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Started By
Message
Parents of new college students are having some issues
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:29 pm
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:29 pm
My kid is starting college this month and I ended up in a FB group of parents of students starting college this fall.
It’s a popular pastime on this website to bash kids who take student loans and then can’t / won’t pay them back. I get it.
But if they are getting advice from these parents… I’m not sure I fully blame the kids.
This week - with college starting this month for many - the number of posts that say some variant of “we still owe $11,000 for the fall… what do we do” is absolutely insane.
College is expensive. Stupid expensive. My kid is going to a state school. Room and board is more than tuition before TOPS. Tuition is 4600 per semester - TOPS performance award is 3000 per semester. Fee bill for fall semester before any scholarships is over $12,000. Per semester. For a state school.
But… we knew this. We didn’t just find out yesterday. She passed on other schools due to cost. She’s gotten several scholarships… and the mom and dad scholarship covered the rest.
How in the world are so many people so unprepared for this? And I’m not even saying “they didn’t save.” How is it a week or two before school starts, and the parents have no idea how they are going to pay for it?
And someone on these posts will comment “did you apply for parent plus loan” and they say “what is that?”
Some parents are failing their kids. Sucks to see.
It’s a popular pastime on this website to bash kids who take student loans and then can’t / won’t pay them back. I get it.
But if they are getting advice from these parents… I’m not sure I fully blame the kids.
This week - with college starting this month for many - the number of posts that say some variant of “we still owe $11,000 for the fall… what do we do” is absolutely insane.
College is expensive. Stupid expensive. My kid is going to a state school. Room and board is more than tuition before TOPS. Tuition is 4600 per semester - TOPS performance award is 3000 per semester. Fee bill for fall semester before any scholarships is over $12,000. Per semester. For a state school.
But… we knew this. We didn’t just find out yesterday. She passed on other schools due to cost. She’s gotten several scholarships… and the mom and dad scholarship covered the rest.
How in the world are so many people so unprepared for this? And I’m not even saying “they didn’t save.” How is it a week or two before school starts, and the parents have no idea how they are going to pay for it?
And someone on these posts will comment “did you apply for parent plus loan” and they say “what is that?”
Some parents are failing their kids. Sucks to see.
15
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:31 pm to LSUFanHouston
quote:
Some parents are failing their kids
Just my take but no parent owes their kid a college education.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:32 pm to LSUFanHouston
I was blown away recently to find out LSU is now 25k a year???? Like wtf
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:32 pm to LSUFanHouston
I’m surprised you’re surprised.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:33 pm to LSUFanHouston
Just wait until they see what their kid's first DUI costs 
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:34 pm to forkedintheroad
quote:
Just my take but no parent owes their kid a college education.
But I do think they owe their kids honest advice
Which means helping them figure it out before now
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:34 pm to LSUFanHouston
quote:
How in the world are so many people so unprepared for this? And I’m not even saying “they didn’t save.”
They apparently didn't, not enough anyway.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:34 pm to RoyalWe
quote:
I’m surprised you’re surprised.
Maybe I should not be… but damn
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:34 pm to LSUFanHouston
When I applied to college, I applied for scholarships and got my TOPS and FASFA taken care of. I was on the hook for what else I owed not my parents. I probably sound like an old man but this was in 2012.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:35 pm to sidewalkside
quote:
I was blown away recently to find out LSU is now 25k a year???? Like wtf
Maybe for out of state tuition, but for in-state its no where near that amount.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:35 pm to facher08
quote:
They apparently didn't, not enough anyway.
And they should have known that before now.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:35 pm to forkedintheroad
quote:
Just my take but no parent owes their kid a college education.
Parents owe their kids the best effort they can give regardless if its college or some other route.
We dont need anymore boomers screaming at their kids about self reliance. That era is over and no longer fits what the modern world is today.
Help your kids, be there for them, give effort for them. Thats the only way anything gets better and get rid of this "DO IT ON YOUR OWN!!!" boomer nonsense.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:36 pm to LSUFanHouston
Give them honest advice and let them decide. They need to succeed or fail on their own. (Not saying you in particular) just in general.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:36 pm to Ping Pong
quote:
Maybe for out of state tuition, but for in-state its no where near that amount.
LSU 26-27 annual
Instate tuition and fees is $13k
Housing and meal plan is $16k
This post was edited on 8/6/26 at 3:38 pm
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:39 pm to LSUFanHouston
quote:
But… we knew this. We didn’t just find out yesterday. She passed on other schools due to cost. She’s gotten several scholarships… and the mom and dad scholarship covered the rest.
How in the world are so many people so unprepared for this? And I’m not even saying “they didn’t save.” How is it a week or two before school starts, and the parents have no idea how they are going to pay for it?
I know someone whose kid passed on a full scholarship (room, board, meal card, the works) because the parents didn't want her to move an hour and 15 minutes away. The Mom literally said to me, "I just can't adjust to her not being here and being close". I've sat in traffic on I-65 on a bad day longer than that trip.
So now she's going to a local school where she received a tuition scholarship but it doesn't cover her books. And the parents are complaining about the cost of her books. Or her spending "too much time" on campus.
It's absolutely wild to me.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:40 pm to LSUFanHouston
Honest question, does TOPS no longer cover full tuition?
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:42 pm to GeauxOn
quote:
Honest question, does TOPS no longer cover full tuition?
It covers tuition but not fees.
The state won’t allow schools to raise tuition
The state will allow schools to raise fees.
Southeastern fall tuition is 2889, and mandatory fees is 1703
The base tops level is 2826
This post was edited on 8/6/26 at 3:44 pm
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:43 pm to tiggerthetooth
quote:
We dont need anymore boomers screaming at their kids about self reliance. That era is over and no longer fits what the modern world is today.
and yet people still wonder why kids turn out the way they do these days and 20% of Gen Z show up to an interview with a parent. You're crippling them, you're not helping them.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:46 pm to The Pirate King
quote:
and yet people still wonder why kids turn out the way they do these days and 20% of Gen Z show up to an interview with a parent.
You're crippling them, you're not helping them.
The only ones that have ever crippled the young were the boomers who refused to hire or train American college graduates or retire so others could move up.
Another 50,000 H1B workers were just hired at Amazon and Microsoft.
Keep talking that "self reliance" nonsense. Be a parent, be a family, stop speaking about your kid like a stranger on the street.
Posted on 8/6/26 at 3:46 pm to LSUFanHouston
Tops was cool back in the day when I got it but now that I’m paying for it I think it should be canceled
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