Paying for college - increasing income/new or additional job(s)?

Parents Forum
1

HI everyone!

I have been reading through all kinds of threads on CC for months. My S is a junior in high school now and most likely college bound out of state. I think a small LAC is probably going to be his best fit.

He is a “good” student - GPA 3.6 weighted, SAT 1270 (only taken once, will take again in August). Lots of ECs, sports, performing arts, animal advocacy, library service.

I am a single mom. My ex-husband’s income is unreliable, so I’m not relying on it :slight_smile:

I have run NPCs at a variety of schools that may be reasonable fits both academically and financially. The numbers look like we (and by we, I mean I) can estimate out of pocket anywhere from $20k-35k. There is a college fund which will help defray some of that, but after that, it’s all out of pocket.

I currently work at a job that has provided me, as a single parent, a wonderful opportunity to “be there” for my S. My hours are reasonable and I am able to flex my time when I need to. However, I do not get paid very much for the profession I am in.

My plan is to go back to my previous job where I would expect to make substantially more, enough to make just about any school on that list “affordable” (hahahaha…) You know what I mean…BUT it means longer hours and more stress. I am willing to do it so that my S can have a good education (plus I’m tired of bringing lunch from home everyday…haha). There are other reasons for going back to my old job, but paying for college is the driving force.

I have seen many threads about paying for college, taking out loans, pursuing merit aid, etc. I wanted to find out if there are other parents like me who plan to change their job situation, by changing or adding jobs, to make college more affordable. I will expect my S to work during the summers and possibly have a work-study job too. I will also have him take any federal loans offered and plan to pay those off for him as his graduation present. I will still be taking out a loan(s) of some sort, but having the increased income will mean that I will have more options on how and when to pay those loans off.

Sorry such a long post…thanks for chiming in!

2

Be careful in that some colleges require non-custodial parent finances to determine financial aid. Check on their financial aid web pages to see if they require the CSS Profile Non-Custodial Profile. If so, then be sure to include his income and assets in NPC runs for that college. Even then, the NPC may still be less accurate than for married parents, but if you run the NPC with just your finances at a school that requires his finances, it is guaranteed to be overly optimistic, which is worse than possibly inaccurate.

Also, for those colleges, if he is uncooperative with the CSS Profile Non-Custodial Profile, that means no financial aid at all from the college.

3

Thanks ucbalumnus! So far all schools on “mom’s list” would not require the non-custodial parents’ income. But my ex is wiling to fill out forms so if he has to, he will. Has also said he “intends” to chip in his share, but I don’t ever count on that. ;0)

4

I changed jobs in my S1s sophomore year to make more money. My old job was easy, comfortable, but the extra pay from the new job pays S1s tuition each year. (He started last fall). I recently accepted a promotion that came with another raise to pay for S2 who is a junior now. i did it early so I could save up. Though I could pay out of income, starting early means I’m done saving and will be able to retire one day!!

5

While I do not plan on changing or taking on another job, I do plan on working at my existing job longer than I would like. I had my D when I was 41, I know yikes!! Anyway, we can afford to send her anywhere with our savings and existing income and no loans if I continue to work. No idea where she will end up (she graduates in 2018) and I am hoping for big merit money, but setting my expectations low and assume I will be working for another 5 years. :slight_smile: Don’t forget to keep looking for schools where your S will get merit money. My older high stats S got lots of merit because we targeted schools that would give him merit. Can’t do that with D for reasons I can’t get into, plus she is aiming higher than S anyway. But, it is worth looking at those schools now. Good luck.

6

Run the Net Price Calculators with both your current and approximate new income. The additional income will reduce your financial aid eligibility.

7

I worked part time until D2’s senior year in college. I have been with one employer since before D1 was born and I also do freelance work. My initial impetus to add hours just before D1 started college was because my then husband was fired. So my extra income helped but didn’t make up what we lost because of ex-h’s unemployment. It has been stressful working full time but I find it easier to handle now that I live alone. I’m really glad I was still part time when my daughters were living at home, especially during their junior and senior years in high school, because those years are very stressful for students, and I was glad to have time and energy for my daughters then.

8

Your current job situation allows for more time with your son. Senior year is indeed stressful, and visiting schools may be a priority as well. So the drawback to this plan is less availability for your son at a difficult time, and also the last year he is home.

9

Thanks for everyone’s responses. Sometimes I tell my friends I plan to go back to the old job to help pay for college and just get blank looks from them. I took the present job to have time to raise my S. Once he is out of the house, I won’t need flex time to make theater costumes and volunteer at school events.

AroundHere, I will definitely run the NPCs with the new income so I know what to expect.

rosered55, you make a good point about being there for the kids when they are juniors and seniors. I don’t plan to switch jobs until my son is in his last semester of high school or maybe right after he graduates, assuming the job is still waiting for me. I would love to move now, but I have been his support system for his whole life, I think I need to be there for a few more months.

10

mamom, thanks for the advice on merit aid. The schools on the list range from safety/big merit to reach(ish)/ probably no merit. I believe one of the reach schools NPC offered a large “grant” but no “merit” so it may be semantics.

Anyhoo, my S is very agreeable to allow his mother to make the initial list, so I only included schools that would be in range with what I think I can reasonably cover myself. If we are looking at the higher net priced schools, I will be glad I went back to the old job. With some of the safety schools, my S may have a nicer graduation present waiting for him in 4 years. :slight_smile:

11

We promised our daughter that if she gets into her dream Ivy, we would support her dream. Well, she got in through early decision in mid December a year ago. Within exactly 3 months, both my husband and I each took on a new job for more money. Good thing our son who is 2 years older is attending a much more affordable college. Our work hours and commute now are much longer, but being empty nested, it is not so bad. We did spend a lot of time with our kids when they were in high school, putiing our careers on hold. Now it is our chance to ramp up our careers again.

12

Are you certain you can go back to your old job at the higher salary at a time of your choosing? If so, good for you! I worked part time when my kids were growing up, gradually increasing my hours to full time when the youngest started HS full time. I have a lot of flexibility, but definitely wasn’t around as much. DH started working from home so was able to take up some of the slack and dinner duties.

Good luck!

13

Hi mom2and!

I am quite certain that my old job will always be available. Without getting into nitty gritty details, it is a position which not many are qualified for.

In my present position, I took a paycut to have the reasonable schedule and flex time. Most positions in my field offer better pay, and my old job is one of the higher paying positions. Anything could happen and that position could disappear completely, but it is highly unlikely. There are positions at other places I could also consider, but my old job would be the easiest transition.

14

If you can control the time you go back to that job, then I would wait until the kids are done;)

15

By senior year of HS my kids did not need me. Other than being a perpetual ATM machine and the infrequent weekend pick up (we told them- if you are in a situation you don’t want to be in- call us, no questions asked, we pick you up… never wanted the kids getting behind the wheel of a car with a drunk friend or staying at a party with substances they didn’t want to be around…) my presence was ghostly.

Just saying. They needed my moral support before bedtime during a crunch period at school, they needed a hug very infrequently, they needed my Visa card for college applications. But whatever notion I had that at 4 pm every day we’d be sharing and laughing and discussing their day- HA!

I vote for the full time job!

16

^Those weren’t the things I was doing with my kids for their last year of high school. They needed rides places. They played sports and I drove them to those, and stayed to watch. One had a job and needed a ride home most nights. Tutoring=rides. Attending college fairs, the school play (and sewing costumes). Going on college visits (x2) or at least a ride to the airport (40 minutes one way). Shopping for prom items. Traveling for tournaments. Senior awards ceremonies. Sports banquets and the signing ceremony. I had a very flexible job and still had trouble scheduling it all in.

And my kids weren’t superstars in any way. I knew parents of ‘Top 20’ kids who went to twice as many things as I did for just one kid.

Both my kids played their final games on the same night. I left one game at half time to get to the other game, and remember thinking “That’s it? It’s over? It ends now?” and it did. Poof. Over.