Our 529s were in an age-based program that shifted assets out of stocks over time, as they approached college age. So, D19 & D20’s 529’s are not exposed to the stock market at all at this point. They’ve barely flinched. One less thing to worry about.
^^^^this…
Thought this was a good article. The theme of it not if this person was at Harvard or X school.
Business Insider: I was a senior kicked off Harvard’s campus amid coronavirus - Business Insider.
https://www.businessinsider.com/senior-international-student-financial-aid-kicked-off-harvard-campus-coronavirus-2020-3
No college has a contingency plan to deal with a highly infectious disease. Maybe they should. Some colleges do a better job taking care of their students (with full financial support, for example). Future students probably should take colleges’ actions dealing with this crisis into consideration when selecting their colleges. Colleges all have web pages on COVID-19 and their responses to it (usually including a FAQ section). Read and compare.
D came home for spring break on March 6th. Flight originally booked to go back to Baylor on the 15th. On the 11th, it was announced that spring break would be extended by a week. Flight changed to April 4th.
Monday night, the Baylor President sent an e-mail announcing that classes would not be resuming on campus for the remainder of the semester and students will start online this coming Monday. All swipe cards for the dorms were disabled and no one is allowed on campus to retrieve anything.
D’s car is still in airport parking at DFW. I almost have the logistics worked out to get it out and to an auto transport company to have it shipped up to us in Boston.
Late yesterday, we received an e-mail that two Baylor faculty have tested positive.
No word on when the campus will open up for us to fly down and empty her dorm room.
@1NJParent. I might disagree with this. I would think every college would have CDC and OSHA guidelines they have to follow… Like my office I have been have had this for years. Just never really read it every year. Guess what I took out a few weeks ago to review. Have discussions about protocol with staff almost daily now. We are locked and loaded with information. Think the schools just have hard decisions to make and dammed if they do and damed if you don’t.
^I agree that every school has a very difficult decision to make. They all have to make their decisions under all sorts of constraints, including time constraint. Some colleges, however, do make their decisions that are more considerate to their students, especially those who are in need. Beyond going online for their classes for the rest of the school year, there’re significant differences between the actions taken by various colleges.
Think this is a learning moment for lots of industries. If a next time they will be better prepared. I hope.
A learning moment for all individuals and local, state, and federal governments as well.
This virus will be circulating on Earth for the rest of time…everyone, every group, every organization has to figure out a plan to deal with it.
Those plans will be important to have when the next and possibly more deadly virus comes around, or we have a bioterrorism incident.
As stated above… Lots of industries have these plans. Even bioterrorism etc. But it’s on a high shelf in the corner… Collecting dust… Not anymore.
Emory just canceled graduation ceremonies.
Well done. For others in a 529 plan, even though they are in an “age-based” fund, there are more aggressive and conservative options that you may have invested in. For example, my D20 & D24 kids were in an aggressive age-based fund that still had some of the investments in equities even though they are 17 and 14 YO respectively. Year to date, the 17YO is down 7% and 14YO down 15% before I moved everything to FDIC insurance last week to stop the bleeding. The bottom line is know exactly the type of asset allocation you are invested in.
We don’t have 529s but I was surprised to hear people would still have 529 funds in equities for kids starting college in the fall. I feel for those who did - what a nightmare. I would think financial aid might be subject to amendment in such a case?
Oof! That’s tough. Sorry to hear that. Hopefully your 14yo’s has some time to recover. And I hope it doesn’t impact your 17yo too severely.
Luckily the bulk of our 529 savings is in the form of MET…prepaid tuition. It is looking like a better and better deal. Not only did my D20 get into the most expensive state school, she snagged a partial merit scholarship to cover some of the Room and Board.
The university I work for requires us all to have continuity of instruction plans after a natural disaster severely damaged campus about a decade ago. We are very happy to have had that intuitive in place now, although said we need kit.
The FDIC insures accounts against bank failures. It’s unlikely banks will fail so you wont need to ‘use’ the FDIC insurance.
I’m wondering if any of you are worried about figuring out off campus housing for next year. It’s almost time to renew leases or find new places (my D’s apartment lease ends May 6, they would start looking in April; houses would be leasing now). She’s in LA where it is very expensive AND competitive. Since last year, she has lived there year round and was going to over the summer and take summer school. We brought her home a couple of weeks ago, so she’s here now, in the Midwest. But I surely don’t want to pay LA rent for her to live here and do online school. The thought of her signing a 12 month lease soon, then living at home, hurts financially! She’s also unable to look around for new LA housing, since she’s here, but also CA is on a ‘stay at home’ order as of last night so NO ONE is looking around. She’s thinking about asking if they can go month to month on their current apartment, but then again…we would paying super high rent for an empty apartment that she doesn’t even want to keep. Anyone else in the same boat? What are you doing? Waiting and hoping? Wait another 6 weeks or so until the last possible minute on the current apartment and then revisit the whole issue? Thanks.
so mine has been told to move out of her dorm from a SUNY. She is devastated and wants to stay. Many students are moving out. Self isolation in a dorm room seems pretty bad. Everything is getting closed in New York. I would rather she flies home but I’m struggling with making the decision to force her to come home or let her stay in a city with nothing to do but stay in her room.
@guava123 one of the parents in our college FB group posted that as a university employee and local resident, they wanted all the students to go home.
The intent of keeping some things open was only for international students who couldn’t safely get home, not for domestic students who just want to stay.
Students are putting a strain on their resources and many aren’t heeding social distancing recommendations which puts the rest of the population at risk.
Same with my son’s college…lots of kids choosing to stay; university keeps having to send out stronger and stronger language to tell them to leave, without (yet) kicking everyone out (trying to be flexible for those that truly HAVE to stay). Also campus services are incredibly limited, and they are trying to enforce social distancing among those who stay. Plus with more and more states’ restaurants (and everything else) closing down to carry out only, it’s hard to imagine living without a kitchen right now.