Sallie Mae NO

Stop worrying. You do not owe your children a free ride to college. You owe them all the help you can give them to prepare them to receive as much finacial assistance in the form of scholarships, grants and such. Being poor is a plus. You especially want to be poor during their junior year in high school as that will be the last filed tax documents when they are applying for everything during the Fall of the senior year or earlier. Do not sit on your butt waiting until Spring or later as most of the really good scholarships and such will have already been awarded. The student loans for which they can apply have ridiculously low interest rates compared to what most people end up paying on their own continued lifestyle while trying to give their kids a free ride and a couple trips to Girls Gone Wild and some other continent each year.

Second, guide them in the development of an excellent work ethic. Help them learn how to work and how to deal with employers and co-workers before dumping them off one day in front of a dorm with 60,000 others. If they will need to support themselves to some extent by working, get them to the city of their selected college about a month ahead of when everyone else is finally showing up. This will be a tremendous advantage in finding not only a job, but, a better job. This is tricky as they will not be able to move into their dorm,frat,sorority, etc. for a few weeks. Other temporary housing will be needed.

Third, assist them in being somewhat realistic as to the school they select. Not every 18 year-old is mentally and socially able to adjust to life at Gigantic U. or Future Nobel Prize Winner School of Brilliance no matter how much financial assistance they have. Many high dollar schools are no better than much lower dollar schools except that those who stay around long enough to graduate can stick their noses in the air and pretend they have somehow been validated as superior to mere mortals.

In all honesty Brad, unless your kids get full boat scholarships, they will be best off going to a local two year school that can realistically get them into a decent paying job. From there they can go to school nights and get their four year degree. Back in the day, it was the same way, but instead of finishing college, we would be taking Master's degree courses.

I sincerely think that the whole college thing is going to have a major shake up in the next few years and there may be realistic alternatives to college as we know it.

A good start would be selling your Super Bowl tickets! 😀

My oldest joined the Air Force in 1999 and earned two master degrees (law enforcement and business) from the military college and online courses on the GI bill. He passed and they paid.

When he left the service he spent a fortune and graduated from Texas Tech a year ago with a Doctorate in Law. He passed the bar 10mos ago

That's good stuff, Holy Cow.

I wish we could get these kids to do a cost-benefit analysis of their dream degree program to see if it is worth 4 years of their life and 200k of money. It seems like the first generation to go to college (my Dad) was very practical about it (Engineering). Two or three generations down the line and they studying things that are great if you are planning on being independently wealthy but not so great if you want a decent lifestyle.

The cow's advice is good as far as it goes. Very good, in fact, but given the age of your brood, I see a lot more living and loving going on before it comes to that point. I'm not saying you shouldn't prepare, of course you should; it just seems too early to stress right now. You're probably not stressing. You don't seem like a guy that would. It'll be fine and you know it will.

Hey, if you need any more advice from a dufuss, let me know.:-)

Don

BTW Thanks for your past kind words and support

Thanks, love & appreciation to you all.

Very good advice, I love this place. You are good friends.

~

Unfortunately we do not have SB tix to sell. That was a good idea though.

We live 20 minutes away from all the festivities so Kristi & her brother took our boys & his girl for a walk around yesterday. I am sure it was a once in a lifetime experience. They seemed to enjoy it. Look here. I stayed home, don't care much for crowds.

I saved for 21 years to put my three through jr. college, all lived at home but did not work while going to school, as I wanted them to get the most out of it they could. When the daughter headed off to finish her BS, she worked as she went as I refused to cosign for student loans.

I know too many, my wife included, still paying off student loans 30 years later. She never worked a day in her chosen career, although a degree always helps in a reasonable economy.

> The Atta Boy post got me thinking.
>
> I owed Sallie Mae $35k when I left Purdue in 1996.
>
> Now I owe her $45k in 2012 (deferments, etc).
>
> My kids are 14, 11, & 8.
>
> College is coming. I have zero saved for their college.
>
> I want them to go.
>
> I do not want them to go into debt.
>
> I will encourage them to take longer & work & pay as they go & I will do what I can (if anything).
>
> What am I going to do?

I'm of the opinion that as many kids as possible should go to college whether they work in their selected major or not. Knowledge is never wasted. If you don't have the money, I encouraged my kids to go into the service and get on the GI Bill whether it's ROTC or National Guard or Reserves. I helped out a bit by taking $50/month out of my paycheck and buying US Bonds, they helped out by paying for a portion of their tuition. Also I went to Junior College when I went to school but I don't recommend that route as I was totally unprepared for the University when I did eventually attend. In a sense Junior College was a false security.