debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Nov 5, 2016 3:28:14 GMT -5
He's at a public UK university, Saveinla.
Emma, thanks for explaining! I couldn't figure out how all these kids had experience. Here teens really don't work. I think you're not allowed to work till you're 16 here. DS3 (like my other kids) worked babysitting, tutoring English (or math but not DS3), pet-sitting ... They went to HS from 8 am to 6 pm every day, the HS schedule here is not like in the US.
From Emma: In terms of the fees, that doesn't surprise me much. Even when I went to college a hundred years ago here, there were a ton of extra fees for random stuff. If you were in choir you had to buy the choir dress. If you were on a sports team you had to buy your uniform. Then there were extra fees if you were in a lab course, etc. it all adds up.
This is exactly it! We hadn't realized or thought about this. In retrospect, definitely an oversight.
Alabama, we share your point of view. That's why we don't want to say no to the extra expenses of being in this sports club.
Thanks everybody, it's good to know I'm not the only one to have these extras! By the way DS3 paid for his own phone, but we did give him some money towards it.
He has an interview for that job on Mon, even though the job is theoretically already taken. So fingers crossed for that. And I will be picking up some more hours second semester.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Nov 5, 2016 3:45:37 GMT -5
There's always extras. Even when I was in college a thousand years ago. Dorms didn't serve food on Sunday nights so you had to fend for yourself. You couldn't sneak anything more than a piece of fruit out. Parking fees. Tickets to any athletic event. The only free thing was the bonfire and music before homecoming and at my kid's schools, those events have become a big deal with admission fees.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Nov 5, 2016 7:45:52 GMT -5
Yeah we thought we had everything covered and man did the extra's seem to really add up! DD goes to a private college and did get some scholarships plus a little school fin aid. I expected things like books although I didn't expect them to be $750 a semester. DD had to get a new laptop when she started. We thought her old was would be fine. She was just going to do reports and things on it so in our minds it shouldn't have been a big deal. Well the school required it to be newer to be compatible with their systems or she couldn't do things like print from it on the schools printers. It didn't seem like a big deal until midterms when she was printing 150 pages at a shot. The little printer she bought for $15 would have taken all week as slow as it was. It also had to live under the bed in her dorm, so not the most convenient thing when a prof wanted something now and she was across campus. So a new laptop it was. Then there was food. She had the unlimited plan fresh year. So we thought all she would need to buy was pizza on Fri night. Well it turns out that the caf, and since it's a small college there is only one, has times when the actual meals are put out. So if you have class from 11am to 1pm no lunch for you. All the stuff they hand out will go on and on about how it is open from o'dark hundred until late at night but what they don't tell you is that the vast majority of the time all that is available to eat there are cheerios and coffee. So extra money for food became a must. DD did find a job eventually in the area but she couldn't get very many hours with her schedule. So it ended up being very little extra money although every little bit helps. And I did bring her things to eat that she could put in the trunk under her bed like microwave pasta, oatmeal cups and granola bars ect. But it still ended up with us spending close to $50 a week on food on top of the meal plan. It still pisses me off that for the amount we spent on food that year we should have been eating steak and lobster.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Nov 5, 2016 9:00:07 GMT -5
Are these state universities? My son goes to a private college and except for the regular fees and a parking fee, there are no additional fees. We have to pay for books, but sometimes he gets the books from the professors or from an inter collegiate library system that they use. I think a lot of it is fees at public universities. It is a way for the state to say that tuition increases are not that much, but mandatory fees are going up. And if you look at the descriptions of the mandatory fees a lot is just silly. Technology Fee? Transportation fee? Green energy fee? One school even had a $100 athletic fee so that the football team could move up to division 1. My oldest got full tuition at out of state school starting in 2008, so we were not expecting $600 fees. Guess we didn't read all the fine print. My boys went to public universities in GA, and they have great tuition scholarship program, which I am very thankful for) but again fees are not included. And better schools have higher fees. My youngest is in top level state university and this year fees are over $1000 per semester. Basically adds over 20% to the tuition bill.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Nov 5, 2016 9:22:51 GMT -5
My DD has friends who go to Rowan Univ which is a pretty bug state U in the southern part of NJ. The parking permits for students costs $600 a year. That really surprised people especially as they don't publish the cost. If you try and look it up it will just say to go online and pay it. No where will it list a price like it does dorm rooms ect. It will only be made known as you are trying to pay it. If you are not already a student that can log on no way to find out before unless someone there tells you.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2016 9:36:27 GMT -5
There's always extras. Even when I was in college a thousand years ago. Dorms didn't serve food on Sunday nights so you had to fend for yourself. You couldn't sneak anything more than a piece of fruit out. Parking fees. Tickets to any athletic event. The only free thing was the bonfire and music before homecoming and at my kid's schools, those events have become a big deal with admission fees. I remember having to fend for myself on Sunday nights! I was really fortunate- athletic events were free, although I rarely attended them and we weren't a big sports school (U of Cincinnati, occasionally does very well in basketball). What I treasured was free admission to performances at the Conservatory- including the Lasalle Quartet, who recorded on Deutsche Grammofon, and very early Kathleen Battle when she was a student. The fees that are being piled onto the room and board/tuition are definitely a way around increasing tuition. Is there any university that doesn't have separate fees for "technology" and athletics? They must be taking lessons from the airlines. When I took a community college course in Geology a couple of years ago I was stunned at the cost of books. I bought used, including a lab manual since the cost of a brand-new lab manual, which was spiral-bound paperback, was $210. Then I found out that each lab had "worksheets" you had to complete and of course mine were missing where the previous user had filled them out and turned them in. The prof was nice enough to let me make copies from his manual, but I'm sure that violated some copyright law.
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buystoys
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Post by buystoys on Nov 5, 2016 9:46:25 GMT -5
Yeah, and they hit you hard when you're taking online classes. Most of my classes had requirements from the book's study guide site and the user code issued with the book was good for only one use. If you bought your books from the "Used" store, you could purchase a code. For some reason, it cost almost as much as buying the book new. Then I also got to pay a technology fee, an "access" fee (and I never did find out what I was supposed to be accessing) and something else that eludes me at the moment. The fees were almost 1/3 of my total cost for one class per semester.
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GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl
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Post by GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl on Nov 5, 2016 9:46:31 GMT -5
Oh, debthaven , I feel your pain. We paid for meal plans for both kids but are also heavily supplementing with safe foods for them to cook for themselves. There have also been tutoring expenses for ODS, mandatory field trip fees, club fees, etc. But, the expenses that annoy me the most are those affiliated with ODS' college lacrosse program. Each player has to sell several hundred dollars of swag (meaning we essentially donated $400 to the program). And while I expected to supply cleats and other basic equipment, I did not expect to pay for "optional" team gear (a second helmet, rain gear, etc.). Then, while we readily contributed to post-game tailgate meals for the kids' high school and club team games, we NEVER planned to contribute to post-game meals at the college level. Every family kicks in several hundred dollars at the beginning of the season toward drinks, sides, paper foods, etc. Then a family "volunteers" to provide the main entree(s) for 40+ players and several coaches (with most families also providing enough for players' families who attend the game). We expected ODS would get a per diem for travel games with the team bus stopping at a fast food restaurant on the way home as many college teams do. We knew we'd probably supplement that amount, but we certainly didn't anticipate the more costly tailgate approach. Furthermore, since ODS has food allergies, he often cannot eat the post-game meal anyway leaving me to arrange and pay for an allergen-free meal for him. When all is said and done, I think these surprise expenses render his athletic-scholarship-disguised-as-a-merit-scholarship a wash, at best. So, for those of you approaching your children's college years, budget another couple thousand dollars per year for all these hidden costs.
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murphath
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Post by murphath on Nov 5, 2016 10:32:49 GMT -5
Debthaven:
Can he tutor French until he finds a better job?
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Nov 5, 2016 10:37:08 GMT -5
Murpath he is signed up with a local tutoring agency, but no requests so far ...
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Nov 5, 2016 10:49:54 GMT -5
My favorite college fee was the $500 student council fee.
I've gone back to see if fees increased over the years but the school doesn't publish the information.
I found out because it was in the student handbook, which you don't get till you're committed and signed the check.
It added up to another $5K per year.
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cyanne
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Post by cyanne on Nov 5, 2016 11:07:42 GMT -5
What has really added up for our family is the fraternity fees. I know that joining a fraternity is optional but the fees go beyond the membership dues. The t-shirts you are expected to buy for the various events/fundraisers, the meals and parties (again usually part of fund-raising for charity), and the cost of dress clothes add up. Members are expected to wear a jacket to weekly membership meetings and suits for events.
I'm really not a fan but DH was in a fraternity in college and DS wanted to be in one too so now we pay the costs.
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plugginaway22
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Post by plugginaway22 on Nov 5, 2016 11:21:58 GMT -5
Our oldest DD wanted to join a sorority so desperately her Soph year and we had to say no, that we could not afford those huge extra expenses. She found a way, got a waitressing job 2 nights a week at a swanky restaurant in DC and somehow paid for all of it. And there were SO many expenses tied to that group. To this day she says it was the best thing she ever did because of the friends, job connections, etc connected to that Sorority.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Nov 6, 2016 7:55:59 GMT -5
At some colleges DD's friends go to it can be a wash to be in a sorority though. Some places the cost to live there is much less than the R&B charged at the regular dorms. So DD's best friend was in a sorority and actually saved money on housing and food because of that even with the extras although I will say my DD's friends didn't buy more than one suit jacket type of thing for the guys and cheap fun dresses for the girls. She must hang with a cheap crowd. I will say it was in a more urban area around NYC. So even off campus housing where 6 people are crammed into a 1 bedroom is ridiculous.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2016 8:13:21 GMT -5
Our oldest DD wanted to join a sorority so desperately her Soph year and we had to say no, that we could not afford those huge extra expenses. She found a way, got a waitressing job 2 nights a week at a swanky restaurant in DC and somehow paid for all of it. And there were SO many expenses tied to that group. To this day she says it was the best thing she ever did because of the friends, job connections, etc connected to that Sorority. You raised her right! Not a bad lesson to learn that if you want luxuries that aren't in Mom and Dad's budget, you're free to find a way to pay for them yourself.
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Rukh O'Rorke
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Post by Rukh O'Rorke on Nov 7, 2016 12:33:37 GMT -5
Sorry to hear its such an unexpected pinch, Debt. Good luck to you, DH and DS3 as you navigate these years. You know I am getting pinched too! it is always so much more than you anticipated . We all just got to hang on until they finish up....
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Nov 7, 2016 13:59:15 GMT -5
Good news ... DS3 got the job! Now it's not super clear if he and the other young man will be alternating weeks, or if they are hiring both of them for 3h a week each. But DS3 and the couple (and the dogs!) really hit it off. They have already asked him to help out at their Christmas party (which is before he comes home). He starts in 2 weeks (because they are away next week).
Whoo hoo! It'll make things a bit easier on us (not much but every little bit helps). And it will give DS3 some breathing room and independence (he was used to earning part of his pocket money through MS and HS).
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Nov 7, 2016 14:06:39 GMT -5
Dee it's funny because when I ask DS3 how the others manage, he said, they all have loans (paid to the kids, not to the school) and grandparents. We didn't take loans (at least for this year) and DS3 has no living grandparents. We'll manage, obviously. I'm just curious if other people had this "extras" thing to deal with. Yes, we were surprised. We saved enough money to pay for tuition and room and board, or so we thought. We were shocked at how much books cost, and both the dorm fees and dining hall fees were a lot higher than expected. Then they tacked on a lot of other fees that we weren't warned about - parking fee, mandatory student athletic fees, etc. Then he had a lap top that was a lemon and had to replace his external hard drive. Then his car starting acting up.
Fortunately, DS qualified for a scholastic scholarship that covered his tuition and some of his books. We used his college savings to cover room/board and everything else. We gave him x per day for food and expenses, and he used his own savings to cover 'extras' like dating or eating out. Fortunately, he got a very sweet internship starting his sophomore year where he worked full time for a semester (and lived in free housing provided by the company) while earning a good hourly wage - he used that to pay for his dating expenses and a modest car payment to buy a used car to replace the one that was always breaking down.
In the end, we used up all the money we thought would cover both tuition and room/board for four years just to pay for room/board for five years. Thank God for the scholarship for the tuition. We were very shocked at the price tag for a college education these days.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Nov 7, 2016 14:21:50 GMT -5
Rukh thanks :-) You'll be there before we will though, with a PhD at the same time!
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Nov 7, 2016 14:23:53 GMT -5
By the way in the end DS3 found out 12 people called, and he and the other boy (OK in my head they are still boys lol) were the only ones invited to interview, and both hired. DS3's "interview" (more of a chat and tour) lasted 2 hours. And it's a 15-min walk from his dorm. I hope it's 12h/mo and not 6h/mo but we'll see, and already we can see there are "extras" (ie helping out at their party). And as DS3 says, any hours are better than no hours.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Nov 8, 2016 14:52:47 GMT -5
DS2 was a furniture design major. His first year (after he switched from engineering) he had tons of assorted art supplies to buy as he got thru the basic art courses. Once he got into the woodworking courses he began purchasing tools and equipment like respirators. He also had to purchase the lumber for his projects, which could get pricey. They liked unusual woods, did large pieces, and always had to do a mockup first in more common wood, so double supplies needed (and hope you don't mess up/change design mid-project).
Once he had shop experience, he could earn money by being on duty in the shop (and work on his projects, too).
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jelloshots4all
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Post by jelloshots4all on Nov 8, 2016 21:16:15 GMT -5
Timely thread. I was at my daughters HS for a Jr year HS review and what to expect before college and college expenses. I am not always impressed w our HS admin, even though it is a top 100 HS, but I was blown away by her guidance counselor today! They spelled out all of the extra expenses w our state Univ in a chart, gave us their specialities, classes needed, etc. I used to work in construction doing accounting, and liked the analogy, expect a 10-15% overrun.
I expect my kids to have skin in the game for college and take out student loans. I told my financial advisor this as well. The counselor told us today that student loans are excluded from bankruptcy, and in the students name so you (student) owe them. I think it was sobering for my daughter. I expect them to have jobs (she already has one in HS).
I told my daughter that myself and her father have money saved, but not to cover her education so she needs to buckle down, apply for every scholarship possible, increase her grades. and save. She was a bit of a "doe in the headlights" and it was great. I haven't talked to her since the meeting as she is at work.
She also learned that the school she wants is a reach, was educated on a match school she could get into, and then her safety school includes living at home in our basement LOL. I think it was a good wake up call for her.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Nov 8, 2016 21:22:32 GMT -5
She also learned that the school she wants is a reach, was educated on a match school she could get into, and then her safety school includes living at home in our basement LOL. I think it was a good wake up call for her. My son got into his most of his reach schools, but did not get an offer from any of his schools in his safety list, so don't always go by what the counselors say or do.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Nov 9, 2016 9:56:32 GMT -5
I expect my kids to have skin in the game for college and take out student loans. I told my financial advisor this as well. The counselor told us today that student loans are excluded from bankruptcy, and in the students name so you (student) owe them. I think it was sobering for my daughter. I expect them to have jobs (she already has one in HS). Just a note on the "student loans are in students name" thing. This applies to the Direct Student Loan (Federal backed) program that most people qualify for. But it is limited to a set amount, I think it is $4500 or $5500 first year, a little more 2nd and third year, etc. There is a maximum amount you can borrow for entire college career, I think $26k. Any amount that you need over that (I know it is a staggering thought....) you have to get through either Parent Plus loans (Federal loans in parents name) or Private Student Loans. The private student loans can be in the student's name, but they almost certainly need to have a cosigner (unless they are rich and then why would they be getting loans?). So just be prepared that parents can not always be off the hook. 2 of my 3 kids have taken out private loans, very small though. In one case, my DD was in a program that required summer classes. She was able to finish up school in 3 years plus 2 summers, which saved quite a bit of money, but in the years that she went to summer classes, she need private loans for tuition (which I cosigned for). She finished school with ~$9k private loans and ~$15k Federal loans (in her name only). My youngest is taking 5 years to graduate due to his program and also changing schools (to a better one), so he ran out of money on his Federal Loans and is using private loans (I am cosigner) probably total of ~$6k. I fully expect them to pay back their loans, but I am technically on the hook for that money if they cannot.
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Bob Ross
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Post by Bob Ross on Nov 9, 2016 12:44:00 GMT -5
Isn't "college" what the Brits call high school? And isn't "university" what the Brits call college? And isn't "a-goobly-boobly-doo" what the Brits call some other sh*t? Point being, the Brits talk funny. Your kid's gonna come back talking like that, so be prepared. I suggest marathonning the entire series of "Shameless" (The cool UK version, and not the lame US version).
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Nov 9, 2016 13:34:09 GMT -5
Isn't "college" what the Brits call high school? And isn't "university" what the Brits call college? And isn't "a-goobly-boobly-doo" what the Brits call some other sh*t? Point being, the Brits talk funny. Your kid's gonna come back talking like that, so be prepared. I suggest marathonning the entire series of "Shameless" (The cool UK version, and not the lame US version). Oight, Bob - don't have a go at the Brits! They just want to pop down to the pub for some fish and chips!
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Nov 9, 2016 14:31:09 GMT -5
Isn't "college" what the Brits call high school? And isn't "university" what the Brits call college? And isn't "a-goobly-boobly-doo" what the Brits call some other sh*t? Point being, the Brits talk funny. Your kid's gonna come back talking like that, so be prepared. I suggest marathonning the entire series of "Shameless" (The cool UK version, and not the lame US version). I haven't seen Shameless, but I have seen The Inbetweeners and learned a few phrases there.
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Nov 9, 2016 14:41:56 GMT -5
The more I read, the more I am thankful DS is staying at the community college at least this year (maybe next year as well). While tuition at a state school is around $9k, all the mandatory "extras" were pushing it well over $24k. While looking at the requirements for freshmen, there was the requirement to live in the doorms ($$), the requirement to purchase one of the two most expensive meal plans ($$$), fees, medical fees (that hopefully would be waived since he is on my insurance, but maybe not), book fees, campus fees, more and more fees.
I was looking at their $24k and adding another few thousand, because I like to add a cushion, and the totals were becoming scary, especially since he would not get any financial aid.
Right now we have a more realistic plan, now that he's seeing what it really takes. He's gotten the part time job (24 hours/week, sometimes extra hours around holidays). He gets to cash a set amount of that every month, and he has to budget his "fun money" himself with that money. He pays half of the car insurance, cell phone bill, and gas. As long as he's going to school full time, I won't charge him rent or make him cover more bills. He's also opening a Roth, may as well start early.
The rest he saves for college. I also have a goal to save for college at a given dollar amount. He also has child support for two more years, so that all goes toward college as well. I'm hoping, that with the amount we save, we will have enough to get him through his Junior year and most of his Senior year before he has to take out any loans. He should have an associates next semester if he can get his high school AP classes to count.
I have a coworker who is already either $120k or $200k into parent plus loans, his daughter has been going to school for five years, and does not yet have an associates. There are some scary stories out there.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2016 14:43:54 GMT -5
I have a coworker who is already either $120k or $200k into parent plus loans, his daughter has been going to school for five years, and does not yet have an associates. There are some scary stories out there. Holy crap. I would have cut that kid off a long time ago!
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Apple
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Post by Apple on Nov 9, 2016 14:48:53 GMT -5
I have a coworker who is already either $120k or $200k into parent plus loans, his daughter has been going to school for five years, and does not yet have an associates. There are some scary stories out there. Holy crap. I would have cut that kid off a long time ago! Yeah, me too. Reality set in more for one parent when they realized payments are now due. It has to be really hard when the spouse isn't on the same page. I never would have imagined they'd be in that position if I hadn't heard the story directly. They make a lot more than I do, but still don't know how they are going to cover this.
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