<p>Hi, I was just wondering how much money, I, as a student, will be expected to have saved for college. How much is an average student contribution (like from summer earnings, not including work study) at a school that meets full need? Thanks.</p>
<p>*And I meant to say how much, sorry for the error</p>
<p>$3,500? Just my guessing.</p>
<p>I have been trying to figure this out for a while now and still don’t know. For what we usually make with a ‘normal’ job, you can only save up so much, and it barely dents OOS tuition etc… 35K x4, and only having 3500 in your bank? No way. Not even close to enough. Barely a drop.</p>
<p>^ 1) if your funds are limited, why are you looking at OOS tuition? 2) students aren’t expected by any formula to pay their own schooling (though it often happens).</p>
<p>OK…I’ll bite. From reading your other threads, it looks like you are considering some very expensive private universities. I would suggest that you open a savings account with your parents as the primary holders. This would make it their account but with you as a co-account holder. That way, your assets would only be tapped at 5.6% or so for FAFSA purposes. If you have the money in YOUR account, it will be 20%.</p>
<p>Most of those pricey private schools require a student contribution. This varies by school but can be a couple thousand dollars for freshmen, and increases every year.</p>
<p>At schools like Brown, your need will be met IF brown determines you HAVE need using their formula. They also use the CSS Profile as a financial aid application form. Of course, you would have to get accepted and there are NO guarantees there. It’s a mighty competitive school,that rejects almost 90% of applicants.</p>
<p>RISD, as an arts school, does not have particularly generous financial aid. And it is costly as well.</p>
<p>Just make sure you have an affordable safety school that you would like to attend on your application list.</p>
<p>Now…to your question…how much should you save? You need to have a conversation with your parents about this. We expected our kids to pay for all personal expenses including books. They worked during summers and also during school while in college. Your parents may want you to do this…and/or otherwise contribute to your college costs. Ask them.</p>
<p>I think I already have a savings account with my parents as primary holders, so that is good. But I don’t even have like half of Rundy3’s suggested amount… So I’m not going to have lots of assets to keep, haha. I have a job now, but so far I haven’t had time for one during the school year… and I only make 8 dollars an hour. My parents don’t really know how much I should save; my mom doesn’t want me to worry about college so much because she thinks that saving is just a drop in the bucket, like Rundy3 said. I just don’t really get how need is determined by what a student saves- like what if a student has no money, then will they still have a contribution? Or if they have like 7,000 dollars, will they be expected to pay it all? Is the student contribution a somewhat constant amount?
Wow, thumper1, you’re really following my posts! Haha… I’m aware that the Brown/RISD dual degree program may very well be too expensive, and that there’s a 90% (or higher) chance I won’t get in anyway! I did kind of sound naively optimistic in my post about that, but I still want to know what I could do to make this or something like it possible. Also, the tuition for this program is Brown’s tuition (and aid), so RISD’s lack of fin aid wouldn’t really matter. And yes, I do have a school that I know I can get into and pay for on my list that I’d be happy to go to!</p>
<p>LoveArt…the most important conversation you can have is with your parents about college costs, including your personal expenses. Every family has their own price point on these items.</p>
<p>None. </p>
<p>Teens make maybe $8 per hour. Even if you worked 20 hours all year and saved every penny your Jr and Sr year, you would only have $16K. That’s maybe 15% of the cost of public school and 8% of private school. </p>
<p>The bottom line is that the reason you pursue college is to avoid working for minimum wage. Spend your time getting good grades in rigorous classes and qualifying yourself for scholarships. Prove to your parents (and schools) you are a good investment. Then go to an affordable school and get out with a marketable degree as quick as you can. </p>
<p>There was a time when you save/work your way through school, but that math just doesn’t work any more.</p>
<p>Mitch…our kids had to work. The deal we made was that we paid all billable costs to their colleges. The kids were responsible for all discretionary spending and books. If they had not worked, or didn’t work during college, they would not have had textbooks. </p>
<p>Of course each family has different things they expect. We didn’t think this was unreasonable, and neither did our kids. Both had nice jobs on their resumes when they graduated from college for their future employers to see as well…an added bonus.</p>
<p>Mitch, so your logic is if you can’t cover everything, don’t bother even attempting to cover something? No wonder we see students taking excess student loans to cover vacations.</p>
<p>Im just saying be smart about it. Saving for college is like saving to buy a house. If you really had to do it you would spend most of your life trying.</p>
<p>^ Huh?! I know several people (even close to my age) who paid for a house mostly, if not fully, out of pocket. </p>
<p>The “community college” or “cheap state college” versions of houses but a roof nonetheless.</p>
<p>
I think many schools expect students would make about $3500 in summer to help out their school expenses.
FAFSA will assess 20% of student’s savings toward their school expenses. So 20% of $7000 is $1400</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You must live somewhere that has cheap housing . Houses here cost at least 250K. That would take most people more than a decade to save. All the while they would be paying rent. That’s not being frugal, that’s being stupid. </p>
<p>The thing is there is an opportunity cost for working & saving. Every hour a teen spends flipping burgers they could be:
<p>All of those things pay for college too, in the form of scholarships, graduating early, etc. Its my opinion that those things are ultimately worth much more than a minimum wage job.</p>
<p>Students on need-based aid will normally have a self-help component they need to have saved up or they aren’t going to college. No amount of AP classes or community service is going to fix that.</p>
<p>What?! Someone on CC who doesn’t recognize that there are cheaper options outside of their immediate experience? ;)</p>
<p>I worked as a teen and did all the things you said. It’s possible. Let’s be perfectly honest. Those 10 hours a week that you’re working weren’t all going to be going towards those things anyway. </p>
<p>-How is this stopping you from taking AP classes?
-You can still volunteer with a job.
-Private scholarships are VERY difficult to get but most don’t require <em>that</em> much time. In fact, one major scholarship I won asked us to talk about our work experience. So my job helped me get a 20k outside scholarship. But most scholarships are going to come from the schools themselves and seeing a work history can’t hurt.
-There’s still plenty of time to study for admissions tests if you so choose.
-Students aren’t “career planning” for any substantial period of time while in high school.</p>
<p>I don’t care whether or not teens work. I just think your arguments are illogical. In college, those with jobs have been proven to do better than those without jobs. Having a work history helps you get better paying jobs while in college, too.</p>
<p>MOST schools require a student contribution in one way or another, whether it’s through work study or a designated contribution. That money needs to be contributed somehow. Not all of us are lucky enough to have parents that can make up that money.</p>