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College already?
August 02, 2005
The excitement has worn off and reality has set in. Well, we're still excited, but reality is here nonetheless. And part of that reality is that in 2023, Mia may very well ask us for $314,245 to go to college.
Now, the real question is this: Are we expected to have that sum on hand at the time of her matriculation, or should she have to wait tables between classes and pay off loans until retirement like her parents? Will giving her a free ride lessen her appreciation for the value of a dollar? Will making her pay her own way instill in her a stronger work ethic?
Of course we want her to have the best life has to offer, so now we have to learn all about 529s and Coverdells. And any other options out there that we don't even know about yet. If we do this right now, we'll only have to save $682 per month for the next 18 years.
But wait, these numbers are all sticker price for a private Ivy League school. Should she have to go to a state school with a more modest price tag? Should she be expected to find some scholarships to the private university?
I guess my answer is that we'll give her as much as we can, but I accept the fact that it might not be enough. We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.
Posted by Kimberly at August 2, 2005 04:36 PM
Comments
I dated a girl in college that her parents saved up the amount of money for her to go to Harvard (given I believe a 2/5% increase in tuition per year, yadda yadda..) over her 18 years of life prior.
Granted she went to K-State (at $75 a credit hour in 1999, now $145) this large sum amassed was given to her with almost near free reign (as I understood at the time). Granted she has now gone on to get her doctorate, this sum probably helped pay for grad school as well, but she lived comfortably without ever having to work.
Now, why I would have loved to live like that, us down here in reality just had public in-state type school paid for, and anything else (libations, junk food, audio/visual allowance, etc.) had to be earned with the blood of the common man.
I sank my credit rating into the depths of hell. I probably gave my parents nightmares.
Am I better for it? Maybe. Then again I'm not going to be an academic the rest of my life.
Of course Mia's mileage will of course vary. Who knows, enough forward thinking people may start taxing Americans at 30% and she can go to college on the dime of the richer. Not that I want this to happen (ask any fine upstanding German citizen).
She could always run off and start a band too. Then you'd be $314,245 richer.
Posted by: Jay at August 2, 2005 05:15 PM