Where's the money?

[Bwana]

As I mentioned in Len's post my oldest is off to college this fall and one thing I am learning is that the cost of college has gone WAY up! That being said, do any of you folks who have been through this all before have any advice for us on things we can do or places to look so that funding college won't leave him too far in the hole once he graduates?

He has done very well academically and scored nicely on his ACT test so I know that will help but I also understand there are other ways of making the cost of college not quite so painful. I am all ears in that regard.

Anyone willing to share their insight?

[jb]

Check with the college he chose, they have lot's of info. regarding this.
Do an internet search, big help also.
Check with all the local service clubs in town and organizations you or your folks belong to.
Every little check for $100 does pay off.

[Niner]

Sorry, John. I got no info on grants, scholarships, and such.

About the only cost cutting thing that I can think of right now is (as I said in LJ's post), get his textbooks from half.com. A used textbook reads just the same as a new one at a fraction of the price. And you will be AMAZED at what the campus bookstore wants for books.

[Buckrub]

I could not have helped my kids out without loans.

That said, one of 'em paid her way through totally..........and one didn't go........so........... but the other one, I had to borrow a ton. Luckily she got married her senior year, and her hubby paid the balance...........

If they go for their M.R.S. degree, make sure they know what to look for.

[BarryBobPosthole]

You can marry more money in a minute than you can make in a lifetime.

Its bad for anyone in college these days, the costs are zooming on up there. We're probably going to pay my oldest daughter's student loans for her much to my disagreement and chagrin. But I can't imagine how she can survive with those expense just starting out, and I'm tired of helping her because of it. As I've told my wife repeatedly, it'll just be something else if we take this, that don't cut any ice I guess. How it got to that point is what I most upset about. And I'm cosigned on all of it.

Anyway, I can relate. Its why me and my wife are still working and times are tight for us.


BKB

[Buckrub]

On a related note, I have come to believe that unless you want to be a teacher, doctor, engineer, lawyer (hahaha), pharmacist, or such.............college is a huge sinkhole of idiocy and a waste of money.

For sure, 90% of the general classes are taught by goobers who know less than I do, but can't imagine such a thing. Plus, their goal is indoctrination, not teaching.

Not sure what happens to a public school teacher by the time they get an advanced degree and become college 'professors', but they profess a bunch of b/s IMHO.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Academia, especially at the collegiate level, is fraught with a form over substance mentality. If that's what you mean by indoctrination, then I have to agree with you 100%. Its why we see so much of that in business ranks, especially among MBAs and that's typically your executive level drone in corporate America.
I worked on a couple of projects several years ago, one of which was creating an associate level degree program in telecom at a state college and the other was creating an agreement between that school and another four year year state college so that folks that graduated with that associates degree could go on and get a bachelors and have all their credits transfer if they had that associates. Believe me when I tell you that the people I worked with, including the two college presidents and deans of the respective business colleges, spent way more time and energy on putting together the announcements, formal signing of agreements, and their press releases than they did on the actual content of the degree programs. I don't discredit the professors I worked with on it at all, as they were as frustrated as I was. It is the whole system of academia that is the problem. They had me go to Chicago even to give a talk at some educational conference they all go to. When I asked why they could finance my trip up there to give a damned speech when they could only afford to bring up a few students at a time for internship programs I got pulled aside and schooled on things to say and not to say to the college president. So I quietly ended my involvement with THAT!

BKB

[quercus alba]

Most high schools help students apply for grants and scholarships. Walmart offers one, all three of my boys got it and it's a big one. Depending how much you make, he may qualify for the Pell grant, another big one.

this site may also help,

https://www.scholarships.com/college-search/list-of-colleges-universities/North-Dakota-Colleges/Scholarships-Grants-and-Student-Loans/

[jb]

I was very luck in the timing of my kid's education. #1 started college in 1988, #2 started in 1991 and #3 in 1997
Only had 1 year when I had two attending at the same time.
Our agreement was we'd pay all costs except spending money if they maintained a 2.75 average or better.
During those years a good summer job and a part-time job working for the University would give them the cash they needed for the fun part of college.
It was also a time when home prices were rising and interest rates were falling, so the 13 years of college were paid for through a home equity loan, savings, and my part time job.
I figured I have about $84K out of my income invested in their education.
The only one that didn't really need a college degree for the job they hold is #3 the LEO, but he did start out teaching school so there he needed it.
I don't have one regret with spending that money, even though it could have bought me a hunting camp, a lake cottage, or a winter home in some warm climate.
I really worry about my 8 grandkids, it's going to be tough for my kids to do the same for theirs.

[quercus alba]

The only money I was out was gas money on the weekends once in a while. All three of my boys scored high enough on their ACT to get a free ride and got enough grants and scholarships for a refund to live off of. I thought about getting them DNA tested to see if they were mine but I decided they saved me enough money I really didn't want to know.

[Thumper]

Ummm, QA ... I have a confession to make. ;)

[quercus alba]

If that's the case jimbo, I'm glad they got their mothers looks

[Thumper]

Ha ha ha! Gotta admit ... I glanced at my avatar and totally cracked up with that comment. :D

[Penguin]

VERY tough call.

Aside from working a bit to help along the way I have nothing that would help for undergrad work. That said I do have a big piece of advice for anything beyond that: If you have to pay for it and you won't have an M.D. after your name when it is over then don't do it. I was paid to go to graduate school. All 6 plus years of it. Don't pay for graduate degrees. If there is a good market for the degree they are probably going to have to pay to get good students.

Will

[hotshot]

As a teacher- 5 years of undergrad, and 36 hours beyond, I am having a tough time thinking my own kids should go to a 4 yr institution. Granted they do well academically, and I still have time yet: 7th and 8th grade. The cost of today's colleges is through the roof. The degrees are not worth what they used to be. I have told my kids that even though I love my job, for them to try to begin a career in education... No way! They would qualify for food stamps the way Indiana pays new teachers. Think of it- a college degree for a job that doesn't pay enough to be comfortable... not extravagant, just comfortable. Our state legislature has made a mockery of the profession.
We have discussed technical jobs: vocational schools, ITT, Ivy Tech, etc. with our kids as a good option: learn a skill. The sad part in my opinion is that our society has lost something: an education for learning sake. Be able to think and act on those thoughts- intelligently. The educated individual is becoming a thing of the past.
some of it is cost related, some societal. Being told how to think has taken over and is creating a society of auto-bots.
PS, I grew up in the home of a teacher and a college VP. Education was expected and respected from day 1.
also I heard Mason graduated with an assoc degree from Vincennes University.