My wife and I have two children who will graduate college this May with significantly less amounts of debt then their peers. The reason is we planned early and each contributed towards their own education in their own way.
1. When the kids were very young we participated in our State's prepaid college education program - purchasing two years at a University for each.
2. Our daughter used one year and because she busted her ass in High School and excelled her Freshman year then earned a full tuition scholarship that included a stipend toward living expenses, she'll graduate with her BS in Mathematics and only $20,000 in debt (about 1/4 of what is normally expected these days). In addition to the stipend, she's worked part-time as a research assistant for extra $$$. She decided to go away for college so with school expenses and living expenses she's done very well. She already has a job aft er graduation.
3. Our son took his 2-years at a University and stretched it out to 3-years of education by attending a local community college and then transferring to the University after 2-years. He's worked part-time and lived at home to earn money and save on expenses. He's graduating with a degree in Information Technology and has $20,000 cash sitting in the bank (after paying for his own senior year). He's currently completing an internship at a web hosting company which has a high probability of leading to employment.
4. When our kids were in high school we sat down and had a frank discussion over financing college, we said we'd help but they were going to have to find a way to chip in. That college, from the Mommy/Daddy perspective was not going to be a free ride and they would be expected to chip in. Both kids were working by the time they were Juniors in High School with some of the money being put away for college.
5. Part of that discussion was to point out, they could get a degree in any field they want - but Mommy & Daddy decide how our money is used. If they wanted a degree in Classical European Literature or Sociology - have at it, but they were on their own. If we were going to help pay for the degree (through the money we were contributing), they would have to show us that it was a degree leading to employment. They did.
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Parents that wait around until their kids are Juniors in High School to decide how to pay for college are setting themselves up for a rude awakening. That path leads to (IMHO) the most debt and the most cost for college.
If you plan early, like when the kids are 1-2 years old and either participate in a prepaid program or a College Savings Plan Program (kind of like a 401K) you can make life much easier.
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