Confessions: "How I Paid for College"

Rockdoc Franz wrote: My opinion is that kids ought to at least pay for a good chunk of their education early on. Anyone who is invested in what they want will appreciate it more. Then once they demonstrate they are serious, you help them out. But that is just me. There are too many kids that failed because they weren't invested and saw it only as a time to party.

I think you are 100% correct Rockdoc. Being invested in the cost of your education makes a big difference in attitude and motivation. And what is wrong with working part-time while going to college full-time? I worked the whole way thru, and yes it sucked but it is doable.

Joe wrote:

Rockdoc Franz wrote: My opinion is that kids ought to at least pay for a good chunk of their education early on. Anyone who is invested in what they want will appreciate it more. Then once they demonstrate they are serious, you help them out. But that is just me. There are too many kids that failed because they weren't invested and saw it only as a time to party.

I think you are 100% correct Rockdoc. Being invested in the cost of your education makes a big difference in attitude and motivation. And what is wrong with working part-time while going to college full-time? I worked the whole way thru, and yes it sucked but it is doable.

Paying for a child's tuition does not preclude them from having to work their way through college....it only takes the college loan out of the equation, or most of it. Both my kids worked......my daughter more than my son as she eventually got 3 degrees over 6 years.....it could have been done in 4, but she worked full time during the last 4 years. I think we are not talking about the same thing here....tuition and books are just one expense of the college years, they need to live somewhere (my son chose on campus for a year then in an apartment) my daughter chose to live off campus the entire time and eventually bought a house. They both knew how much I could afford and planned accordingly....my son went to the pricier college as he was able to get a decent scholarship.

I was in no way saying that kids shouldn't work through college (sheesh....both my kids also worked all through high school) what I was taking exception to was the idea that kids won't have an appreciation for their education of they didn't pay for it themselves (and in the process rack up enormous student loans).

archer wrote: I was in no way saying that kids shouldn't work through college (sheesh....both my kids also worked all through high school) what I was taking exception to was the idea that kids won't have an appreciation for their education of they didn't pay for it themselves (and in the process rack up enormous student loans).

Your points are well taken, Archer. Mine is a generalization for certain. I've used a broad brush, but anyone who thinks back on their freshman classes can vividly recall many examples where the students funded by mom and dad, flunked out. Unlike your kids, they did not invest in their education, mainly because they either were too immature, poorly prepared for taking personal responsibility or had no idea of why an education would serve them well. Too many kids go to university because that is what is expected of them, not because they want to. It makes a huge difference. ALso, I think many youngsters need a break after high school, but go university because mom and dad want them to fo so. Not all but many. Giving youngsters time to mature and learn what it is they want to do is important and in no way detrimental to achieving a college education. Circumstances delayed my higher education for 5 years and other than getting a later start in my professional life, it did not hurt me.

We've highjacked the thread. Let's get back to it. It seems most who have gone through college worked at some point or another. Some worked more than others out of need.

I think as more kids pay for their own education, or more kids need to help pay, and want to avoid the monsterous student loans, the pricier, private universities, and the Ivy League colleges will suffer....not from lack of students, there will always be those who are wealthy enough to attend, or those smart enough to get scholarships, but the diversity in these schools is going to suffer.

As much as I loved my private university, knowing what I know now I do wish I had gone to a less expensive college. Back then there were not as many ways to pay for an education, so my college was mostly wealthy students, for whom the enormous tuition was no burden, and then there was my dad, paying the equivelent of one years salary for my education (same for my brother). To this day I wonder why he did that, I had a full merit scholarship to any NYS university, but he wanted me to go to Bucknell, where my brother went, and which really was out of our league cost wise. Is it any wonder I worked my butt off to do well there and make him proud? My brother was the first in our family to go to college, and I was the second........my father wanted it so badly for us, he had saved all our childhood to do that....and he was not a man you say no to. He told me many times, you cannot pay me back for college, I won't take your money, but you can do for my grandkids what I have done for you.....that is payment enough. It was that thought, that advice, that ran through my head when I read your earlier post and why I took such exception to it.

lol My sister-in-law was given a full ride by her dad to college, until she freaked out in her final semester over some bad grades and dropped out, got pregnant, etc. She had been a 4.0 student. Once she did that, Pops signed over the loans to her. Now she is 50+ and still paying off the loans and never did graduate. Talk about crashing and burning.

Let's see - a year commercial fishing
4 years charter fishing
1 year charter sailing

I squeezed in a professional internship one year in DC (I was even invited back for the Reagan/Bush transition).

Ask me which job I liked the best, though (not the job with a tie).

Now ask me where I made the most money (ditto - not the job with a tie)

I need to make a comment regarding our perspective on how to handle college for our kids. We obviously are a product of our environment, how we experienced college, home life and our personality. I know that my stance regarding college is born on personal experience. No matter what obstacle, it was not going to deter me from learning as much about paleontology as possible. Not everyone is driven like I was. GIven what mother told me about how dad got his architectural degree, I certainly take after him in that regard. I'll take that as a mitigating consideration. I still think investing in your own education is valuable, but there are many ways to invest. Working and paying your way through school is one way. Investing in actually learning as much as you can is another. Experience tells me work precluded putting in the hours studying I would have, were it not for the need to work.

I'm a little frustrated with my kids on the topic of school.

My oldest attended the most expensive public college in the state - and didn't even attempt to earn a dime of the work-study funds awarded to him.

I did my work-study --- AND worked on a fishing boat - AND delivered newspapers every Sunday morning.......

I paid for my school ---- don't really understand why he doesn't think he should do that.

On the other hand - I have another son who goes door-to-door looking for odds/ends work --- so he can buy shoes for his tap dancing class.
(something I'd glady pay for - but am thrilled he takes the responsibility for himself).

bailey bud wrote: I'm a little frustrated with my kids on the topic of school.

My oldest attended the most expensive public college in the state - and didn't even attempt to earn a dime of the work-study funds awarded to him.

I did my work-study --- AND worked on a fishing boat - AND delivered newspapers every Sunday morning.......

I paid for my school ---- don't really understand why he doesn't think he should do that.

On the other hand - I have another son who goes door-to-door looking for odds/ends work --- so he can buy shoes for his tap dancing class.
(something I'd glady pay for - but am thrilled he takes the responsibility for himself).

How very interesting. Same environment, same parents from whom to pick up their philosophy and perspectives on life, yet so different. Good question? Also food for thought for every parent. How do such differences come about? I've no idea, but am not about to go looking outside the family and individual personality for an answer.

I had loans and my savings and a small amount of help from my folks to go to UW Madison. I did the plasma thing for a few years for some food and beer money. 2nd year I moved into a house with 5 other guys, we had weekly keg parties and the procedes from cup sales went to our utility bills. Some bozo at one of our parties started the house on fire and that put an end to the keggers. I got a job on campus cleaning out appts. and dorms after the tenants left (gross but some folks left behind some good stuff that I kept or sold). After that I worked part time in a restaurant (free food & drinks).