I never said I wanted a top college at a low income price. My kids will get no financial aide so that topic is purely academic for me. I want all interested kids to go to college and don’t want to see families suffer because of it.
Yes I love it when a kid takes responsibility. Having them think their parents/the World owes them a free ride is infuriating to me. I also can’t stand the idea of the colleges EXPECTING the parents to contribute a large percentage of their household budget to paying their kids education. I have nothing against a parent helping out if they are able.
Any parent who made some sacrifices so they could build up a college fund deserves respect.
My D16 IS commuting to a state school. She made that choice after we told her how much we could contribute and she saw what the out of pocket would be for several schools she applied to that sent their offers. We front loaded our assistance to her because S18 will change the family finances when he starts college.
S18 knows what we can contribute for him each year. He sees what the his top choice colleges cost. He’s working, saving and busting his butt to keep top grades. He’s studying for his SATs He knows he needs merit money. He’ll get his packages and have to make a decision for himself next year. If he opts for his top choice but has to borrow 80K to make it happen he should get no sympathy when the loans come due. (of course I’d strongly lobby against his choice)
Everyone needs to take responsibility for the choices they make.