College bills, who pays?

[Randum]

Had a conversation the other night with friends-should parents be responsible to pay for their kid's college? Interested to see how everyone feels. If you vote, feel free to add a little blurb on why

 

[PHiuR]

if they can help, yes... not every family have saved moola.

 

[novasatori]

if its possible, yes - who wants to start life in debt...

sometimes, however, it isn't possible

 

[yankeesfan]

The kids are over 18. The parents are not responsible.




But I'm glad my parents are paying for mine. I'm not going to say no.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Well, we know how you voted

I worked 2-3 different part time jobs, got help from my parents, and took out loans...

 

[SsupernovaE]

Originally posted by: novasatori
if its possible, yes - who wants to start life in debt...

sometimes, however, it isn't possible

:thumbsup:

 

[Journer]

it depends. are the parents just giving them money or are they loaning it to them?
my parents give me money once in a blue moon for gas and thats about it
everything else i pay for with loans and job
however, if i ever need to barrow money from them they do so willingly...i just have to pay it back after i graduate.

if you just give the kid money all the time they probably wont work too hard and not understand finances as well. i suppose if you give them enough to help out but not completely pay for everything it is ok. I have some friends who's daddy pays for it all...car, insurance, housing, bills...and the thing is the kid doesnt even see the bills...just goes straight to daddy's mailbox and out of his wallet...this is why kids dont learn anything

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: yankeesfan
The kids are over 18. The parents are not responsible.




But I'm glad my parents are paying for mine. I'm not going to say no.

:roll:

Practice what you preach then.

 

[Ronstang]

No one owes you anything in this life except yourself. If your parents have the means and the will to help you with college then consider it a blessing and never forget what they have done for you. If your parents can't or won't help you then you are only hurting yourself sitting around feeling like you have been cheated, because you have not. If you want a college education but won't do what it takes to achieve one then you really don't deserve it in the first place.

 

[Tsaico]

I would say if they can, then the better. I plan on caring for my folks in their old age too, so it really is a family event to make sure we are succesful as possible. It took all of us to save, to conserve, and now my part was to get through college. While I wasn't able to put anything into the bucket though I was taking out, it puts me in to a better position to start contributing now that I am done with school.

This is of course dependant on all parties feeling the same way my family does, and also the kids understand it is another sacrifice the parents are making to make my life better. Also, I don't know about everyone else, but caring for my folks when they are unable to do so themselves, falls under my responsibility and everytime I won't want to do it, I will remember the crap they dealt with me from birth to now. I owe them just as much as they gifted to me. No one gets a free ride, it is just passed around a little.

 

[everman]

Great if they can afford it, but kids are not entitled to it.

 

[LegendKiller]

If your parents can afford it, they should help. However, they shouldn't be obligated to do it. Most likely their parents didn't. My parents gave me maybe 5k out of a 100k cost. The rest were loans or me working, mostly loans (75k).

Your parents already paid a crapload of money to feed and shelter you. You have a long time to pay them back for that.

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
No one owes you anything in this life except yourself. If your parents have the means and the will to help you with college then consider it a blessing and never forget what they have done for you. If your parents can't or won't help you then you are only hurting yourself sitting around feeling like you have been cheated, because you have not. If you want a college education but won't do what it takes to achieve one then you really don't deserve it in the first place.

:thumbsup:

Best answer.

If you are over 18 though, the parents have absolutely no obligation to pay for a damn thing.

 

[K1052]

If I were a parent I'd consider it my responsibility to provide money for higher education were it something my child wished to pursue.

 

[Tiamat]

Only help from time to time. The student should work/pay his/her way through college as best as possible with parents helping when required. This is a good opportunity for someone to learn financial responsibility and "helocopter" parents are just not helping their child grow in thsi fashion. I got help from my parents (about 20k$) while I worked and paid 60k$ outta my own pocket and 15k$ loans, the rest, grants and merit based scholarships (total cost was roughly 120k$). I think they helped more than enough and I thank them as often as I can. Some of my buddies have 150k$ in loans, which isnt going to disappear for a long time :/

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: PHiuR
if they can help, yes... not every family have saved moola.

I'm also in this camp - some people make enough money that they could pay for a college education without breaking a sweat. Other people can only barely afford it. I occasionally get money from my parents when they can send it (which is usually from gifts my grandparents send; they've got pensions from multiple jobs, each worked at for over 20 years, coming in). But that money would probably only be enough to cover a semester's-worth of groceries.
My tuition costs: grants, loans, and my own money.

 

[ponyo]

My parents picked up my entire college costs including my spending money. Total cost was more than 120k. I didn't really appreciate it when I was in college. Now I do.

I will do the same for my daughter. She will get anything I can provide for her.

 

[KK]

depends on the kid.

 

[tfinch2]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Only help from time to time. The student should work/pay his/her way through college as best as possible with parents helping when required. This is a good opportunity for someone to learn financial responsibility and "helocopter" parents are just not helping their child grow in thsi fashion. I got help from my parents (about 20k$) while I worked and paid 60k$ outta my own pocket and 15k$ loans, the rest, grants and merit based scholarships (total cost was roughly 120k$).

I hope that wasn't just for undergrad...

 

[tyanni]

Originally posted by: adairusmc

Originally posted by: Ronstang
No one owes you anything in this life except yourself. If your parents have the means and the will to help you with college then consider it a blessing and never forget what they have done for you. If your parents can't or won't help you then you are only hurting yourself sitting around feeling like you have been cheated, because you have not. If you want a college education but won't do what it takes to achieve one then you really don't deserve it in the first place.

:thumbsup:

Best answer.

If you are over 18 though, the parents have absolutely no obligation to pay for a damn thing.

I hope neither of you ever have kids. If you have kids, you have an obligation to try to help and pay for college. If you can't afford it, thats fine, but if you can, its one of your parental responsibilities.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Only help from time to time. The student should work/pay his/her way through college as best as possible with parents helping when required. This is a good opportunity for someone to learn financial responsibility and "helocopter" parents are just not helping their child grow in thsi fashion. I got help from my parents (about 20k$) while I worked and paid 60k$ outta my own pocket and 15k$ loans, the rest, grants and merit based scholarships (total cost was roughly 120k$).

I hope that wasn't just for undergrad...

yeah, it was. Northeastern University, 5 years of 20-30k$ each year :/

Thank God I got hooked up with a decent Cooperative Education work placement that paid me for overtime. The incoming freshman are gonna pay something like 42k$ for their first year! :shocked:

 

[shadow9d9]

If they want their children to get a head start in life, yes... Most people don't have a clue in hell as to what they are doing with money though...

 

[shadow9d9]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
If your parents can afford it, they should help. However, they shouldn't be obligated to do it. Most likely their parents didn't. My parents gave me maybe 5k out of a 100k cost. The rest were loans or me working, mostly loans (75k).

Your parents already paid a crapload of money to feed and shelter you. You have a long time to pay them back for that.

You don't pay parents back for feeding and sheltering you. That was a job they chose to do by having you. It is not the child's obligation to pay back...

Some people here are just scary.

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: tyanni

Originally posted by: adairusmc

Originally posted by: Ronstang
No one owes you anything in this life except yourself. If your parents have the means and the will to help you with college then consider it a blessing and never forget what they have done for you. If your parents can't or won't help you then you are only hurting yourself sitting around feeling like you have been cheated, because you have not. If you want a college education but won't do what it takes to achieve one then you really don't deserve it in the first place.

:thumbsup:

Best answer.

If you are over 18 though, the parents have absolutely no obligation to pay for a damn thing.

I hope neither of you ever have kids. If you have kids, you have an obligation to try to help and pay for college. If you can't afford it, thats fine, but if you can, its one of your parental responsibilities.

Umm, no. Not even close.

After the child is 18 they are legally adults and the parents are no longer responsible for a damn thing. That is the way it should be.

Besides, college degrees are just overrated forms of self-validation that motivated people will never need to be successful.

 

[Linflas]

If they can afford to help out then fine otherwise there are plenty of ways to do it on your own if you have the motivation to do so.