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My parents and I may disagree with a vast majority of you folks but, according to my parents they feel that they have an obligation to afford me the best education I am qualified for because its their responsibility as parents. I plan on doing the same for my kids if I have any because after all, everything that I hope to earn will go to my kids.
I wish I had a job so I could lift the burden off of my parents but, I have had no luck and if it were up to me entirely to pay for college I would not be in college right now.
Do I think that a kid should expect their parents to pay entirely for their college education? No. Do I think that, if it's financially possible for them, parents are obligated to help? Yes, certainly.
My parents (and grandparents) started saving for my college education when I was born. When I applied to college, I was awarded a large ($24k/year) merit scholarship as well, and I also worked as much as possible (work study, and summers). My parents helped me along (I went to a private school in Boston, it was enormously expensive) with the living costs I couldn't cover through working, and I also took out a few loans, which they helped me repay. As a result, I am debt free at 24, when many of my friends have tens of thousands of dollars in debt as they're approaching their 30s. Because I am debt-free, and because my parents have been so supportive, I am now able to look at buying a home (granted, a cheap one), and even consider starting a family in the next 5 years or so. My friends who are paying off their student loans can't afford to live without roommates, let alone consider buying a home or starting a family.
At such time as I have a child, I plan to start saving immediately (as do my parents) for their college education. It's expensive, but I view it as necessary, and I also believe it's in the best interest of the entire family to see that the children are educated.
Last edited by SacramentoBound; 04-24-2011 at 05:49 PM..
Asking this for a friend of mine who is a divorced father of three. Legally he is not required to pay for college, but his ex wife thinks he has a moral obligation. Does he? His oldest son is starting to apply for college, and is very resentful his father isn't kicking in.... dad could, but it would set dad back a few years on his own retirement. For all of son's life dad has worked, the ex did not.... ex moved the kids when they were little so dad isn't all that close to his kids. Mostly he feels like a wallet.
Do kids these days expect parents to pay for college?
Whether parents should pay for their children's college expenses or not depends on the family situation and the child.
If the child gets good grades, goes to Sunday mass, is involved in volunteering, and the family has a lot of extra money laying around, then yes, they should pay.
If the child is just above failing, parties hardcore, and the family does not have extraneous funds, then I don't think they should kick in anything.
That's just wonderful! My family physician obtained her BA, married, had six children and at 46, returned to medical school.
She is now a youthful 63 and has a flourishing practice and a fulfilling life.
No plans to retire.
Education is not only about financial gain. It's also about personal fulfillment and returning one's gifts to society.
Best wishes to your husband and his future endeavors!
That's just wonderful! My family physician obtained her BA, married, had six children and at 46, returned to medical school.
She is now a youthful 63 and has a flourishing practice and a fulfilling life.
No plans to retire. Education is not only about financial gain. It's also about personal fulfillment and returning one's gifts to society.
Best wishes to your husband and his future endeavors!
Yeah, but if I didn't think college would help me make more money, I wouldn't be in college
Funny. Money was not even on my list of reasons why I obtained either of my degrees. Or my next.
So you're saying you would gladly get a college degree only to end up working a dead end job for the rest of your life when you could get the same job with a high school diploma?
I'm not saying money is all that matters. I'm going to college for a mix of learning and higher earning potential.
Money is at least part of the reason why a lot of people go to college. In one of my classes, I gave a presentation on the importance of a college education. One of my points was how you make more money with a college degree. Before I started my presentation, I asked the class how many of them are in college because they want to make more money someday. A lot of them raised their hands. But one of the students that raised her hand dropped out by now
And this has been going on for quite some time. When I was doing research for the project, I found a source from 1995 where students were interviewed about why they were in college and they said they were told this is their meal ticket.
While money is not everything, I don't want to work a dead end low paying job for the rest of my life. There is a happy medium.
Some people go to college just because they want to make a lot of money and they major in something that has a reputation of being high paying. Unless they truly like their major, I think those people are going to college for the wrong reasons. And there are also students that only care about partying, but a lot of those students fail out.
But for the typical student, the thought of making more money someday is in the back of their mind as they work toward their degree. It's not the only reason they're in college, but it's certainly a reason.
Whenever I think of dropping out, I think about money and decide to stay in college. It would be hard for me to be successful if I dropped out. And a degree is no guarantee of success, but my chances of success are certainly higher with a degree (compared to dropping out).
Really, they only reason I sometimes think about dropping out is because I get fed up with my lack of money. I want to start working now. But then I think about it realistically and realize I don't qualify for very many jobs right now so I wouldn't get very far if I dropped out to work full time. Sometimes you just need to be patient and wait. In the long run, my life will be better if I get a college degree. So I just need to wait until then. Good things come to those who wait.
Last edited by city_data91; 04-29-2011 at 02:19 PM..
Point of view from a person from a poor neighborhood where none of our parents had attended college--they were mostly migrant farm workers.
The mentality was that education was superfluous; a waste of money. Even though one of my friends went on to attend Stanford (summa) and become high level staffer at the White House, she had to argue with her parents to even finish high school (they wanted her to pick lemons).
Our parents were not going to help us with college, first, because they were unable to do so.
I earned a Master's, but am also an anomaly. I preach to people from my background and think there's a higher value for education now, but parents do NOT think about funding tuition.
Point of view from a person from a poor neighborhood where none of our parents had attended college--they were mostly migrant farm workers.
The mentality was that education was superfluous; a waste of money. Even though one of my friends went on to attend Stanford (summa) and become high level staffer at the White House, she had to argue with her parents to even finish high school (they wanted her to pick lemons).
Our parents were not going to help us with college, first, because they were unable to do so.
I earned a Master's, but am also an anomaly. I preach to people from my background and think there's a higher value for education now, but parents do NOT think about funding tuition.
I don't judge them for it so much as empathize.
I'm glad that your friend "won" her argument; I'm sure that she's happy, too..
Without reading the entire thread, I believe that there's some responsibility on the part of parents to help their children with college, since no student can "pay their way through", as in other generations. The students do have some obligation to be aware of what their parents can reasonably afford, and to make arrangements with scholarships, loans, etc , along with part-time work, to ensure that things can be taken care of..
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