She earned, begged and borrowed $3,900 for her share, and the balance of $4,478 was on us... so we did what any normal American family would do: we borrowed the money. That's just the first semester, too... ouch. Still, it's nice to know that the bill for this term is paid. If nothing else, she'll have this term under her belt before we have to do this all over again.
The average state-school tuition in this state is just over $21k, and our's is a little less than $17k. We feel like this is a bargain... but it still hurts to think that each and every year we are adding the equivalent to another car payment to our debt load. Since the House went with the GOP majority, funding for student aid has been cut by the Fed, and the Commonwealth of PA hasn't picked up the slack (they are as broke as the Fed, it seems)... all while tuition rates have jumped an average of 15% in just two years.
Prior to the storm... I had no children. After the storm, I end up with three and I find (now) that I am utterly unprepared to pay for any of their college educations, let alone all of them. If I had words of wisdom for my Bund Brothers, it would be to find some way to SAVE SAVE SAVE for college, starting tomorrow.
Sure, I know that the sinfully-prideful souls of both Jambo and F Ryan are saying that the superior genes of their respective progeny mean that the children are shoe-ins for scholarships and grants galore... and that might be true... but nothing can prepare those that are unaware of what schools today are putting on an itemized list of costs associated with education for the AMOUNT that needs to be fronted, and just how narrow the scholarship and grant applications are in their coverage.
For example... on-campus living expenses. I lived on-campus (admittedly, more than 23 years ago) and don't EVER recall seeing someone "cleaning" the dorms. Yet, part of Katey's itemized costs is a bill for $278/semester for "dormitory cleaning". I know there are common rooms, bathrooms and shower facilities that need to be cleaned... but in all the time I spent in the dorms, I never saw it being done, and I promise you no one ever (EVER) cleaned my rooms. She has another bill of $140/semester for use of a fitness facility. I certainly hope she takes advantage of this perk, and works out to her heart's (and body's) delight... because I can't NOT pay for this perk, so I don't want to see it wasted.
Anyway... its a staggering amount of money. You can't start planning for this expense too early, let me tell you.
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