re: Student Loans

quote:

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Wouldn't that be a forethought and not an afterthought?

I.e. take out the student loans, but when you graduate ... I have these funds set aside to pay it off.

Not... now that you have graduated, I wonder if I should pull from my 401k (retirement) to pay off the student loans.

I have zero problem with the sentiment of helping kids get a head start in life. But the thought process of the OP is not the way my brain works.
Either I have been saving for this day with specific funds for years.
Or I just came into a large sum of money which gives me the freedom to make a choice like this.

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I agree with you. We recently have had this conversation with my oldest as she is in the very beginnings of the process of deciding about college.

1) If she goes to a public school in LA, she will get TOPS, she will also likely get some additional scholarship money.

2) She will take a student loan for any extra needed school money. As long as she stays in school and progresses toward graduation we will pay the interest as it accrues. When she graduates, we will make the loan payments for her. If she does not graduate, it's on her to pay off.

3) We will give her a car that should easily last her time in school. She will pay to insure, maintain, and fuel it. We will give some sort of monthly allotment as long as she stays in school.

4) If she goes to school out of state, same deal applies, except we will only pay off the same amount we would have paid off if she went to a state school.