New York May Offer Free Tuition Soon

[dfrecore]

I still maintain that if you work at least part-time 20-30 hours a week, and work a TON over breaks and summer, you can pay for a LOT of this.  If you took a year off before going to school and worked 2-3 jobs and socked away every dime, you might be able to get enough of a head start to take out zero to a very small student loan.  Instead, kids think that they couldn't POSSIBLY work through college, and that they "deserve" their breaks to relax instead of work.  Sorry, welcome to the real world, which for most of us means work.

I also question the judgement of any parent that takes out parent plus loans or home equity lines to help their kids go to school.  That's insanity.  My kids will go where we can afford, or find a way to pay for it themselves, because I will not mortgage my future to have them go to college.  Unless they want to be supporting me in my old age because I went into tremendous debt to help them go to school.  Hope you get a big house kids, because Mama is moving in!

Instead, we started planning long ago (not with money) but with expectations for them and for us.  No, debt isn't an option.  With that in mind, where are you wanting to go and what degree do you want to get, and how do we do it without debt?  If that's your plan from the start, you have a much better chance than someone who is suddenly surprised by the fact that their 18yo senior in HS wants to go to college.  I'm pretty sure you knew college was coming...like a while ago.

If you take debt off the table, you'll be surprised with what you come up with for options.  And there are plenty.  2 years at a CC first while living at home?  A gap year, where you work and save?  A less expensive degree closer to home, and then working for a few years to earn enough to pay for your dream degree?  Applying for multiple scholarships?  Getting a job at the school so that tuition is discounted?

So many ways to look at this, without debt as an option.  It opens your eyes to the many other possibilities out there.

I've seen many college degrees derailed by that job that was supposed to get you through college. I was a manager at Walmart. I didn't do it, but, several managers sold gullible college kids the idea that they would be a co-manager making $70k a year in no time and that they didn't need college. As soon as gullible kid drops out, they gradually realize they are really just going to be a stocker forever.

I haven't met many people that actually successfully worked their way through college or if they did do that, it took them several years longer. Time is money. I'm 36 and make $12 an hour working fulltime in a paraprofessional position in a public library. I teach computer classes, schedule, teach crafts, process, order, manage inventory, plan events - all that, for $12 an hour. I should have finished a real degree 10 years ago. I've had to work and cobble together a college degree. I was laid off and unable to find employment at all from Dec 23, 2008 until October 2012. Think of all that lost value! Even if I had gotten a lame duck of a degree, I probably still would have cleared $40k a year. I missed out on earning $160K in just those years I was unemployed. I've never earned more than $25k annually. Basically, not finishing a degree has cost me at the very minimum around $300,000 since the age of 23, the age most people finish college.

I think back and wish I could time travel and just get the damn loan. I should have just got the loan and not worked. I would have owed about $20,000. But, really, that's NOTHING compared to what I missed out on earning.

My kid will not be working through college. We will bargain hunt college like crazy, but, she will not be working during college at all unless it's an internship. Looking at the graduation statistics for state and community colleges is really alarming. Working through college doesn't work for most people.

Actually, statistics say that if you work part-time through college, your chances of graduating go up, and your GPA is higher.

I didn't say work somewhere and don't finish your degree - I said work part-time (at a job that's probably going to convince you that college is the way to go rather than the other way around), to help pay for college.  It makes kids more responsible, and teaches them time-management skills.  We can afford to send our kids to school, and we will STILL make them work part time.  I don't care how much money my husband and I have, they need to learn those life lessons.  The sooner the better.  My husband is actually a little annoyed that they're not working in high school, but they do 3 sports each so there's not enough time.

Here is 1 study that shows 15-20 hours is better for students at 4yr schools (and >20 hrs is better for CC students): http://www.bu.edu/today/2009/working-may-help-your-gpa/