<p><a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061015/ap_on_bi_ge/paying_for_college;_ylt=AhCksyIhKuEhMooAhzoLKrus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGI2aDNqBHNlYwM3NDk-[/url]”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061015/ap_on_bi_ge/paying_for_college;_ylt=AhCksyIhKuEhMooAhzoLKrus0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3bGI2aDNqBHNlYwM3NDk-</a></p>
<p>Thoughts? Anyone guilty on the boards here? Anyone know people guilty of this practice?</p>
<p>I don’t know. </p>
<p>We saved quite a bit for the kids, but I’m not sure what for. We qualify for no aid and the savings is not enough to cover a full price private college (i.e. it’s not $180,000 per kid!), so our kids are still applying only to schools well below what they might otherwise get into in, in hopes of getting merit money.</p>
<p>Even if they got into a top-ranked school they would certainly not qualify for merit money (assuming the school gave any out - which most at that level don’t) and they couldn’t go anyway. </p>
<p>Son #1 did qualify for a merit award, and it has made it all much less painful, but still, we could probably have swung it without the savings. </p>
<p>I guess what I’m saying is that if you have enough income to save a somewhat substantial amount of money (let’s say at least $60,000 per kid) in addition to normal retirement and savings, you probably can figure out a way to pay for the tier two schools anyway.</p>
<p>Loved this quote:
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<p>We do live in Lake Wobegon!</p>
<p>Who is saving for college? Heck, we’ll be going in debt for boarding school with generous FA for our daughter. And from the quality of teaching improvement over our free public alternative, it is money well spent.</p>
<p>I think Weenie has got it right with applying for schools where your kid is in the top decile and looking for merit aid.</p>
<p>And honestly, will a kid earn more as an average graduate from a great school or a top student from a very good school? And if so, is it worth the additional debt?</p>
<p>I loved that quote, too, marite. And I am one of the guilty 75%! Surely someone will throw some money her way, no? It’s only in the last year that I’ve seen how little merit $$$ is available at top schools. D’s h.s. had a rising sophomore guidance assembly introducing us parents to the harsh reality that the class of '09 will be the biggest, most competitive group of kids ever applying to colleges. And the financial planner we sat with in 1991 grossly underestimated the $$$ we’d need to save. Equally galling is the realization that spendthrifts can actually make out better than the modest living gang that we belong to. </p>
<p>So, I guess I have to hope that somebody out there thinks she’s really, really special!</p>
<p>Saved a decent amount. Based on D’s efforts and talents, fully anticipated decent merit dollars. She qualified for 50% of total cost of a private college education through merit. We are able to pay our 50% from savings.</p>
<p>S is in 8th grade, and unless things change drastically we do not anticipate then same level of merit aid for him, so will continue to save aggressively.</p>
<p>I recently talked to someone who asked me how much college costs. She has a 13 year old and wants to know how much she should have saved up. I told her that if she earns more than about $100k-$150k per year, then she probably will not qualify for financial aid and should expect to pay in the range of $40,000-$50,000 per year for a private school. I don’t think she believed me… or maybe she just thought that her D would get scholarships. </p>
<p>Makes me think that middle schools could do well to educate parents during a Parents’ Night. The parents would at least have several years of warning.</p>
<p>Or even elementary school!</p>
<p>Heck, we can’t even get people to save enough for their own retirement, thinking they will have a defined benefit pension and Social Security. How does anyone think that anyone will save for their kid’s school?</p>
<p>I’m scraping hard to save for my retirement and pay for boarding school, (which I cannot take a loan out for). My kids will get the best college education we can afford beyond that. They know that they have to study hard for the best opportunity. Their success in college admissions/FA and in life is mostly dependent upon their effort.</p>
<p>I had this conversation with my sister who has a Kindergarten child. Using Finaid.org, she can forecast what a private college will cost when her daughter is ready. It’s startling! $45K per year now (the cost of many east coast private schools) will be something like $80K per year in 13 years. She is on a good path toward saving for her child’s education, but as an older mom, she has to be. She’ll be close to retirement when her daughter is in college, so it wouldn’t be wise to take out loans.</p>
<p>If you are going to save, save a lot. If you just save part of the cost you will be considered so well off that you won’t qualify for finaid. And then you are left with debt or merit aid and there just isn’t that much of the latter around.</p>
<p>The numbers in the “study” are striking! In fact, so striking as to be suspect:</p>
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<p>87% ? That’s a pretty high number.</p>
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<p>Sorry, I call “BS” on that one. What percent of Financial aid administrators said that? Maybe they were wrong! In our case, with son #1, merit aid was the last thing in the world we expected, yet 2 of 3 colleges offered merit scholarships.</p>
<p>For those too lazy to click:
"NEW YORK - A lot of American parents seem to think they don’t have to worry about saving for their children’s college educations because the kids will get through on scholarships and grants.
ADVERTISEMENT</p>
<p>Think again, says a study being released Monday by AllianceBernstein Investments Inc., an asset management firm based in New York.</p>
<p>The study looked at the college saving habits and goals of parents with children under 18 and compared them with what college financial aid administrators have to say about college funding.</p>
<p>The study found that 87 percent of parents believe scholarships and grants will cover at least part of their children’s undergraduate expenses, and nearly three-quarters think their children are “special or unique” enough to win a scholarship.</p>
<p>Financial aid administrators said 92 percent of parents overestimate the amount of scholarship money their children will receive."</p>
<p>if you think we underestimate how much college will cost & over estimate how many scholarships kids will get- wait till you see how “we” have prepared for retirement!!!</p>
<p>In our case, two of our three kids elected to go to a state school. We encouraged them to look into other alternatives, but they were very happy staying here and got a great education in the process. In our state, the cost of tuition as well as some other expenses, is covered by the “Hope Scholarship” as long as your grades are held to a certain standard. The first two kids graduated on that (as well as additional music scholarship $$ for kid #2). </p>
<p>Here comes kid #3, though. She has studied harder and achieved the grades necessary to get into Barnard…we never really dreamed we’d be footing the bill for this kind of education, but you do what you need to do (and can do, Thank God!) to support your child’s dreams. So I guess we kind of fit the profile of those parents noted in this “study”…we did kind of expect our kids to get some scholarship $$ since the Hope is available to them…</p>
<p>I see the irony in churchmusicmom’s situation…</p>
<p>A lot of people were betting on her children getting a scholarship (Hope scholarship funded through lottery). LOL</p>
<p>Yet again the news media is titling an article in such a way that the real point is distorted. Nothing is said about “college costs” but rather what parents and students will be required to pay. Within certain parameters, college costs are a function of which product (i.e. college) is being employed to educate ones scholar. Costs vary tremendously. Even if the article were titled “Parents low ball out of pocket college costs” the term “low ball” is meant passively rather than actively. To “low ball” a cost is simlar to bait and switch, not to misunderstanding what things will really cost the purchaser. All that being said, it is unfortunate that driving a new reliable sedan is a more productive means of transportation than taking the bus, but it suggests that public transportation needs to be enhanced, not that the government and/or manufacturers should be offering rebates on cars. State educational institutions should be financially accessible to all who are capable of academic success.</p>
<p>Call me cynical, but what I see here is a company,</p>
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<p>trying to drum up business by telling people that they are all overestimating scholarship money and need to save more and guess who can help make up the difference with a college savings/investment plan?</p>
<p>NJres, I see your point, but how do you explain the part of the article which describes the $12,000 a typical family plans to save as being enough to “just cover the cost of one year’s schooling at a four-year public college or university.” Twelve grand is about $9,500 short of the official estimate of the cost of one year at UC Santa Barbara for a California resident.</p>
<p>goaliedad: sorry, but I don’t get what you mean by the “irony”…</p>
<p>Maybe I am just a bit slow…:(</p>