’s what the girl said.</p>
<p>Yes, I think the students do have an awful job and I was polite but was really quite shocked. I can understand a modest gift, perhaps, but wow, don’t even have a photovoltaic system for ourselves & not quite sure when we’ll stop paying D’s college bills!</p>
<p>My S has thus far shown no interest in contributing toward any of these “worthy causes,” but will figure out what he cares about and wants to contribute to in his own good time.</p>
<p>at my school, seniors pledge to give money for the senior gift. There are enticements to sign up and fill out the paperwork (tshirts, wine and cheese socials, etc)</p>
<p>I don’t know what percentage of the pledges actually turn into real money. I suspect there is a significant gap between what is pledged and what is actually collected.</p>
<p>We gave thru DS remaining UGMA acct which was then in excess of loans. The intent of the UGMA was to fund his college, which it did. The college also gave him a small amount of grant money to entice his matriculation. </p>
<p>He did very well and owes alot to his school. I encourage him every year to make a contribution.</p>
<p>It’s not a photovoltaic system - it’s solar hot water, a lot more low tech :)</p>
<p>And senior gifts are fairly common these days, because % of alumni that contribute to a school is a metric that influences rankings, and that includes graduating seniors.</p>
<p>I can understand not wanting to contribute after paying full tuition, but I can also understand asking scholarship recipients to consider making a token contribution (a few dollars) if they’re pleased with their education, which is essentially what the rankings are trying to measure.</p>
<p>Also, any contribution counts. So it can designated to need-based aid or something of that nature instead of the gift.</p>
<p>I get these calls too and I just state that I will donate when my son or kids are done. I have been thinking of setting up a scholarship at my son’s school after he graduates. The school (actually private donors) gives out a lot of small scholarships (around $1,000) to student in addition to endowed scholarships and those small scholarships do a lot more for students and affordability than donations that I would make to my own schools which are both rather well-off, one spending money where I don’t think that it should be spent.</p>
<p>Ha,your schools are pikers. At my school, the Senior Gift was left up to the students, although it was strongly suggested what the gift should be. Seniors had to go out and dun their fellow students for funds. Meanwhile, the administration was dunning students to give to the annual fund, pushing hard for 100% participation, even saying things like “every graduating class in the last four years met their goal”. At the same time, the administration was hitting up parents for a gift to the annual fund “in honor of your graduate”.</p>
<p>I figured that my senior gift was paying back my loans. My class, though, gave a senior gift. I assume that the many wealthy classmembers contributed. </p>
<p>I anticipate that when S graduates from his LAC, we’ll be hit up for a senior gift. We will not contribute since we’ll be paying off his loans for a while.</p>
<p>Senior gift donations are fine when they come from people who can afford to do that.</p>
<p>I get calls every year to donate to my d’s school’s “Parents Fund.” I just laugh and say, “I’m already donating to the Parents Fund. It’s called tuition, room & board.”</p>
<p>DD is on the senior class gift committee. The university will name a room or whatever based on the % that donate, not by the dollar amount. What I liked is that the donation can be directed, so her small gift went to the club sport that was a huge part of her college experience.</p>
<p>Well I can’t comment on colleges yet, but I know the HS srs around here (both private and public schools) do typically give their school a gift from the class.</p>
<p>I’ve gotten calls from UPenn (S1) and MiamiU (D), but no calls from Juilliard yet. They probably know musicians are poor. </p>
<p>Miami’s calls started right away, after she enrolled. I explained to the poor student who called me that we were out of state, and I recommended that they start their calls with those paying in-state tuition as I felt we were paying enough. Since then, though, I’ve been gentler - just said no, thanks. This year my D got on the graduation list somehow - thanks to APs and a very heavy schedule, she was actually listed, credit-wise, as a senior last year. We’ve been innundated with junk mail, solicitations, and glossy brochures. This year the student who called asked if my graduating student was a S or D - I said neither, my D was a 3rd year. He was polite, and hung up quickly. But I assured him that I appreciated the warning of what we’d be in for next year.</p>
<p>I do, actually, think we’ll probably contribute something someday, once all the loans are paid off. If ever.</p>
<p>This is very common at colleges (and law schools) around the country. It doesn’t bother me as long as the giving is voluntary and anonymous, and the solicitation doesn’t go too far.</p>