<p>^ Agreed… it makes as much sense as the OP’s tipping analogy.</p>
<p>Actually the Q about death penalty is very abstract for most of us as we will likely never know anyone facing the death penalty while we will know many facing tipping and costs of college Ed Qs. </p>
<p>The amount one pays for defense of a person charged with the death penalty isn’t something that one can get a merit scholarship for either, and the amount paid doesnt necessarily correlate with results. This seems pretty off the wall to me.</p>
<p>Our parents paid for my husbands and my college education, so feel that we should do the same for our son. We have only have one so admittedly is a little easier financially.</p>
<p>He did the hard work in HS so was able to receive substantial merit aid to his #1 choice. We pay all college expenses, that will include a fifth year (he is in a 5 year master’s program) and he pays spending money. We feel that he should not get a job during the school year unless it is related to his major ie. internships etc.</p>
<p>He is doing extremely well, has a 4.0 so far. We are happy!</p>
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<p>Don’t we see a lot of people say that many students have helfty educational loans but their degrees only help them to be taxi drivers or grocery store checkers?</p>
<p>We also see many middle and wealthy families don’t pay tuitions for their kids but they are willing to pay the best lawyers to get them free.</p>
<p>… do you seriously not see the difference between paying for one’s education and ensuring that your child doesn’t go to jail?</p>
<p>What’s the difference? To me it’s the same: how much you care about your kids.</p>
<p>Fantine was willing to sell her teeth, her hair, and her body to raise Cosette. But other people would let their kids rotten in hell.</p>
<p>Umm, not going to a 4 year school does not equal death. And you seem to argue at one point that a 4 year degree really doesn’t have much value at all…sooo…your argument is not making much sense.</p>
<p>I did not say 4 year college degree is worthless.
And what makes sense to someone is totally subjective.
The original OP’s question is an elusive one.
Some people buy 200k car and the car is owned buy the bank, others buy 20k car paying cash. Both camps are happy.</p>
<p>We pay for all of kids’ educations. In exchange, they know that they must buy us a house when they become rich and famous.</p>
<p>Another paper
[Dynamic Aspects of Family Transfers
Kathleen McGarry
NBER Working Paper No. 18446
Issued in October 2012](<a href=“Dynamic Aspects of Family Transfers | NBER”>http://www.nber.org/digest/mar13/w18446.html</a>)</p>
<p>looks at when and how much parents aid their adult children.
</p>
<p>When parents consider how much to help with college, I think they should also consider alternative ways they may help down the line.</p>
<p>The EFC for my 2 kids is about 30% of my gross income and about 40% of my after-tax income.</p>
<p>So my kids are borrowing to purchase their educations which they will have many years to pay off and they chose degrees that pay money as a result.</p>
<p>More than all of our vacations, all of our cars, and our house combined (at the time. We have bought a couple of cars since…D earned her own spending money.).</p>
<p>Like madaboutx, about 30% of take home pay.</p>
<p>We paid full freight for both kids’ privates and they had been self-supporting since graduation. Both H and I came from families who paid for our education and I think my kids will be able to pay for their future children’s education as well.</p>
<p>We’re prepared to pay at least $20000. Cost of state school tuition And room and board here. Might pay a bit more. That’s about 20% of our gross income. Son has received a couple full tuition offers but we still would pay more for the right school. I paid all my college expenses and paid for grad school. My parents didn’t have the money. I don’t resent it, but I don’t think it was particularly character building. I was a responsible hard working kid. It worked out for me. My siblings were late bloomers. I think it was disasterous for a couple of my brothers. They were clueless. Never went to college.</p>
<p>And if my son ends up working at a coffee shop or driving cab after 4 years, he’ll have to figure that out himself. We think we owe him a good education. What he does with it is up to him.</p>
<p>Beliavsky, how much do YOU plan to contribute to the college costs for your kids when the time comes?</p>
<p>My sister and stepsister both went to state schools in CA and receive monthly payments from my parents to help out with rent, gas, books, tuition, etc. I chose to get married to my high school sweetheart a few months after graduation, even with my dad warning me that would be essentially a declaration of independence and that I wouldn’t be getting any support from him. I ended up getting a nearly full ride to an out-of-state school and jumped on it because it would be my money going to pay for it. </p>
<p>Now, three years later, I have the highest GPA out of my siblings, and will be graduating with two separate STEM degrees and honors. I will be attending medical school next fall (fingers crossed) and will have accumulated about $20k in debt (we also put some away in retirement, just to form good habits). We also have six credit cards and an auto loan, and have built up credit scores into the mid-700s. During my time in school, my wife and I have both been working full-time to pay our bills - this has helped us keep busy so we are just too exhausted all the time to go out and spend the money we make. </p>
<p>In my opinion, not getting any help from my parents has strengthened my abilities, prepared me for life in the real world, and boosted my grades. And the best part - my dad said that since I have done so well in school and worked so hard he will be helping out with a down payment when my wife and I buy our first house, in the same amount that he has contributed to my sisters’ education (but we will still be saving for that purpose because we are too stuck in our ways).</p>
<p>Has any contributed more than two arms and two legs. I may have to borrow limbs to pay for college.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, I may have to borrow kitchen sinks too.</p>
<p>For typical middle class families, I think a reasonable goal is to save enough (from the time each kid is born) to cover all costs of the in-state flagship, minus an “expected student contribution” (ESC). A reasonable ESC would be up to about $8K/year (the sum of the maximum federal student loan plus realistic student earnings.) </p>
<p>State flagships on the Kiplinger “best value” list range from $17K (FL) to almost $30K (CA). So let’s say about $20K/year is a rough national rule-of-thumb for the middle class parents’ contribution. If you save/invest $250/mo. per kid for 18 years at 5%, you’ll more than cover this amount.</p>
<p>Such a formula becomes a bigger challenge with each additional kid. On the bright side, most middle class married couples are earning more when their kids hit college than when their kids were first born. So, you may be able to afford a little more out of current income.</p>
<p>My parents are paying more than they can really afford, their parents paid more than they could afford, and when I have kids I’ll do the same if necessary. And if I’m in a position to help with my parents’ retirement I will.</p>
<p>Lots of people here (a place which I think unreasonably biased towards parents) will disagree, but I think it’s silly to place the large financial burden on the party it will be hard for. While college is taxing for parents to pay for, it would be even more taxing to worry about as a student.</p>
<p>I’m overworked and stressed enough as it is without having to try to work more than goes with my studies. And, I really resent the comment about paying for college <-> having skin in the game. Most students I know are lucky enough to not have to pay for their own school, and none of them think their education is any one’s responsibility but their own.</p>
<p>I still work 10-20 hrs/week during the school year and >=40 over the summer, but because of my parent’s contribution, I’m in the position that I only take jobs that come with learning experiences (not just any hours that will pay). I spend all of the time that I’m at work working, but can gain experience and knowledge. If I had to pay myself, I would be attending a different school and would also not be able to make use of opportunities/take as many classes/pursue as many projects as I’ve been able to do.</p>
<p>Just my point of view. I don’t know - maybe some of you in the position to be able to contribute will consider it.</p>