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College is what you make of it

September 16th, 2021 at 01:21 am

My cousin's daughter is in her 2nd year at college.  She is going for free at a cal state college and living at home.  She had a 2 year tuition free scholarship.  Amazing.  So she's going to have 2 years of university for free and then transfer to a different UC or Cal-State and finish up.  So amazing.   She plans on being an elementary school teacher which as people know is not the best paying job but an essential one.  Since it's not high paying it's pretty amazing she's able to do it with minimal output.  This will mean she'll be further ahead when she gets out!

On the flip side I have a client paying for UC Davis $70k year out of state tuition.  I'm not sure what his kid is doing in their 2nd year as well. He has another child about to go and he's again estimating $70k, so he'll be shelling out $140k in tuition and living expenses a year.  

You can see how on both sides of the coin college can be as cheap or expensive as you choose to make it.  What will I do? I don't know.  But I'd like to believe that I'm being flexible.  I am on track to have 4 years saved at an in state college tuition/living expenses.  I am on track for about 2 years at a private/out of state school.  And I've saved both in ESA, 529, and taxable so there is a ton of flexibility on what the girls might choose to do.  I will admit seeing the $70k price tag gave me a bit of sticker shock and fear over what it might cost me.  If my kids went that route $300k seems a bit insurmountable.  We don't have the time now with 11 and 9 to save that much nor will we get there with what we saved.

Posted in Education | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “College is what you make of it”

  1. Wink Says:
    September 16th, 2021 at 09:41 pm 1631824861
    1631824861

    I second community college as an option. I worked at one for almost 20 years as a career counselor and academic advisor. You can take most of the required General Education classes and just transfer them when it's time. You get a great education at a fraction of the cost. Depending on the child (young adult) it's also a great way to transition from high school to college without feeling overwhelmed by a large university setting right away.

  2. LivingAlmostLarge Says:
    September 17th, 2021 at 07:50 am 1631861453
    1631861453

    I am not going to rule anything out. I think we'll have to see how everything plays out. But I can definitely see how going somewhere very reasonable is a good idea.

  3. rob62521 Says:
    September 21st, 2021 at 06:52 pm 1632246737
    1632246737

    You are right -- college is what you make it. There are ways to save. I cannot even imagine graduating with a huge amount of debt, then trying to make a go of it. I did without a lot of things in college, worked a lot, and graduated debt free. I had a coworker ask me a few years ago when I paid off my school loans and I told her I didn't have any. She attended a state university, but used school loans to finance other things besides schooling. She thought I was crazy when I said I didn't go out and party, didn't have a lot of new things, didn't go on spring break, didn't have a car, etc. At the rate she's going, she'll be paying off those student loans into her 50s because she went back to get her master's before paying off what she already owed.

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