<p>I’m not a parent, but I just HAD to respond. I come from a $75K family, with three kids. My parents will not be paying for my college, or my siblings’ college. Why? Because they just can’t afford it. Mostly because debt is NOT an option at my house. Even if it were, at the proposed rate of being paid in full after 30 years, my parents would be in their mid-eighties before they were debt free (or dead, because not everyone lives forever).</p>
<p>Aside from this, most of the “mediocre schools” only lack prestige. That’s it. Grads can get jobs just as easily, and are sometimes better prepared to do work other than research. Just because students aren’t attending colleges that have ancient traditions and such, it doesn’t imply a poor education.</p>
<p>Additionally, non-private schools have not only lower tuition rates, but more scholarship opportunities, making the choice a no-brainer for middle and lower class students.</p>
<p>runner, depending on your stats and the school this is often not true. It can be cheaper to attend a private school–especially ones with ancient traditions ;)–than a public school. Don’t write off all private schools until you’ve seen what is most affordable for your situation!</p>
<p>The prevalence of drinking and drugs might be a consideration in weighing college options…doing a mental cost-benefits assessment. I downloaded some campus security data from the USDOE Office of Postsecondary Education about campus disciplinary actions for drug and alcohol issues. I adjusted the statistics for campus enrollment. (limited to schools with enrollments 5000 or above)</p>
<p>Disciplinary actions per 1000 students
24/1000 Private n=151
21/1000 Publics n=320
18/1000 UVA, Michigan, Berkeley
18/1000 Elite Private n=23
07/1000 Ivy League n=8</p>
<p>Drug and alcohol offenses seem more closely related to selectivity than to public/private. This is also true based on my own observations. Not sure if the difference between 24 and 18 per 1000 would translate into a very different environment but the Ivy number seems significantly lower. Disciplinary actions are probably just the tip of the iceberg.</p>
<p>The big unknown here is how strictly campus policies are enforced. The ability to enforce policies might be related to campus size.</p>
<p>The strictness of policies and willingness to enforce them may also affect the number of disciplinary actions. For example, if drinking tends to be more accepted at a given campus or region, campus alcohol policies may be more lax, and enforcement of them may also be more lax.</p>
<p>Also, the Ivy League schools are likely very different from each other in terms of characteristics that are known to be associated with the prevalence of drinking and binge drinking (size, fraternities/sororities or similar organizations, etc.).</p>
<p>x-posted
In short, many colleges are indulgent where drinking is concerned. Only certain infractions merit attention. Not an indication. You’d have to catch up and actually look at the specific reports to even come close to digging in. And even then, you wouldn’t know. As mini often points out.</p>
It’s not a no-brainer for colleges with excellent financial aid. Some net price calc cost to parents for a $75k/income with 2 children in college and $20k in savings are below. All costs only include grant aid (no loan aid). Room, board, and other expenses are included, as well as tuition.</p>
<p>Berkeley (in state) – $4500
Michigan (in state) – $13,000 (does not include work study income)
Maryland (in state) – $18,000 (no grant financial aid offered)
Virginia (in state) – $26,000 (no financial aid offered)</p>
<p>"Because I LOVE my child and do not want to teach him to live beyond his means or make stupid financial investments.</p>
<p>Because I LOVE my child and want him to understand that in this world, you eat what you kill ;)</p>
<p>Because I LOVE my child and want him to have a wonderful life understanding he is not some precious snowflake in a socioeconomic vacuum, and that only the shallowest and least-reflective minds judge a person’s accomplishments based on where they went to school instead of WHAT THEY DID WITH THEIR EDUCATION ;)</p>
<p>Because I LOVE my child and I want his future freedom to be as unbridled as possible. I want him to be able to afford to travel, to adventure, to subsist without worrying that I’ll die and leave him with a legacy of debt. Or that I’ll live, and drain every penny he might otherwise inherit because I was foolish and tried to buy him a pedigree that I had to finance ;)</p>
<p>Because I LOVE my child, and want him to get along with all walks of life in the world, and to save him from a future wherein he’s posting idiotic and misguided prestige-fueled nonsense on threads :-)</p>
<p>Oddly, my children are precious to me. I’ve never understood why some parents find it important to spend so much time teaching their kids that they aren’t so precious.</p>
<p>kcmmom, that was very well said. Hunt, I’m not sure what your point was. Like zillions of other parents, we managed to convey to our kids that they’re infinitely precious to us. However, they know they’re no more precious to the universe than anyone else is.</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but I can’t help seeing a subtext in all of these posts about teaching children responsibility. Maybe it’s not really there, but it seems to me that some people are convincing themselves why it’s OK–indeed, virtuous!–not to make more sacrifices for their children’s education. It’s just a mindset that’s alien to me.</p>
<p>As I think I said before, this is a topic that seems to drive people to extremes. Because I love my child, I might consider some moderate amount of debt for my kid’s education if it made sense in the big picture. Certainly, I would have a lot more money for my own retirement if I had sent my kids to cheaper schools. But I actually gave the finances some careful thought. There’s a lot of ground between crushing debt and no debt, too.</p>
<p>Sure, it is fine for parents to take on some debt for their children’s education (we did), and to make some sacrifices (see my post about our older car, the Acme Deathus Trappus).</p>
<p>However, the OP felt that a cousin’s parents, who were making $80,000-$100,000 a year and nearing retirement, should be willing to take on $80,000 in debt to permit the cousin(s) to go to a “better” school. It was not clear how many children the cousin’s family had, nor whether the $80,000 covered them all, or just one. Also, the OP seems to be mistaken about the possible terms of the loan. Based on the financial aid info posted above, the “better” school is apparently not one with a large endowment, where the costs would not be $80,000.</p>
<p>I would not assess this as a reasonable level of debt to take on, in the circumstances.</p>