Parent Pressure to Apply?

rhandco
Tue, 09 Sep 2014 22:58:41 +0000

The “happy” versus “not broke” part is hard to figure out, especially if your parents are tight to the vest with their finances.

I know quite a few people who “had to” go to the college their parents picked, because of FA issues. One refused to pay anything at all for college if they went to the one for $20,000 per year, but would pay tuition plus all other costs (around $10,000 per year) for the college they ended up at. Making that decision at age 17, being warned about how much loans they would get, was really difficult and my friend in their 40s still is upset about it.

But if she can afford it, maybe you could put together a “presentation” or “cost/benefit analysis” of what Butler has versus other schools.

My husband and I are committed to put together some money for my son if he goes to the cheapest option or ends up with scholarships over a certain amount. Most expensive, we’ll probably give him nothing above his college costs (which we will be paying with loans from our retirement accounts for the most part), but if he decides to go to the cheaper one, we’d give him some money, maybe $10,000 per year, but after he graduates (and possibly $10,000 per year for the four years after he graduates). Then again, maybe he’ll have to wait until his youngest sibling graduates :)

For any of you in that spot, where your parents do have some money, maybe you could at least negotiate a bit. As long as they aren’t hardliners about not paying at all for more expensive options.