I am sure a number of you have heard me say this before: One of the things that I am most proud of is graduating college in four years. I thought the transition from high school to college was very difficult and one filled with many challenges. With no one to feed you, set your schedule, make sure you do your homework, do you laundry and many other things, that period of time in my life and many others can be stressful.
So many people don’t graduate in four years. Perhaps it is because they change majors or the economy has affected how much money they may have or hundreds of other reasons, but the reality is many don’t do it in the timeframe that many of us had pounded in our heads. You went to kindergarten, elementary school, high school and then four years of college.
- Since I have little kids should I be planning/saving for five years?
- Is that the new standard?
Are you doing that?
I have a number of friends who have said to me that they will pay for college for X amount of years and if my kids don’t graduate in that timeframe they are on their own.
- Is that reasonable?
- Is that the way all parents should be thinking about it?
I am really on the fence with this. I really would like my kids to graduate in four years and set that expectation. But maybe in these days that isn’t reasonable.
- What do you think?
- How was your transition from high school to college?
- How long did it take you do graduate?
- Is five years the new standard for college?
I look forward to reading your comments.
Stephenie Gordon says:
I feel that it is very possible to graduate in 4 years; matter of fact, out of all of my best friends from UNC only 2 of us did not graduate on time. I was one of those two. I went one extra semester, but graduated with a double major. I will have to say a lot of this was due to staying for summer school every year (but again, i have a double major).
My father said “I’m paying for 4 years and then you are on your own”. it really made me stay focused and commit to summer school to accomplish the double major. I do feel you need to place parameters on the amount and time you are willing to commit to, so that everyone can make a plan and stay on target. It’s over 18 years away for my daughter, but that is the course we plan to take with her.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Stephenie,
Appreciate your comments. So I need to ask did you end up paying for your extra semester or your parents?
Merrill
Pat Billups says:
I am always amazed that parents believe it is their responsibility to pay for their children’s college. My first question is “Does the child know why he/she is going to college?” You would not implement a business strategy without some sense of the goal, but many young adults go to college after high school solely because they are told that is the next step in their education.
My second question is “Why is the student exempt from any of the financial responsibility?” We all recognize that anything worth having is worth a certain amount of sacrifice. Wouldn’t the student benefit from investing a given percentage of the costs associated with college?
As for my own experience, I earned my college education through the GI Bill and personal savings. My parents provided no money for tuition, books, or living expenses. I was motivated to complete my undergraduate degree as quickly as possible. It took me two and half years.
Christine Cook says:
Merrill, I think this really depends on the course and circumstances. I paid for college for my twins. I paid all of their tuition, books and living expenses. I purchased them new cars before they left, nice furniture and all the small apartment fixings and said this has to last you through your college experience. This said; I insisted they both work in order to teach them responsibility and they had to pay their car insurance, gas and spending money (which we know as beer funds). I got them credit cards, checking and savings accounts at age 16. Wasn’t easy finding a bank but Wells Fargo does this. They were not allowed to use the card without approval and I can proudly say I never had a surprise charge on the card and they will be 23 in a couple weeks. The nice thing is that they both have great credit and were able to build credit and Cory (boy) is making more then I am and driving a nice and brand new set of wheels.
Plan for five. My daughter Bridge just graduated from UNC. It took her five years because she did have to work. I only let her work 1.5 shifts or 12 hours though. This said; she had a very tough course load as she was Pre-Med with her major in Chem and minor in Bio. Again, I think it really depends on the circumstances. I think pushing her for four years would have been too much and effected her GPA.
I am actually running out the door now as we are heading to Phili to check out the five med schools there and NYU next week.
Bill Dunn says:
My college experience sounds a lot like Pat Billups’. I actually finished in 3 years. This is partially due to the fact that my transition from high school to college was interrupted by a brief 3-year stint at the service of Uncle Sam. That put me 3 years behind others my age.
By going non-stop (no summers off), I was able to finish undergraduate and grad school in 5 1/2 years, which put me roughly back on track career-wise with others in my age range.
Tracy Sullivan says:
It’s not really about a time line, it’s about your commitment to your children – being very clear about what you’re willing to do and what you expect in return.
For us, one son took 6 years to complete his degree. We only paid his expenses (as we’d committed to) when he was in school, but in those 6 years he built a successful business that had nothing to do with his degree plan! Our younger son is wrapping up a Mechanical Engineering degree in 4.5 years, as recommended when he started. Yes, he could have finished in 4 years but required classes were not always offered in the summer, so he choose to work in those months.
Some colleges now charge penalties for students who stay beyond their degree plan (no more Animal House 7-year college plans!) and offer cash-back to completing a degree within a certain number of hours or year.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Tracy,
Thanks for your comments. I didn’t realize that some colleges charge a penalty is a person stays too long. Interesting considering they are still getting their $$$ and possibly more if a person drops classes it could generate additional revenue.
I will make sure I review all of the rules when my kids are ready to go to college.
Merrill
Jeffrey Lorber says:
You all need to move to Georgia – We have the HOPE scholarship – any child who enters a state college with a 3.0 gets FREE TUITION as long as he/she maintains a 3.0. Both my boys graduated in 4 years. Like Christine, we paid for pretty much everything but told them grad school was on their nickel. My oldest is in third (and final) year of law school and has borrowed a ton of money.
Jim Steber says:
My aggrement with my kids was this, you do not have to work except for spending money. They had to do there best and have at least a 3.0 throughout college without extra baggage. I have been fortunate. My daughter went to St. Louis university on a partial scholarship and finished in three years, MBA in one and has now changed from business school to nursing in a one year RN program. I paid all expensises for undergrad and loaned money for the MBA and she is on her own for the RN. My son is gratuating with a major in Finance and a major in Economics in 3 1/2 years and I am paying all his expenses for undergaraduate and will loan him money for the MBA. Our agreement worked out great. Challenge them by creating goals and help them to achieve them. Then let them go and get it done
malcolm williamson says:
I wouldn’t know… I went twice and did grad school. All of which I don’t use any of in my current profession.
I had a good time though…