<p>Looks like they are all interested in shipboard service (though of different types and missions). Was the family into boats and ships and the types of things done with them (including Navy, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine type of missions and activities)?</p>
<p>The USMMA is not free (but not that expensive): <a href=“http://www.usmma.edu/admissions/financial-aid/cost-attendance[/url]”>http://www.usmma.edu/admissions/financial-aid/cost-attendance</a></p>
<p>Not sure. We have been in their home but haven’t seen any nautical stuff! They like Kentucky Derby parties! Their kids are all young adults and doing well so , as I said. it’s really none of my business, just curious. Have known a Naval officer, Naval Academy grad, who seemed pretty intent on their kid going to the Naval Academy. The kid was accepted but transferred quickly. Not sure what that was about but one of my kids played a sport with him and I remember the dad talking in the stands from sophomore year on about getting his kid into the Naval Academy -seemed like lots of pressure, but again, none of my business.</p>
<p>Why were we so reluctant to take out loans? Quite simply, because you don’t know what the future will hold. We are a prime example. During the time we would have been paying back loans for our 4 daughters, we experienced 2 bouts of layoff, a major medical diagnosis (ovarian cancer which I’ve been battling for 4.5 years), a 1500 mile move to a new job, and the death of a sibling resulting in our taking in 3 teenage nephew/sons. We are SO GLAD we do not have loans to pay back. As a result, we have the funds to pay our own medical bills, to help the boys with college, to help the girls with big expenses as they start their independent lives, and so on. In my view, nothing is worth the risk of amassing large amounts of loan debt given the uncertainties of the future.</p>
<p>I am very glad not to have loans to repay, so we can help our kids as they need it, to buy a place to live in the future and also able to help our D as she works to be launched in her competitive career. If we were repaying big loans, we wouldn’t have these options. We are also able to visit them and they can visit us because we haven’t over-extended ourselves. </p>
<p>We and the kids have also spent a lot on medical care for our health issues, which we can afford because we don’t have loans. H was able to finally retire as well, because we have no loans.</p>
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<p>Well, it will have to be top 5 schools for the two fields.</p>
<p>Plus, you will have to be a likely candidate for a future federal judge or a FED governor. ;)</p>
<p>I don’t oppose taking out loans per se. In many cases, that can be totally sensible. I think, however, that when parents nearing retirement are <em>expected</em> to take out a loan that approaches their annual income, that is wrong for multiple reasons.</p>
<p>Because taking out a loan for $100k over 30 years is not a good idea if it could easily be avoided by going to a cheaper school?</p>
<p>Parents aren’t ‘obligated’ to pay for their kids to go to college.</p>
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No they are not but in this world we have turned more and more to debt financing. Prices have gone up, real-life incomes have stagnated and we are left in a new world. The times of moving out when you are 18 and supporting yourself a long over. Well I’ve seen where those people end up, they are the ones bagging my food at the grocery store. Nowadays if your parents aren’t helping you through college you are pretty far behind in life.</p>
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<p>Many non-traditional students (age 24+, married, or military veterans) are not prevented from getting college financial aid by parents who have high income but won’t contribute.</p>
<p>This is not entirely true, however a $80.000 debt is a huge amount…
I can rely to this because I am an international student, who comes from a country whose economy is STRUGGLING… I am applying for colleges in the States and my parents took a loan for me… Being an international student, the price would be higher (considering the average cost is $25/yr for intls), but I decided to go to a community college the first 2 years to cut the costs down… (Im majoring in Computer Science btw).</p>
<p>My mom constantly told me that all she wanted from me is to do the best and aim at the best school I could get accepted to (not THE BEST in the world), because she knew that such an investment for the 4 most important years of my life would be important for her as well (quoting her).</p>
<p>I mean, I am NOT saying this because I’m not a parent, but really, if (from some previous posts) you’re average income is $5k/month and you fear the $340, and calculate the expenses for food/health/internet etc. etc. , have you ever considered the fact that there are families with a $1k lower salary than yours and are still able to pay the same things that you do and make a normal living?</p>
<p>Again, I am a foreigner and it’s a whole different situation…</p>
<p>Bomerr…if YOU the student wants to take out $80,000 in loans, fine. Get a job. Earn some money, have some collateral, wait until you are 24, and have at it. </p>
<p>The parents in this example didn’t WANT to take out loans in that amount…and the notion that paying over 30 years for college is poor financing…really poor.</p>
<p>Bomerr, good idea to start at cc. That shows that you’ve tried to weigh.</p>
<p>But, numerous posters have already pointed out that the loans are NOT at 3% and the cost is not $350/month. I can’t get into the actual projectors from the US loan org. But other calculators suggest $600-900, depending on the term. </p>
<p>If a family can’t save on their income, where does the payment come from? Yes, there are families not supporting their kids’ educations, wasting plenty of money. This thread started on the other end. As QM put it, borrowing the equivalent of a family’s annual income. </p>
<p>And the mistake of assuming that income will continue. Or that the kid will just breeze into a high paying job and take care of everything. Note that, in OP’s example in 237, he didn’t say which colleges, but one kid wasn’t working and needed family help. The other two had advanced degrees and still needed help, while they got started in careers.</p>
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This is not an adequate argument. </p>
<p>These are different families with different lifestyle, values, and expenses. If you have Family A that makes $5000/month and Family B that makes $4000/month, you can not just say, “Oh, well, Family B makes $1000/month less and they’re able to pay for everything so Family A should be able to do the same.” They should be able to do the same, yes. Do they have to? No. Their $1000/month more that they get allows them to pay for a better lifestyle if they want it. </p>
<p>You also have to look into what those are expense are. They could their mortgage, their debt, their cars, etc. These are expenses you normally can’t (an most families do not) drop at the hat to take on a “$340” student loan payment. </p>
<p>The bigger the paycheck, the bigger the bills.</p>
<p>“The USMMA is not free.”
True, but tuition,room and board are. The expenses are minimal beyond that (barber,tailor, personal expenses,etc.) .</p>
<p>We did not want to take out any loans and also wanted to be able to help our kids down the line if needed, as others have said (rehearsal dinners, help with down payment on a house potentially, help in an emergency,etc.).</p>
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<p>Only because many people tend to spend more to use up any additional money from their increased paychecks. That probably leads to the phenomenon of people whose incomes disqualify them from financial aid anywhere but do not have any savings for their kids’ college (or other longer term savings goals like their own retirement).</p>
<p>But it is not mandatory to spend more (except on income and payroll taxes) when your paycheck gets bigger. The wealthy people described in The Millionaire Next Door got that way simply by underspending their income, even if their income is not enormous.</p>
<p>Yes, it is amazing what one could save by living below ones income, but that wasn’t the start of this thread. We have always tried to live below our income, as have many others we know–it just allows for more pleasant options for us and our loved ones.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus, it’s a saying.</p>
<p>Because one family has a higher take home than another family does not mean they can easily just do as the other family does and it certainly doesn’t mean they have to. Different incomes. Different families. Different lifestyles. Different values.</p>
<p>Everyone’s financial situation is different so it is impossible to generalize on this particular thread as to the ‘right’ thing to do. However, going to a more expensive college is not a guarantee of future success. If all you can afford is to go to a local community college you can still earn a degree and become successful at what you do. In most companies, I will bet most can’t even name the colleges where their co-workers went. No one waves their diploma around in the office, you would look foolish and immature if you did.</p>
<p>^^^. Well, there are those pesky ring knockers…</p>
<p>Borrowing $80,000 for an college otherwise unaffordable is not living beneath your means.</p>
<p>Debt sucks, 'nuf said.</p>