Do you think parents should pay for their kid's college education?
Question:
1. Pay the whole thing
2. Make the kids pay half
3. pay some
4. Not pay for anything
We have 3 kids in college. We pay for their undergrad degree 100% (We pay for ALL their expenses during college but not their fun money - they must get a job for that)
Our oldest is now in grad school and he pays for that himself.
**We have 1 more to put through in a couple years!
Answer:
I think that if a parent has the means to pay for either all or some of their child's education that there is nothing wrong with it. My parents did the same for me and my sister.
The way my parents looked at it was that they didn't want us to start off life in debt.
If a parent can't do that for their child there is no shame in it either. In today's world it is more than likely that they won't.
Helping your child in what ever way possible is the best way to parent.
I think if you can afford to, it's a great thing to do. I can't afford to pay for my daughter because I'm still going through college myself and am paying for that. However, if I could afford to, I would have.
i think if you have the money & if you know that kid(s) will actually stay in collage then ya... but if you dont have all the money then have them pay half of it.
I think it is nice to help, but it is a good learning experience for the kids to pay for at least some. I just got a 2 year degree, my parents gave me $500 a semester as long as I kept my GPA above 3.5. They also paid for my books. I was very appreciative.
Well, if the parents can afford it, yes. Unfortunately there are many many parents who cannot afford to pay for their children's college. In that case, other options need to be explored.
It depends on the funds available to the parents. I think that when possible you should pay for as much as you can. The good thing about it is that you did not put one kid through college and not the other and that you make them get jobs so that they can support their own fun. That also teaches responsibility, I think that you have a really good balance going. Would you like to adopt. :)
It all depends on what the parents can afford, not everyone is rich. My parents didn't pay for anything. I had to make do with mostly scholarships and a couple of loans.
I think parents should pay it all. It gives the kids more freedom to concentrate on their studies and once they graduate they do not have a huge bill hanging over their head. I had to bust my tail to get scholarships to pay for most of my schooling and what that didn't cover I had to earn on my own. It was hard a lot of times. I want better than that for my children.
Depends on how much you can afford! Don't break the bank sending your kids to college. That's what loans and (better yet) scholarships are for. If your kids do things right - and plan way ahead - they can have college paid for via scholarships, grants, etc. Your most important priority is YOU... and your retirement.
I think that this is a personal decision for those involved. If the student is a responsible person, then okay, I would help them. If necessary, I would foot the entire bill. However, if there are grants and loans that can soften the blow to me, I would be a fool not to seek this avenue. Still, my suggestion to the student would be a part time job in or near the school. This teaches responsibility. Sometimes I feel that people who are given a part or all of something that they need, just don't understand how to appreciate it. If they have to put some effort into it, then they readily see how tough it was for mom and pop or even other relatives who put themselves on the line. You are on the right track. Remember this, "If God be for us, who can be against us?" - Romans 8:31. You are terrific parents. Peace and God Bless.
I have VERY strong feelings on this subject. My boyfriend and I both went different community colleges. We lived together as well so we also had household expenses. Both my boyfriend and I had to have three jobs to put OURSELVES through school WHILE we were attending school full time (this was only 3 years ago). I believe 100% that children are not learning how to cope with the world because they have their mommy and daddies pay for EVERYTHING for them. When they get out of college will you continue to support them? Will you pay their mortgages and car payments for them for the rest of your life? I should hope not.
Thus, I believe that as they enter college you have the perfect opportunity to help push them into adulthood. If you personally do not believe that they should pay for the whole thing (again, I am bias because I we got 3 jobs each to do so, so it CAN be done) then that is your decision. But YES they should at very minimum pay for part of it. Maybe they pay for their tuition and you pay for their books. That way you are contributing but you are forcing them to pay the majority.
Also, depending on your relationship with them and how manipulative they are, they could come back to you with "Well I can't go to school this semester if you don't pay for it" your answer should be "Then you'll take a semester off and save up money for next semester" They may also ask, "Well, why did you pay for Janie's but you won't pay for mine" Let me remind you that once your children are no longer minors you have absolutely no obligation to them.
You need to remember that you are at the point where you are shaping the adult that they will become. Ask youself what you would do if there was something you wanted. What would you do or have to do to get it. I am sure you wouldn't expect someone to hand it to you. Then go with that.
my parents paid for my college but if I got any D's or F's I would have to start to pay for my tuition. That motivated me to work hard on my studies.
I think you should stop banging on about yourself quite so much - its rather tiresome!
its up to the parent, but i feel if the parent is able to pay for their child's college education they should. you are a wonderful parent for doing so and everyones situation is different. parents should also talk to their children about what they want, college may be something that the children wants to do all by themselves.
just always support, emotionally (always) and financially (if able) them that's the most important thing ;)
YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR SENDING THEM TO SCHOOL AND PAYING FOR IT ALL...
IF YOU WANT TO HELP THEM GO AHEAD.BUT LET THEM WORK PART TIME TOO AND HELP THEM PAY FOR THEIR COURSES!
Helping pay for it if you can is a nice jesture but I strongly feel they should also have a job and pay part of it. They can get jobs in most corporations and get tuition reimbursement(a very wise way to pay for school). They need to learn that they have to juggle many responsibilities in life. Working to pay for school to improve financial position is a great learning experience.
I think that if they can afford it the parents should pay the whole tuition but should still make their kids get jobs during high school to teach them responsibility and the value of money. My parents paid for my tuition and rent but I had to pay for books, food and other expenses, including fun.
If you can afford it at least help. My mom could afford to pay off both mine and my sister's student loans but instead she just buys crap- and I mean crap- she is a dollar store shopper. making sure her house is so full of junk that she can't even sit is more important then helping her daughters out when she is more then capable of it. She wouldn't even continue just paying what she did when she sent me to a private Christan school (her choice I wanted to go to public schools). As you can probably tell just from reading this- I am not too happy with her about it.
I think it is GREAT that you have put your kids through college, I hope I can do the same some day. If not all at least half.
I think if you can afford it, by all means!! but if they need extra, like you said for fun money and all...they need to support that themselves
pay it all your kids are in school what a grant don't pay u should
Every situation is different - not everybody has the means to do so. I feel that if the child is attending college just to please the parents then the parents should pay.
My parents could not pay for college. I got finacial aid and had to borrow. It took a while to pay it back but I did it. Now we have two children. Our daughter was adopted from state custody and they will cover all tuition to any state or community college in our state. We have a 529 plan for our son which we hope will cover his tuition. We will do what we can but it would not hurt him to borrow some and learn early what the real world is like.
Did you know that they found that college students who have to pay their own way usually do better in school than the students whose parents pay for it? They want to make the most of what they are paying for.
PLease see this column written by family psychologist, John Rosemond that ran 5-25-06 in his weekly column:
"Readers sometimes share personal stories with me that deserve inclusion in my ever-expanding "Parenting at Its Best" file -- stories about people whose parenting has been heroic, exemplary, outstanding.
More often than not, the parenting in question has been in response to trying circumstances. The best of the best I occasionally share with my readers. This week's story, contributed by a successful businesswoman about her childhood, is one such "best of."
I especially was impressed that her parents chose to do what many of today's parents, even knowing better, will not do for fear of being considered "different": swim against the prevailing current of child-rearing in their community. Her parents could have taken the easy way out. That they did not irked their daughter when she was a child. As an adult, however, she sees the wisdom of their cultural "heresy."
Her story:
"My sisters and I grew up in a wealthy town outside of New York City. Our friends were all privileged, as were we. My parents, however, hailed from rural Georgia and held very conservative values. Both had worked at paying jobs beginning when they were barely in their teens. While in high school, my mother had earned the money for her first car. Daddy earned his 'keep' by picking cotton.
"As an adult, he earned a doctorate in organic chemistry and headed up research at a large pharmaceutical concern. Nevertheless, he mowed the yard on weekends, changed the oil in the cars when needed and shined the children's shoes every Sunday evening. My parents felt that running the household was a family concern and, as such, an opportunity to teach. They expected my sisters and me to do household chores (for which we were never paid) and take on outside jobs at appropriate ages. We began baby-sitting around age 10. By age 14, we all held jobs after school and on weekends.
"We also were expected to work while we went to college -- part time during the school year and full time over the summer. As a result, I paid all of my college tuition bills and then put myself through graduate school, earning a master's degree.
"Needless to say, none of us was ever given a car. Daddy always said that no one was entitled to own a car, and if we wanted to have cars, we could buy them for ourselves.
"After graduate school, I became a financial adviser. I was on my own, but Daddy still called daily to chat.
"One afternoon when he called, I said, 'Daddy, I just found out that my secretary's father gave her a Mercedes-Benz when she graduated college last year. He also schedules her maintenance and gives the dealer his credit card so that all she has to do is show up and hand over the keys. What do you think about that?'
"'Well,' he said, 'I think that's why she's the secretary and you're the boss.'
"Daddy's been gone nine years now, and every day when I do the best I can at whatever I'm doing, I do it in his honor. Growing up, I didn't understand why I had to suffer under such strict parents. Now I'm grateful."
And I am grateful to her for sharing this inspiring tale."
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