Hellobee Boards

I went to a public high school and was able to get a state scholarship based on grades and community service that paid for 100% of my tuition at a public in state university or college. So basically my undergrad was just my room and board. My masters I chose to stay in state and my parents helped with tuition (since they had saved funds in the 529) but I paid for my room and board and ended up with a small student loan.

college was about 6k/year for 4 years. All paid off now though thank heavens!! I'm not hugely worried about if for LO. We have started a savings account for her now, and she will have to work when she is old enough. College isn't as expensive in Canada as it is in the US, but I suspect she will have to take some student loans out and I'm okay with that.

I went to public highschool and a private university that was about 25k/year, which my parents paid for. Room and board would have been another 8k, which they were unwilling to pay for though, and I didn't want to get loans for that, so I had to live at home. I plan on saving for my childrens education as soon as they are born.

I went to public school til college, and then that was 40k a year. Grad school was 35k/year for 2 years, but I took out loans for that. My parents paid for most of my college education and I hope to do the same for my kids. Right now, we're in a very stable financial position and could afford it, but who knows what college costs will be in 18 years (times 3 for the 3 kids we want!). We'll do the best we can to pay for college, and if we can't, hopefully they'll get scholarships. I think it's important for kids to not take on the financial burden of loans, etc if it's not necessary, especially since a lot of the times there's not an understanding of what taking out loans entails.

I did my undergrad in Ontario where fortunately tuition isn't anywhere near as expensive as it is here in the states, I wanna say at the time it was only $4-5k? With some savings from parents and working all through high school where I had to save half my paycheck I got through it board included debt-free.

Grad school on the other hand I attended in the US at a state school and at the time had to pay international tuition, I think it was about 15k/year.

ETA: and yes I absolutely worry about paying for our LOs' tuition. Unless they're geniuses or great athletes, I think they'll be state school bound hah.

I went through the college fund my parents had for me in one year at a private college. I worked full time and went to school full time at a public university for the remainder of undergrad, and came out with basically no debt (under 5k). Law school though....well, I have plenty of loans!

LO already has about 10k for college; which should buy her about a week!

@MamaMoose: oh my gosh! what an amazing opportunity. I cannot believe your parents could afford that! Crazy!!!

homeschooled up to college - so technically my parents did shell out some $$ for my education, the state didn't help at all. They bought all the curriculum and textbooks every year, paid for every field trip etc. Invested TONS of time. I couldn't even guess at what they spent. But they were frugal too.

I paid for my own college, and probably spent about $5,000 total. It was my local comm. college, and I got the first year free.

@chopsuey119: i'm with u. not sure the exact sticker price but i got lucky and my hubby paid off mine too.

i definitely want to do a 529 plan or something for my kids.

I did my undergrad in Nova Scotia, where I think that our tuition was about 6k/year. I then did my masters in the UK, and thankfully it was a 1 year program, because my tuition was 22k as an international student. Ouch!
My parents generously paid for everything. We started RESPs for both our girls as soon as their were born (something like your 529 thingies), and contribute every month to it. I do not expect that it will fully cover their costs, but I hope that we can make up the difference. Education is insanely expensive.

@mrbee: wow, you worked HARD! So admirable, I feel like a slacker...

Went to a public HS, and a state university at maybe $15K a year x 4 yrs (including housing and related costs). And maybe another $45K for my MBA, all funded by my parents. I do appreciate it a lot though!

I went to a private university, it cost around $100k. I came out with $17,000 in loans that I paid off myself in about 5 years. I also went to grad school that cost about $65k, but most of that cost was covered by my employer at the time.

Same education at my university now costs about $250k, and to be honest, I am not sure it is worth it. When the time comes, my son will likely go to the ETH in Zurich. He's a Swiss citizen so it will cost something like $1200 per semester. It's the same university that Albert Einstein attended, so it's decent and known.

I'm so scared of paying for college. Four kids within three years means the will all be in college together so they are going o hv o kick in.

I wen to a State College and worked to pay for my tuition so I know my kids cn do that too, but I'd like to be able to help some.

I went to public school (URI) for undergrad and grad. I have about 45,000 in federal student loans. My dad did what he could to help out, but I never expected him to pay for my education.

If we happen to have the money we will help LOs out with school, but I also think it's a good responsibility to have to pay for school yourself. Yes, the debt sucks (especially since I entirely regret BOTH my degrees!) but it's part of life. And not to sound selfish, but we need to save for retirement before LOs college..there are loans available for school, but not retirement.

I went to a public school and a public university but I never knew how much it cost...probably around the same amount as @Mrs Green Grass. My parents covered the tuition and I paid for rent, food and books. They would help me out if I was short on funds but that didn't happen a lot.

I dont know about HS, but I went to Syracuse University, which is private (so no in-state tuition) and it was about $52,000 a year to attend. So all in, $258,000. I had scholarships, but didnt get out totally debt free. My dad paid most of it, but I had some.

Im totally afraid of what it will cost to send my kids to college because we want to pay for it

I believe my parents paid something similar to yours Mr. Bee, around $100K for me. Also they paid $100k for my little brother, and probably $15k for my older brother, who dropped out.

They sent us to schools out of state because they thought they were better. I think it was a great investment, and I hope to do the same for my kids. It does scare me though! That's a lot of money!

@Mrs. Jacks: I would love to work at a university, for many reasons, but one of them would definitely be the tuition benefit!

My parents couldn't help me much. So I have a lot in student loans. I probably could have worked harder in high school to get scholarships. Oops, didn't happen.

I do wish I didn't have all this student loan debt. Oh, well. Life's not perfect. I do get jealous when I hear someone has no student loan debt.

I don't want my kids to expect college be paid for. I think a system that pays them for good grades. If they get an A in a course, we'll pay 100%... B- 75%, C-50% I want them to take college seriously.