Paying for Childrens College

hurler32

Not going to be this year but ive 3 children junior cert down to 6th class so ive college coming at me big time in 3 years or so with the possibility of 3 in college at the one time.
We're a single income household of 50K, can just about pay the mortgage, cloth and feed ourselves , how can one be expected to fund college fees , accommodation if necessary , is there loans the children can get to pay back when they start working?...or am I as well off give up my job and let them get grants?

peasant

You could always sell one child to pay for the other two

#leastfavouritechild

Hector Savage

AH is a bad place for this ...... but yeah, seriously selling the least favourite kid (the ginger one) is a good option . :P

taserfrank

You could always start making methenamines and attempt to sell them with the help of a former chemistry student of yours.

Kintarō Hattori

Save the children's allowance? Get them into part time jobs? I was baby sitting from about 13.

Boom_Bap

Put the 3 of them into a no-holes-bared, hell-in-a-cell, fight to the death.

It reduces you daily bills immediately and college fees will be a third of what they could have been.

Mrs OBumble

Send the smartest one to college.

Make the other two work in Supermacs to pay for it.


Seriously ... no kid has a right to parent funded college. They should be getting after school and summer jobs and start saving for themselves from about 16 onwards. Also, they should consider apprenticeship based options. Or if they're smart, apply for every scholarship going.

raspberrypi67

Well, on a serious note now is the time to start saving...even cut down on unnecessary things...easier said then done though Id expect. Ive one in college at the minute and 2 close behind but I've been saving for this for 10 years!!
Will they all go to college?

My son of 17 had a part time job last year. Its good times ( so they say ! ) out there with jobs, you'll have to get them out working as much as possible during the summer, save the money...
There's always grand parents for loans...!

Owryan

https://susi.ie/undergraduate-income-threshold-and-grant-award-rates/ start here. Makes everything clear as mud.

hurler32

hurler32 wrote: »

Not going to be this year but ive 3 children junior cert down to 6th class so ive college coming at me big time in 3 years or so with the possibility of 3 in college at the one time.
We're a single income household of 50K, can just about pay the mortgage, cloth and feed ourselves , how can one be expected to fund college fees , accommodation if necessary , is there loans the children can get to pay back when they start working?...or am I as well off give up my job and let them get grants?

I worked through university myself with two jobs, covering my own expenses (rent, food, drugs) while my parents covered the official fees. Admittedly, I barely scraped a pass... Get your kids to pick up a useful employable skill before university starts and you're sorted except for the fees, and on 50k you should be able to cover that. My parents were on less than that when I went through uni. Or just get your other half to start doing freelancing jobs on the internet and save up a warchest.

Hector Savage

Save Save Save .... we allready have 17k put aside for our two sons (6 and 2) college fund, and we are in regualr paying jobs ...

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

silverharp

Send them to a private school , then when they go to college their costs drop, works for us.

LirW

Any farmers out there or so to take on an 8y/o to dig out spuds or turnips for a few quid? Not because of college funds (well, that too) but mainly because he can be a massive pain in the neck when rugby training isn't on.

On a more serious note, around here I sometimes see tradesmen or farmers asking for young lads to give them a hand with some basic work. Asking on local buy and sell groups can work out too.
Have an eye on them how their studying for LC is going, some kids can't cope with the workload of an after school / weekend job when they're studying, others do. For them a summer job might be a better option.

jcorr

hurler32 wrote: »

Not going to be this year but ive 3 children junior cert down to 6th class so ive college coming at me big time in 3 years or so with the possibility of 3 in college at the one time.
We're a single income household of 50K, can just about pay the mortgage, cloth and feed ourselves , how can one be expected to fund college fees , accommodation if necessary , is there loans the children can get to pay back when they start working?...or am I as well off give up my job and let them get grants?

Any passive income streams?

hurler32

In the UK it seems the student themselves can borrow their costs of college from the government and pay back when working...not available in this country.
For those of us on modest income youd nearly be as well off on the dole and getting grants ?

EdEd

hurler32 wrote: »

In the UK it seems the student themselves can borrow their costs of college from the government and pay back when working...not available in this country.
For those of us on modest income youd nearly be as well off on the dole and getting grants ?

There were attempts to bring in such a system but I've heard nothing about it in a few years.

As for the cost of going to college, apply for fees through SUSI and go to a college that's commutable to the family home. Where possible of course. The cost of student accommodation is scandalous.

c6ysaphjvqw41k

This post has been deleted.

LirW

Its not like college costs a lot here lets be honest. My sister in law has debt of around 100k in the US for college and had to get loans for that and will be paying them off a very long time. In other countries students pay for themselves though loans I dont see why here its expected that your parents pay. Its not a lot and will be paid off very quickly.

Because for a lot of parents it's a very natural thing to help the kids out. Putting aside the whole "letthekidspaytheirway"-thing it is incredibly demanding working 20 hours and go to university full time. I know many do and many struggle questioning if it's all worth it. Also there are only so many jobs that accommodate studying full-time.
Working while studying can expand your course, especially if situations change and you suddenly can't fund yourself anymore or don't find another job that accommodated your schedule. Been there, done that, I ended up dropping out because I couldn't handle university, 25 h work and raising a toddler on my own and even without kid it would have been bloody hard.

I'd try myself and have funds aside for my kids college. Not saying that I don't support them working, but the pressure is already really high and if I can help making it easier for them, I'd like to do that. There is a huge difference between supporting their education and spoiling them rotten by not teaching them financial responsibility and some things about adult life.

RunRoryRun

You can limit the expense by funding fees only (no rent or entertainment) - they'll need to live at home and choose a college within commuting distance. That's what we did and got part time jobs to pay for lunches, buses and nights out.

Roadtoad

Ye will need about €10,000 pa per child, if he/she is going to a 'full' university and living away from home, roughly half that if living within the commute zone. If they are blessed with getting into a high workload course ye cannot expect any part time job, except perhaps during holidays. Their ability to commute bigger distances is likewise curtailed if on a high demand course.

If 'managing' your income for grants purposes, it used be based on the previous year's P60, so don't get caught with a huge lump of overtime the year BEFORE the kid does the Leaving. (e.g. 2017 P60 for 2018 Leaving cert). (that's pre SUSI info, fresher comment welcome)

We had two kids overlapping for a couple of years, it has to be planned and put aside! Good luck.

B0jangles

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Put the 3 of them into a no-holes-bared, hell-in-a-cell, fight to the death.

It reduces you daily bills immediately and college fees will be a third of what they could have been.

Hope to god that's a typo...

whisky_galore

One goes to college and emigrates, one gets the farm and the one that's left joins a religious order.

Mrs OBumble

Hector Savage wrote: »

Save Save Save .... we allready have 17k put aside for our two sons (6 and 2) college fund, and we are in regualr paying jobs ...

Man are you going to be disappointed when onr runs away to join the circus and the other becomes a plumber!

LirW

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Man are you going to be disappointed when onr runs away to join the circus and the other becomes a plumber!

Nice luxury holiday and a new car it is then!

Donald Trump

B0jangles wrote: »

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Put the 3 of them into a no-holes-bared, hell-in-a-cell, fight to the death.

It reduces you daily bills immediately and college fees will be a third of what they could have been.

Hope to god that's a typo...

I see you've never been with an Offaly woman. Nothing is off the table

whisky_galore

whisky_galore wrote: »

One goes to college and emigrates, one gets the farm and the one that's left joins a religious order.

Tis the traditional way and its always worked well :pac:

jester77

Any of them daughters? They could work as strippers or find a sugar daddy to pay the way.

LirW

jester77 wrote: »

Any of them daughters? They could work as strippers or find a sugar daddy to pay the way.

2 of my German friends do it that way or at least did for a while, you'd be shocked how many girls actually fund their education like that. Main struggle is demanding courses and little work that accommodates their schedule.

hurler32

Roadtoad wrote: »

Ye will need about €10,000 pa per child, if he/she is going to a 'full' university and living away from home, roughly half that if living within the commute zone. If they are blessed with getting into a high workload course ye cannot expect any part time job, except perhaps during holidays. Their ability to commute bigger distances is likewise curtailed if on a high demand course.

If 'managing' your income for grants purposes, it used be based on the previous year's P60, so don't get caught with a huge lump of overtime the year BEFORE the kid does the Leaving. (e.g. 2017 P60 for 2018 Leaving cert). (that's pre SUSI info, fresher comment welcome)

We had two kids overlapping for a couple of years, it has to be planned and put aside! Good luck.

10K a year is the lower end of what ive been told...even at that its 120K for 3 children for someone netting 38,000 per annum...maybe they could get loans in the final year...whilst some are saying why should the parents pay..it does seem that way for the majority I know but in northern Ireland it seems the normal way is for students to borrow through government loan scheme....

LirW

Accommodation costs are the main breaking point. OP, do you live near any college?
We're living pretty rural and if they wanna go to college in Ireland they'd have to move close by or on-site because commuting isn't doable for them from here, because there's no public transport whatsoever. If that means living in the capital or a major city, it's gonna be horrifyingly expensive. All the new student accommodation blocks have some insane prices starting at a grand a month in Dublin and at the moment shared accommodation is scarce.

Kid 1 isn't an Irish citizen and kid 2 holds dual citizenship, I'll definitely encourage them to consider going back home to study because accommodation is cheap (rooms in student homes around 300-400 a month, shared flats marginally cheaper) and fees are currently non-existent for citizens.
If they're somewhat good in another language might studying abroad be an option?

flatty

B0jangles wrote: »

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Put the 3 of them into a no-holes-bared, hell-in-a-cell, fight to the death.

It reduces you daily bills immediately and college fees will be a third of what they could have been.

Hope to god that's a typo...

I hope it isn't

hurler32

hurler32 wrote: »

Not going to be this year but ive 3 children junior cert down to 6th class so ive college coming at me big time in 3 years or so with the possibility of 3 in college at the one time.
We're a single income household of 50K, can just about pay the mortgage, cloth and feed ourselves , how can one be expected to fund college fees , accommodation if necessary , is there loans the children can get to pay back when they start working?...or am I as well off give up my job and let them get grants?

There are other supports besides getting a grant. Have you heard of HEAR Access schemes?
Your child could always work part time and pay their own way.
Choose your college carefully. Try and get one that is near home thereby getting rid of the need to pay rent.
Keep in mind that in case the course isn’t what they want, put off paying fees until end of first semester. If they change their mind, you’re not too much out of pocket.

RunRoryRun

Roadtoad wrote: »

If they are blessed with getting into a high workload course ye cannot expect any part time job, except perhaps during holidays.

I really don't see an issue with weekend work for students, even with high workload. I did it myself & was fine. 35~ hours per week. Worked Thursday evenings & daytime Saturday & Sunday. Holidays can be taken around / before exams for extra study time etc.

Wanderer78

hurler32 wrote:

Not going to be this year but ive 3 children junior cert down to 6th class so ive college coming at me big time in 3 years or so with the possibility of 3 in college at the one time. We're a single income household of 50K, can just about pay the mortgage, cloth and feed ourselves , how can one be expected to fund college fees , accommodation if necessary , is there loans the children can get to pay back when they start working?...or am I as well off give up my job and let them get grants?

It's not a problem op, we have 'free education' in this country, I wish you and your family a happy and prosperous future

Ray Bloody Purchase

Move down the bench, Scotty.

Gyalist

jester77 wrote: »

Any of them daughters? They could work as strippers or find a sugar daddy to pay the way.

LirW wrote: »

2 of my German friends do it that way or at least did for a while, you'd be shocked how many girls actually fund their education like that. Main struggle is demanding courses and little work that accommodates their schedule.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmGcS-1PcKw

c68zapdsm5i1ru

RunRoryRun wrote: »

I really don't see an issue with weekend work for students, even with high workload. I did it myself & was fine. 35~ hours per week. Worked Thursday evenings & daytime Saturday & Sunday. Holidays can be taken around / before exams for extra study time etc.

I agree. I worked full time and went to college at night and got a BA and an MA that way. Many, many people do this. So part time work for full time students shouldn't be an issue.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

We put the children's allowance away for college fees but were lucky to clear the mortgage before uni came along and that really made it possible for us.

Wanderer78

Mayson Dead Knickers wrote:

I agree. I worked full time and went to college at night and got a BA and an MA that way. Many, many people do this. So part time work for full time students shouldn't be an issue.

They do indeed, and many a relationship or marriage was pushed to breaking point to I'd imagine

LirW

Wanderer78 wrote: »

They do indeed, and many a relationship or marriage was pushed to breaking point to I'd imagine

MY grandfather is so proud on what the has achieved by education while working full time, but never tells about how the full weight of literally everything else was pushed on his wife, they have a difficult relationship, it turned him into a sick man that had a lot of anger in his life and resented his own son for not doing it exactly the same way. I'd be really careful there, a lot of people downplay the effect it had on their mental and physical health.

Some deal with that enormous pressure just fine, some absolutely don't.

Heres Johnny

When I was a financial advisor and working with families I focused on 3 areas

I loved the idea of college fund building as I know my father did it for myself and siblings. The amount of people ignoring this is huge. It's coming and if you're not prepared then you'll be borrowing 30000 per child for a 3 year degree or severely curtailing your own quality of life to pay for it while they are there. Why anyone would do that to themselves I don't know. But people love putting things off.

1) People funding their own retirement
2) People with children definitely 5+ years but probably closer to 10 years out from college starting an investment fund. If you start earlier its much easier. Those with children starting college in 5 years or less setting up a risk free savings account
3) Protection in case things went tits up with 1 or both parents dying or getting sick

All obligations covered there. People very grateful when you cover this for them. You'll get mad answers in after hours but if you want to ask over in banking investments and pensions forum you'll get straighter answers

Wanderer2010

hurler32 wrote: »

Not going to be this year but ive 3 children junior cert down to 6th class so ive college coming at me big time in 3 years or so with the possibility of 3 in college at the one time.
We're a single income household of 50K, can just about pay the mortgage, cloth and feed ourselves , how can one be expected to fund college fees , accommodation if necessary , is there loans the children can get to pay back when they start working?...or am I as well off give up my job and let them get grants?

Although I don't have specific advice for you, its actually humbling to read of people having this problem as for me, college was and in many ways still is, the bane of the working class. I had to save up for a year in order to pay my way through college and I applied for every single grant I could get and even that wasn't great, and I was surprised by how many of my fellow students had their fees and living expenses 100% paid for by their parents.

This just wasn't an option for me- not because my parents wouldn't help me, they simply didn't have it. They had low paying jobs and made a lot of sacrifices for us growing up and its something which a lot of people just cant relate to- I felt almost bad when making friends at college and I couldn't afford to buy a new car or book etc, when my college mates would just brush it off as "Well, my dad paid for it obviously" as it it were the weirdest thing in the world not to have wealthy parents...

LirW

This just wasn't an option for me- not because my parents wouldn't help me, they simply didn't have it. They had low paying jobs and made a lot of sacrifices for us growing up and its something which a lot of people just cant relate to- I felt almost bad when making friends at college and I couldn't afford to buy a new car or book etc, when my college mates would just brush it off as "Well, my dad paid for it obviously" as it it were the weirdest thing in the world not to have wealthy parents...

I know exactly where you're coming from, was in the same situation myself, so is my sister. I dropped out and focused on my job full-time because I couldn't manage the load of a full-time degree, work and being a single parent. My sister is hanging in and close to finishing her BA being a single parent but she couldn't squeeze in work either.
I've met all sorts of students, but back home we had no fees in university and it would be the norm that kids would move and get jobs unless being in a full-time degree that has a strict schedule like medicine.
My partner had an all expenses paid time on university and we had quite some arguments over that because being under huge financial pressure and studying is an insane pressure and has a huge effect on your social life, your mental health and often physical health (exhaustion hello!), because failing is no option.
Now that living costs become increasingly higher it again hits the working class, too poor to do it, too rich to get grants. Fees alone would be fine but many students have no choice but relocate because commuting isn't doable and living costs are high.

The Princess Bride

Adelynn Salty Cocaine wrote: »

We put the children's allowance away for college fees but were lucky to clear the mortgage before uni came along and that really made it possible for us.

We did this too.
But having 3 within 5 years made it very expensive despite our saving-all 3 are in college this year and thankfully we're almost at the end of the most financially challenging year of 6 in total.

Having said that.
None of our children suddenly wake up aged 17 in LC year.
We all know that this day is coming and I think it's a poor reflection on a parent to not be able to plan ahead and provide for their child's education.

I don't understand how some folk spend thousands on a wedding day, or hundreds on bouncy castles for communions, yet moan and whinge about saving towards an education fund.

As for sending your child to local colleges, it isn't always an option.
Each of ours are in different provinces.
The course one is doing is only available in a particular college far from home.

We always said we'd give them their education and we're doing it.
They're under no pressure from us to go to college, by the way. An apprenticeship or a job would be fine too.
Sitting at home and doing nothing is the only thing that isn't an option here.

eviltwin

I've one in college at the moment, it's a local college so no accommodation but even so I'm broke. She's living abroad this year and I'm crippled paying her rent but I see it as an investment. Once she graduates that's my job done, she can fund any further education herself. My other child won't be in college for at least ten years so I can start saving for him when she's done. I don't know how people manage two or three going to college at the same time.

fatknacker

Tell them not to stress about getting points in the leaving. The less academic of them can get jobs, save, go abroad, get experience and come back at 23 and become a mature student in whatever they may become interested in at that time. They can even do it part time and work to fund themselves.
Less pressure on all of you.

LirW

We all know that this day is coming and I think it's a poor reflection on a parent to not be able to plan ahead and provide for their child's education.

Unfortunately there are families out there that don't have it all ponies and roses and even though they work their backsides off are out of pocket at the end of the month.

Having said that, the cost of college accommodation is absolutely outrageous, there are purpose built buildings lashed up everywhere but the target market is the upper end really. What the hell are they thinking?
After all education is the best that can happen to a country yet paying for it is a struggle for many. I just don't see the point of it.

LirW

fatknacker wrote: »

Tell them not to stress about getting points in the leaving. The less academic of them can get jobs, save, go abroad, get experience and come back at 23 and become a mature student in whatever they may become interested in at that time. They can even do it part time and work to fund themselves.
Less pressure on all of you.

Not even that but kids are under pressure to make a huge decision in their lives aged 17 or 18. Give them even 2 more years and the whole picture is quite different. The whole LC system puts teenagers under an insane amount of pressure and many are left feeling stupid when they don't reach their ambitious goals. And at the end of it many find out they made a bad choice.
My partner is still beating himself up over failing maths and he couldn't get into any of his chosen courses because of it. It doesn't matter, there is a lot more out there than university. And graduating with 26 or 27 is still young and you have loads of time.

Wanderer78

LirW wrote:

Not even that but kids are under pressure to make a huge decision in their lives aged 17 or 18. Give them even 2 more years and the whole picture is quite different. The whole LC system puts teenagers under an insane amount of pressure and many are left feeling stupid when they don't reach their ambitious goals. And at the end of it many find out they made a bad choice. My partner is still beating himself up over failing maths and he couldn't get into any of his chosen courses because of it. It doesn't matter, there is a lot more out there than university. And graduating with 26 or 27 is still young and you have loads of time.

The LC is an example of a 'hyper-competative' system, which in fact is highly destructive for society, whereby one of the main aims of the system is to create an exclusive society rather than an inclusive one.

LirW

Germany has a similar system in place, a point race for the popular courses. The thing is though, if you're rich you can sue your way in, if not, you go to Austria and study there. Austrian Universities brought strict quotas of foreign students in because of it. The Austrian universities have no access requirements in the regards of points, popular courses would have entrance exams instead and the best ranking get the limited amount of spaces.
What happens is that there are a lot of German students applying for medicine, psychology etc because they missed out back home as a matter of a single point, yet they are better prepared with all their courses than the Austrian LC student would be, because the system is different.
It's a mess really and it's quite biased.
Comes out especially strong in IT based courses, where many people haven't had the strongest LC but are absolutely rocking their courses.