Student loan for college

[Oil Changer]

Tell mom it's time he got off the [censored] and got a J-O-B.

What's this world coming to? I just censored myself! My choice of word passed the filter but I'm not too sure about this site. I'm always being put in time-out.

 

[evanautumn]

Just don't do it OP, no matter what, it's your [censored], not wifey's at the end of the day. he's fortunate enough that you're helping at all with money, my parents never gave me a dime to go to college. Either go to community college like others have suggested and maybe the money you're supplying will cover that plus MSU, OR work plus take out loans on his own.

BTW, stafford loans you don't need a cosigner but they have a limit per year.

good reminder why I'm never getting married lol...

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: evanautumn
Just don't do it OP, no matter what, it's your [censored], not wifey's at the end of the day. he's fortunate enough that you're helping at all with money, my parents never gave me a dime to go to college. Either go to community college like others have suggested and maybe the money you're supplying will cover that plus MSU, OR work plus take out loans on his own.

BTW, stafford loans you don't need a cosigner but they have a limit per year.

good reminder why I'm never getting married lol...


My two daughters are the joy of my life. Both went to state colleges and lived on campus. We saved about 1/3, paid about 1/3 during college and they tool out student loans for the rest.

One just needs to figure out how to afford college and be reasonable about what college one can afford.

But college being expensive is not a reason not to get married and have one or two (not 10) kids.

 

[evanautumn]

Originally Posted By: Donald
My two daughters are the joy of my life. Both went to state colleges and lived on campus. We saved about 1/3, paid about 1/3 during college and they tool out student loans for the rest.

One just needs to figure out how to afford college and be reasonable about what college one can afford.

But college being expensive is not a reason not to get married and have one or two (not 10) kids.

Oh it's not that, I just don't have a desire to start a family in general. I was more referring to the wife and him disagreeing about this situation and I'm assuming that OP is the major breadwinner of the house...so it really should be his decision at the end of the day because who's money/credit is on the line. I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to keep working past when he plans on retiring.

For guys who want to start a family, I think it's great, it's just not for me.

 

[thunderfog]

OP: You will get a good idea of his work ethic the first couple of years that you said you have saved.

My parents told me when I was in school that I needed to maintain a 3.0 GPA for them to pay for my schooling from quarter to quarter (we were on quarters, not semesters) as well as my car insurance.

If he doesn't maintain the grades, let him fend for himself. If he does, co-sign for the remainder.

Now I did have a quarter where I got steamrolled a little bit where I was taking differential equations and thermodynamics, and I warned them I wasn't going to make the grades, but I had a good history since this was junior year. I think I got a 2.7 GPA that time around, but brought it back up.

 

[lewdwig]

Originally Posted By: doitmyself
Community college for the first 2 or 3 terms, then transfer.

Let him live at home and save a boatload of money. Make sure that he plans VERY carefully so that all his credits transfer.


+1

 

[Cutehumor]

I graduated debt free twice. I lived with parents free. I worked part time the whole time and went to school full time. I didn't have any assets when I graduated with my second degree at age 28. At age 36, I live in my first home with 50% equity. My 401k/IRA are approaching 100k already. I'm amazed at how God has blessed me. I grew up poor as kid with only 1,500 dollar savings from Grandpa for College. I had no student loans or scholarships. I did the community college and 4 yr state school.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor
I graduated debt free twice. I lived with parents free. I worked part time the whole time and went to school full time. I didn't have any assets when I graduated with my second degree at age 28. At age 36, I live in my first home with 50% equity. My 401k/IRA are approaching 100k already. I'm amazed at how God has blessed me. I grew up poor as kid with only 1,500 dollar savings from Grandpa for College. I had no student loans or scholarships. I did the community college and 4 yr state school.


Good for you! Oddly enough I managed to be pretty similar (depending upon how you view home equity) -- BUT -- I borrowed pretty much for all of my degree, and then wound up paying for my wife's degree too. Looking back I don't think I would have done well if I had to work while in school; I don't think I would have gone as far had I done community college or vocation school. Very hard to tell, since hindsight is *not* 20/20. I'd have to say my maturity is coming late in life; I might not have been a slacker as a teenager but I've read of too many others who were much more motivated than I. They did better than I did, then again I'm usually pretty content where I wound up.

I have no plans to cosign for school loans. I do hope to have the house paid off, then start start saving for their college--wish I had done that earlier, but one can only do so much. But my kids are going to have to "own" their own schooling, and having the (scary) realization of having to pay back all that debt might force them to make better choices about it.

 

[terminaldegree]

It's (of course) important to impart a sense of responsibility in kids. As a college professor, I often feel like I'm the last "gatekeeper" between an immature young adult and the harsh reality they're about to experience. One little detail that hasn't been discussed here is timely communication:

If you're going let a kid saddle him/herself with a much larger student loan than originally anticipated, or going to change your financial support plans in a way that might change where and if he/she attends school entirely, this is a conversation that shouldn't be left to the last minute before they leave for orientation.

Does the child know how much they're going to rack up in loans? Do they understand how that compares to their expected salary in their anticipated career? I had a student who changed majors and transferred to another university a year into college. His family was unable to support him financially after the economy collapsed, and by the end of his junior year his loans exceeded a year's salary in his chosen field by 50%. In order to afford to pay off his loan, the student either had to join the military or go on "income-contingent repayment" until he reached the time limit and his loan was written off/forgiven after paying the tax penalty. He ended up not graduating and joined the military. I still bug him to take a few online classes or transfer credits so he can finish his degree and get a pay raise.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: ecotourist
When my daughter was in university she lived at home as long as possible. She had a small inheritance that paid a lot of the costs for the first few years. Eventually she had to live on her own (as we moved for work reasons) and with the increased costs she had to take out student loans.

When she graduated I told her we would pay her loans off together. I paid half as long as she paid the other half as quickly as possible.

That approach had several advantages: paying for her education became a source of pride, she had every incentive to keep her costs low, and the fairly small loans were retired in short order (a year or two).

When I was in university, those with more money usually found a way to spend it.


Tuition in Canada is an order of magnitude smaller than in the US. It really doesn't compare to talk about, say McGill at $4,000/ year and Harvard at $61,000/ year....and many private schools are close to the sticker price at Harvard, without the generous financial aid that Harvard offers....

 

[surfstar]

Post on (or search and read) for threads on Bogleheads.org You'll find better construed arguments vs on an oil/car board.

Retirement trumps college cash for kids. Look after yourself, they will be fine (isn't that the point of a college education?).
If there's a lack of funds and especially work ethic, maybe they need to start off at a JC/Community college and take it from there. Way cheaper and the good ones have great professors still.

 

[HM12460]

Thank you all for your comments. There are some really good thoughts here.