From: Kimberly
Here is an idea for you in regards to college.
This is what my great-grandfather did and he was
a minister of limited income. He had five girls
and he assisted the first one thru her education
provided she kept the grades but they had an
agreement drawn up that it was then her
responsiblity to then pay for the education for
the next child. While they were in school they
had to find employment in order to pay for any
extras that they wanted to do while in school and
assist with paying books etc., This arrangement
was set up with each daughter, and this went all
the way thru the girls then the last daughter was
required to pay dad back.
A second idea is this. My husbands father had an
arrangement with his three children (Two sons and
a daughter) that they had to pay their first
semester of schooling and that he would pay them
back the tuition based on the grade level they
received in their classwork. But they didnt get
the money directly it went directly to the school
for the next semester of classes. Keeps them in
class and out of the parties, if ya know what i
mean! He also reviewed what type of workload they
had so they kept on track in their education and
didn’t try to just take all easy breeze classes
either. They also had to work at least one job
while in school to pay for any extras and with
bookfees. Since they were able to stay at home
while at school the agreement/contract was viewed
as “You are sill under my roof and I am feeding
you so you have some responsiblity for the funds
you are receiving from this family. Also, he
did assist them with getting a fixup car for
transportation because they stayed at home and
went to local colleges but hey had to pay for gas
and their insurance. Keeps them from doing any
extra running around and makes them a little more
responsible. Least it worked with my husband…
So they did get some assistance from mom and dad
but they didn’t get a free ride they had to take
some ownership and this way their parents helped
them to get a “HAND-UP” in this world but not
a “HAND-OUT”! My grandmother who was an english
teacher and librarian,who was daughter #5 and
baby of the family, of that wise minister taught
me was that you can loose everything in this
world but they can never take away from you
is “Your Salvation” and “Your Education”. Study
history and you will be less apt to repeat it,
learn and make wiser choices for tomorrow.
“Our riches are not for our pleasures but for our
purpose.”
“When you are blessed you must be a blessing”
God Bless –Kimberly
Families on a tight budget, and students who wish to graduate debt-free, should also apply to full-scholarship universities, which are tuition free. Most have a work-study requirement, in which the student is required to work part time in exchange for the tuition waiver. Berea College is one such school. There are a handful of others, but I don’t remember them off hand. Business Week’s web site has an article surveying full scholarship schools, in their archives. Sorry I don’t have the link handy.
What happened to finding scholarships or paying your own way? My parents did not have to pay for my college for any of the years - I had a scholarship that I had to work my rear off to keep, I did need help on one occasion for books but I was able to pay that back over time. I worked full time, I did live at home but had to commute and drove a paid for 1973 Dodge Dart during all four years. I appreciate my degree more because I worked hard to obtain it and I paid for it myself. When I graduated I did not owe anything for my education.
i know soneone that charged thier children “rent” once they were 16 and got a job. he actually saved that money and put it into an account and they then used it to go to college. that way it was thier money and if any was left he saved it to help with a down payment on a house. i thought that sounded like a good idea. i believe he only charged them about $100 a month.
I am currently in college and working to get through it debt-free. A great things for parents to do is help their teen start looking at colleges long before their senior year in high school. I decided I wanted to major in American Sign Language interpretation. That narrowed my college choices rather quickly (there are only 32 colleges in the U.S. that have a bachelor’s degree in ASL interpreting). Then, I visited a couple of different ones and applied to 5 of them. I studied the ins and outs of the ACT and bumped my score up to a 31, what was necessary for a scholarship that paid for instate tuition and a double occupancy room. I ended up going to an out-of-state college, because they had “targeted tuition” (a cost 1/2way between instate and out-of-state). This last semester I dropped my $1100/semester meal plan, so I actually paid the college somewhere around $450 for my tuition. I also have a workstudy job, but it’s flexible and not entirely necessary. I work full time during the summers to pay for books, gas money, and food during the school year. Debt-free /is/ doable.