What should parents pay for?: the Ultimate Poll (SAT, school, preparation)
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Parents should pay for all the preparation to get into a good university with all expenses paid. This includes the necessary tutors, classes, SAT training, etc. The rest is fair game based on what the parents want to do for the child. But is not necessary.
Should is not my business. Each family has to determine what's right for them.
My parents paid my tuition, and my room and board when I lived in the dorm. For that I am grateful.
Once I moved out of the dorm, I was on my own for food and housing. Books, transportation, clothing etc., all came out of what I earned over the summer and during the school year. For that I also am grateful.
Gifts that cover some of any of those things would certainly be nice, but I don't find any of them to be parental obligations.
I know my parents occasionally gave me gifts of clothing when I'd go home for holidays, or might pick up the tab for a grocery trip when they visited me. They probably would have purchased my bus rides, train rides, or flights to and from school, had I not driven myself. Other than that, I paid for my own stuff/took out my own student loan. My money came from what I earned during summers, and work study, which went right back to the school toward my tuition.
Well...I paid for everything for all my kids. Which is why I have nothing. But, all of them finished college. One currently attending, she has tuition paid. One opted out. He is military. Two are working, good jobs, both attending grad school. Grad school...on your own.
Well...I paid for everything for all my kids. Which is why I have nothing. But, all of them finished college.
All four of the children in my family did, too, without my parents incurring the debt. Two of us have done grad school, also on our own. Every family works out how they're going to do such things, but it's not as if parents funding the college experience is some guarantee of finishing, nor is the student taking on those responsibilities him or herself.
If parents can fund these things, and wish to, great. But I don't personally think of it as an obligation.
I took out no debt. My kids lived at home. We shared a car. They all went to the local community college and local state university. So....the expense was reasonable. Now....if my son had wanted to go to Stanford...that is another story...he did not apply to any other colleges, because he knew what we could afford.
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