I am so stressed!
I want my kids to go to college.
I want them to go wherever they want to go. I want them to live away from home. I want them to live away from each other if they so choose.
Will this even be possible?
I've been doing some research. The Crazies will leave for college in 16 years (if all goes well and all of the times that Matt hit his head don't come back to haunt him). According to this site, a public college will cost $90,502, a private college will cost $176,483, and an elite college will cost $255,891 (I peed my pants a little just typing in that last number). What the farc???
Keep in mind, this article was written in 1996, so I'm probably more screwed than this is giving away...I'm probably waaaayyyy more screwed than this.
This sentence is part of the opening: Take a look at these Four Year college costs and then tell me why you had kids. Thanks Asshole...
The article continues to question whether or not I (the reader) actually wants kids...seeing as how I won't EVER be able to afford to put them through school.
The thing is, Husband and I have decided to put some of the onus of higher education on to the Crazies. They should have a part in paying for this so that they actually give a shit about it while they're there (rather than partying their ass off like some people I've heard of...none of whom live in my house and wear my clothes). We will start accounts and do our best to help them, but I will not hock myself into debt to pay for all of their education.
Here are some of our expectations:
They will have to finish in four years.
They will have to take out some loans, apply for scholarships, or receive some aid/scholarship based on their academics (which means doing well in high school).
They will have to work throughout college for extras (not clothes and food...we'll take care of that, but vacations and parties...yeah, you can pay for that yourselves).
Further education will be paid for by them...I will not be paying for Master's degrees and the like as I had to pay for my own higher education.
They will be expected to maintain a set GPA...especially if they're away.
They will be expected to work while home on vacations (if possible).
Some of these "rules" are different from what I had in place. Thankfully, my parents paid for my undergraduate school as part of a divorce agreement...aren't I lucky? I'm sure that they both had to work their asses off to do that, but I seriously appreciate it...that, and the fact that I went to a relatively inexpensive school.
Husband went to Bucknell and both he and his parents are still dealing with loans from that. Throw in the fact that between the two of us, we have 3.5 Master's degrees...that we're still paying off...school loans are ridiculous! Thankfully, Husband had one of his paid for by the government and the cost of my 0.5 Master's was offset by my county paying for part of it. It ain't cheap though...especially since teachers are required to continue their education and only reimbursed for part of it...I digress though...that's another post entirely.
I'm going to continue this discussion...even if none of you join in...I need to sort this out in my head. Feedback is wanted and welcomed. I would love to hear how other people are going to handle this or how they are already handling it for their own children. I'm also going to do more research...surely I can do better than a very scary article from 1996 that makes people want to get their tubes tied immediately, right?
