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Question: I am wondering how you put your kids through college without student loans.

I currently have three kids in college and one who has graduated. Even with all the scholarships, grants and gifts for school, our oldest three kids have had to take loans. Our youngest is in her second year at Arizona State University and so far no loans for her but I'm guessing that we will need one for her by the time she reaches her senior year. She received about ten different scholarships ranging from $150 to tuition paid on a competitive basis. She works for the school so her dorm is provided. This is the same path our oldest took but she still had $20,000 in student loans at graduation.

Our son took a year off and is a returning student. We are overwhelmed with the cost of higher education. His schooling will be paid for mostly with grants and loans. Any suggestions?

Answer: Paying for college is certainly a challenge. We strongly urge all parents to carefully consider the pitfalls of school loans because most 18 year-olds don’t fully comprehend the full consequences of a financed education. If the average college student graduates with $20,000 to $40,000 in school debt and marries someone in the same situation, how will that debt load plus living expenses affect their relationship? It’s a recipe for decades of payments, stress and potentially divorce. Even without marriage, a heavy debt-load on a starting salary after graduation can be tough.

We encouraged our kids to start at community colleges for their core curriculum. The cost is roughly half that of a university, class sizes are smaller, they are taught by professors, and financial aid is plentiful. We also helped them research and fill out a multitude of scholarship applications. The book, “How To Go To College Almost For Free,” by Ben Kaplan is phenomenal resource. Our oldest son spent about 10 hours one summer filling out applications and earned $1,000 in scholarships. Not a bad hourly wage at $100 per hour.

There is nothing wrong with kids working their way through college and going at a slower pace. The more they participate in earning their school money, the more careful they’ll be in spending it. The careless use of school loans for living expenses (and often times pizza for pals) is a fast track to accumulating enormous debt. Helping your kids understand the paralyzing power of a large student loan is critical to their future success.

1/28/2009 10:03 AM

Susan Redding wrote:
I have 6 children 3 going to college. I was under the impression that at 18 children must be full time students to stay under a health care plan. Is this true??

1/29/2009 12:33 PM

America's Cheapest Family wrote:
Generally, this is true, but check with your plan.

6/24/2009 4:57 AM

oz wrote:
Good answer, I am looking for the solution of the same question.