Sharing College Costs with Children

twoinanddone
Mon, 03 Jun 2019 16:44:58 +0000

The OP’s plan has the student paying 1/3 of the COA after all merit is considered. The parents get the benefit of the student’s hard work to get that merit, or get the benefit if the student chooses a very inexpensive college.

Child #1 picks a school that costs $40k, earns a $20k scholarship = $20k COA with parents paying ~$13.4k and the student paying $6.6

Child #2 picks a school that costs $60k, nothing in scholarships. The parents pay $40k and the student $20k.

Parents have to decide if that is fair. CC has a lot of complaining that it isn’t fair when the schools take away need based aid when the student earns a scholarship, but that’s really what is happening here. The parent is taking 1/3 of the merit award away from the child. If the deal was to split the COA by 1/3, but the student could meet his 1/3 with merit aid, that would seem more fair to the hard working child.

Child #1 COA= $40k, 2/3 parents = $26.7, student’s portion is $13.3, which is 100% paid with scholarships and parents actually pay less too, only $20k because the student has an overage in scholarships.

Child #2 COA= $60k, parents pay $40k and student pays $20k.

Parents still pay less for child #1