paying for child's college

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-17-2005
paying for child's college
5
Wed, 04-20-2005 - 12:20am
Any ideas for paying for college for my daughter? She's straight A student, got one $750 scholarship but that doesnt cover all. Taking my ex back to court for post minority support. and after all these yrs (8 yrs) I am nearly broke and have not been able to save for her college. I kept the house (mortgage too 650 mo) and have pd all the school fees etc and I have a great job and make appro 40k yr and got much CC debt and car loan and no, i havent spent needlessly. But now I realize so many things about $$ and i am worried that I wont be able to help pay my part. any help would be appreciated.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Wed, 04-20-2005 - 8:24am

Hugs!! I have a few suggestions, but I do not know how helpful they will be.
1. Start out at a county college. That is what I did. I took all the basic courses (english, history, gym) at an inexpensive 2 year college and then transferred the credit.
2. Ask the high school guidance counselor for help with scholarships.
3. Research with the college's financial aid deparment. I ended up going to a private college, but only because THEY gave me a financial aid for about $15,000 - $18,000 per year. I took out loans to cover the rest. I ended up with about $20,000 in loans for a degree really cost over $100,000. A lot of college give financial aid to qualified students.

State schools are cheaper than out of state or private colleges. You could also check out the local library for books. I bet the librarian gets a lot of questions like this during this time of year.

Good luck!
Sandra

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-02-2004
Wed, 04-20-2005 - 10:08am

Definitely check with your school's guidance counsellor. Keeping up to date with all the scholarship/grant money available to kids is part of their job. You and your daughter will also have to do your homework searching out all the options on the internet and through the college she wants to attend. It'll be work. Can grandparents make a gift to her?

Also, try to get some non-career oriented required classes out of the way at a less costly junior college. Maybe she could even do some in the summer sessions to have a lesser load during the semesters--it seems like most college BA programs now take 5 years instead of 4 these days, making for an even bigger challenge.

I'm going to find myself in your spot next year--my kid's a junior. He's already expecting to go to a state school in town, live at home and work part-time to help pay for himself. I expect his dad won't come up with any $$ for him--they don't get along well. Dad's got lots of $$ but getting any out of him is almost not worth the effort.

Good luck and remember that education money is always well spent, even if it creates debt, IMHO.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-09-1999
Wed, 04-20-2005 - 10:46am

I hear you, college is so important and yet so expensive. The year our son went to college 2003, was the year his college fund tanked, and it was only worth about half of what it had been worth, but we needed the $ then so we cashed it in. He sold his motorcycle and an extra car that he fixed up and across country he went. He went to tech school in NC, we live in WY. He had a few scholarships ($4000 total) tuition was $26,000 and he had to pay rent etc on top of that. He worked the entire time he went to school, a little over a year, and we put $ in his account each week to help him keep his head above water. We took out a student loan and so did he, we just didn't see any other way around it. It would be hard if you're a single parent and don't have the funds to make a loan payment, but in this day and age I would say it is unusual for kids to graduate college without some debt.

I do believe it is easier for boys to make a decent wage at part-time jobs and summer jobs than it is for girls, while they are going to school.
Well, enough rambling from me...good luck!
cindylee

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-20-2004
Thu, 04-21-2005 - 4:59pm

Community college is probably the best idea.
Check ahead (look down the road I mean) and make
sure every credit you take counts toward where you
want to eventually graduate from.

Not to argue, in my opinion its easier for girls to get
part time jobs to help, because they can do stuff like
waitress, set their own hours, and its CASH for tips.

Don't discount the service. They are giving now much better
deals than when I went in. You don't have to do anything dangerous
like I did either. She could join the airforce for electronics or
computers (dunno, just throwing it out), they give incredible
bonuses, plus GI Bill now.

Some of those jobs now pay enough of an enlistment bonus to pay
tuition at a state university. Plus, she'd get a monthly stipend.

Avatar for colomom99
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Thu, 04-21-2005 - 6:23pm

I am probably talking completely out of turn here because my oldest is only in the fourth grade but believe me I am already thinking about paying for college for three (maybe four if I get my wish and adopt someday). I read somewhere that sometimes you can play one college against the other. That makes a lot of sense because smaller schools are very competitive to get top notch students. Let's say a small liberal arts college accepts your child and offers a small scholarship. But your child really wants to go to another one. You can contact the one your child wants to go to and say, hey, we'd love to go to your school but just can't afford to so I guess we'll go someplace else. The article I read said they will often match or exceed the competing school. Even if your daughter doesn't have a preference it might not hurt to apply a couple places and see who will work with you.

Also, do some internet searching on obscure scholarships and grants, esp. if your course of study is slightly off the beaten track. Surprisingly there is often money in endowment funds that never go claimed because no one knows about them. A girlfriend of mine went to Columbia University for her Master's degree on a free ride scholarship just because there was some little known scholarship for women graduates of the University of Nebraska studying library science. I got a full scholarship AND a workstudy job because there was a grant for mid-career women returning to school to study children's theater. (by the way, I never finished that Master's but it was a fun year)

Of course, community college is a great idea, too. But don't limit your choices. I say it sure doesn't hurt to try lots of approaches. Jenny