Yep. Especially with what colleges are becoming.

Here’s the flip side.

My mom refused to pay for my college. I would’ve much rather worked instead. I set myself up right at an early age. Now my younger sister got a masters degree paid for at A&M by our mom. She worked 2 years as a teacher and quit, hasn't had a job in 5 years. She was the smart one growing up and never had to work, mom never said no to her.

My sister has a history degree from Baylor that my folks paid for. Doesn't do any good to go down that path Wizzade and I completely get where you are coming from but it accomplishes nothing. It never will.

I believe that’s a fairly common scenario.

I’ve got several family members who are like your sister

Don't save for college expenses. Save for yourselves. If it so happens you have done well enufff for yourself and when kids are ready to go, then you can help them.

I do appreciate your mindset and responsible, forward thinking. Don't see it enuff.

Only thing you can do with some degrees is teach it or ask do you want fries with that.

I've had more than one parent tell me they were amazed at how quickly their "career student" finished up and graduated from college once they stopped paying for it.

I am willing to pay for 128 hours or whatever it takes for the bachelors degree of their choice. I pay for necessities and they are responsible for fun money. Treat it like a job and I reserve the right to change my mind at anytime based on performance or life choices.

Another option is to take as many dual credit courses in high school as possible. I have a grandson that earned an Associate Degree in high school and started college as a second semester sophomore in his field. Many dollars saved.......

My daughter got a few extra hours before Baylor.

That is what we are making our kids do as well.


I think by the time they graduate academically they will be sophomores in College.

My son should have enough credits after HS to cover his First year of college. I have been telling him since he was 7 that he needed to think about getting scholarships.

Both of my kids got scholarships and degrees. I paid some but they earned most. One is now a lawyer and the other a corporate executive.

Make then study and get good grades in HS and the cost then is not so big.

You and others above that have made the sacrifice are positioning your kids to be way ahead of their peers coming out of college. Maybe you have set a generational precedent going forward.

Originally ours had contracts thru the Texas Guaranteed Tuition Plan. But in 2003, the legislature, in their infinite wisdom, deregulated tuition and fees at Texas public colleges and universities and the program was closed to new enrollment and eventually scrapped. So their contracts were converted to 529s. Contributions are post-tax and the funds are reallocated each month to the next most conservative fund until the projected month of high school graduation. Can use the money for any qualifying expense including room and board.

This is the plan we are on as well! First daughter is a senior graduating from OSU next spring and the second is an incoming freshman at University Arkansas.

I have 1 year old twins and their piggy banks are growing but I am unsure or how I want to play it. I really just do not know

I started my two boys in Tx Tomorrow in 2002 and still have it. I think what the wonderful legislature did was to shut down TX Tomorrow for new purchases, but they guaranteed payment for everyone already in the plan that completed the payments. So basically, the state is on the hook for all tuition increases after 2003. They should have just kept increasing the costs to the new purchasers. I purchased the 5 yr degree plan for both of my boys, for about $24K each and paid it out over 10 years. Oldest is now a Sr. at A&M and the only thing I have paid is room and board. Youngest is an incoming freshman and I just paid $400 for the fall semester for parking and some other fee, still have to cover room and board. That TX Tomorrow fund has been great for us, After about 4 semesters, you are in the money!

Wise words.

Join the military.

Or just go to work. My ex wife spent 11 years in college and wracked up over $100,000 in college tuition debt for a useless degree that landed her a low paying job but she was always more intelligent than everyone else according to her. I paid over $30,000. towards her debt because we were married and her debt was my debt now. What a [censored] idiot I was. Never again.

If you're going to go to college make it worth it.

4 kids here, currently all have college funds since the day they were born. (5, 8, 10 & 10) We are still Dave Ramsey fanatics and hope to have a large portion of their college needs covered when the time comes.

Have 4 kids as well.

Do what you can to protect their assets, it cuts deep if you and the wife ever have a falling out and she wipes you and the kid's savings clean.

I said it would never happen too..