Sharing College Costs with Children

Erin_s_Dad
Mon, 03 Jun 2019 15:51:25 +0000

Our fiscal arrangements were not one size fits all.

Our first attended a school which offered her full tuition at a LAC so we paid room, board, and other costs. She worked for spending money on campus.

Our second chose a school where she received 1/2 tuition at a LAC (she could have attended the same school as her older sister for the same scholarship but chose not to). She took regular student loans for the first two years but then had some department level scholarships she received which filled in that amount. So ultimately we paid almost 1/2 tuition plus room and board. D2 got a job to pay for incidentals. We paid interest on her loans while she was in school.

Our last is about to head to college this fall. He did not focus as well on his academics as his sisters and will attend an in-state public. He will be taking regular student loans and we will pay the rest. If he gets some department scholarships down the line we can negotiate like his sister. And we will once again pay the interest on his loans while he’s in school.