re: Spinoff thread: How much did your parents save for your college educ?

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I attended the prestigious Tulane University on academic scholarships. I worked about 30-32 hours a week during my junior and senior years to cover my own living expenses, books, etc. I'm not a lazy pansy like most people

$0 and never helped me financially that I remember.

No idea but they have paid for my brother and I all of the way through. Thanks mom and dad

I've talked to them about it at length and they consider it some of the best money they have ever spent. The ROI for me would have already been close to even only a handful of years out of college. It opened opportunities that would have been tough to find otherwise.

No idea. Luckily I had TOPS and some scholarships but my parents still helped pay for my living expenses. They never complained about it but I knew it was a major financial burden on them so that's why I hurried up and graduated in three years.

None. I went in the Marines out of High School in 1987. Only real financial help I ever got was 100 shares of Microsoft, which I still own, for a high school graduation present.

I had a mix of scholarships and loans. My parents did not, while I was in college, pay one cent towards my college costs. When I went home between semesters or the occasional weekend, of course they would feed me and what not. They also gave me a gas card and told me I could use it anytime i was coming home. And yes, they tracked it.

They also told me that if I graduated, they would repay half of my student loans up to 20K total of loans (i.e. they would pay back 10 plus interest). But the loans had to be in my name - stafford loans and private loans.

6 months before I graduated, my parents divorced. As is usually the case, costs for them went up. My dad paid a quarter of my loan payment for about a year before he told me he was sorry but he could not swing it. My mom never paid anything. To be fair, my first day of professional work my salary was higher than either of theirs at the current time.

I ended up borrowing about 16K which was the best investment i have ever made.

My oldest is still 10 years from college, so who knows what higher ed would be like then, but my wife and I have basically said she could live at home and she could go to UNO full time, and we would pay her tuition, books, and fees. Or, she could go somewhere else, but we would not give her any more than whatever that amount at UNO would be. If she wants something beyond living at home and going to UNO, she's going to have to earn it.

I am old enough that my four year undergrad education at a state school cost a total of $8K, for tuition, books, dorm room and meals, I kept a detailed ledger of my expenditures while in school, keep in mind minimum wage then was $2.10. My parents had saved zero, my dads career didn't really start paying well until I was in high school. They did buy the car I had, give me money for gas, paid my car insurance and give me small amounts of money when they could. I worked every summer for tuition and book money, and always had a on campus job that paid about 95% of my monthly room and board cost, never borrowed any money.

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you to college. We have no money. If you want to go you'll have to get a scholarship."

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With TOPS now everyone gets a scholarship. The ACT and GPA to qualify are embarrassingly low

My parents got me a used car and paid for the monthly insurance and gasoline. Scholarships covered tuition, room, board, meals, and summer internships covered play money. Of course that was back in the day before free student loans jacked up all of the costs. I would hate to go to college these days. Also, they gave me the money for a down payment on a townhouse which has led to a great domino effect over the years.

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With TOPS now everyone gets a scholarship. The ACT and GPA to qualify are embarrassingly low

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I'm waaay before TOPS. But let's say I had it. I went to Centenary. Does TOPS cover an expensive school like that or Tulane?