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Should Kids Help Pay for College?

Readers share their thoughts on kids having 'skin in the game' when it comes to paying for college costs.

Morningstar analysts recently released our list of the best 529 college-savings plans. With that as a backdrop, we asked Morningstar.com readers if either they or their kids had “skin in the game” when funding college, either out of necessity or by choice. We also asked them what were the benefits, and what were the drawbacks, of the choice they made.

Saving and paying for college is a huge financial commitment for families. For many, requiring the student to cover at least a portion of the cost of paying for college--whether that means working part time or full time to help cover some of the costs, or taking on student loans--is an unavoidable reality. Some readers said that the upside of a student paying for college costs is that they believe the experience imbued them with a sense of ownership and accountability in the process.

On the other hand, many readers said they had made the decision to pay as much as possible for their kids' educations and had consequently made saving for this expense a priority. Interestingly, some readers took this stance because they themselves had had higher-education expenses paid for, while others arrived at the same place because they had paid their own way through school through blood, sweat, and tears.

Below are some excerpts from the perspectives and experiences our readers shared on this topic. To read the full thread, and to weigh in yourself, please click here.

'Skin, muscle, and bone.' Some respondents, such as doug2014 quoted above, said that either they or their kids definitely did some heavy lifting when it came to college costs, to differing degrees. For some, it meant covering a portion of the tuition--for others, all of it.

"Each of our four children were encouraged to have a part-time job by their junior year of high school to raise some money for college. More importantly, to learn to balance school, work, and fun," said doug2014.

"I had an ROTC scholarship in the 1970s and served four years of active duty in return," said nromsted.

"My wife and I both had 'skin' in the game," said roacher. "We started college after we left the military in our mid-20s, and after our first child. We both had full-time jobs, both had GI Bill, both attended community college to begin, and I was an active military reserve, as well. She worked days, I worked nights, so our daughter saw plenty of us both, but we only saw each other weekends and sleeping."

"Yes, all four of our kids paid their last year of college. When it came to graduate school, we reversed it and we picked up 25%. They all figured out how to get things done. Some worked, some took extra courses to cut the senior year to one semester and keep any remaining money," said riskaware. "An important point for my wife and I was to have them realize what it is like to have responsibility along with accountability. Senior year is different if you have to pay the bills. You learn some things from the experience that help after college. You have an ownership in the process."

"My arrangement with my parents was that they would pay for two years for an undergraduate degree and support me if I chose to go to graduate school. This 'deal' drove me to make decisions that proved very valuable later without compromising my focus as a student," said w004dal.

'I had to work full time, go to college, and pay it all myself.' Some readers, after working and paying their own way through their higher education, decided that they would foot the bill for their children's educations. Some of the benefits these readers cited were that it allowed their kids to have a full college experience and also allowed their kids to start out their careers debt-free.

For instance, Nateoh said, "I worked 35 hours a week as a freshman/sophomore and 20 hours as a junior/senior while attending UCLA in the 70s. I did not attend a single football or basketball game but spent weekends working during the day and in the library at night. ... Nowadays, it looks like working long hours will not make a dent in tuition or living expenses. I think the better value (if feasible) is to give students the best opportunity to study and earn good grades while enjoying the college experience."

"I had to work full time, go to college, and pay it all myself. As a result, I had no college experience, just an education that took six years to complete," said BillInGA. "College is much more than just the education. Since I was able to pay their way, it was important to me that they focused on their studies and experience all that college has to offer."

Likewise, win1177 said, "I paid my own way through state university as well as medical school, emerged with significant debt, but was able to pay that off once I started working. However, it was VERY stressful to face all that debt, and I swore I would help my kids as much as I could so that they wouldn't emerge with a mountain of debt."

'We paid all tuition, rent, food, etc. for our two children for college.' In a similar vein, some respondents (such as Liberalone, quoted above) said it was important to them to pay for the majority of their kids' college expenses and, consequently, made saving for this expense a priority. In some cases, though, parents still required a smaller amount of "skin in the game," such as earning their own spending money or paying for their own room and board.

"Our daughter started as a freshman at a state university this fall, and our son is a high school junior. We started saving for college soon after they were born, but it still felt like we reached the 'pay-for-college' years sooner than expected," said JCMattingly. "We told our kids that we would pay for four years of tuition/room/board at a state university, no guarantees beyond four years."

Dragonpat said: "I felt I wanted to give back to my own children by giving the best start in life like I had. No skin in the game financially for them. Just be prepared to kill yourself passing your classes."

"We promised to pay for four years but not a fifth year. We paid for everything but spending money. The girls had to earn their own spending money, which they did. This approach worked extremely well," said DrBobb.

In Juris2's case, college was paid for, and this reader's family made the decision to "pay it forward" for their kids, as well: "Their reward--and ours--is that they made the most of their college educations and have interesting careers. And they didn't start out their careers with college debt."

"We paid for in-state tuition and books for three children. Leaving them with room and board handed them expenses over which they could exercise control," said CarlSass. "The oldest daughter, now in graduate school, recently thanked us, saying how lucky she was to have graduated without any debt. We wouldn't change a thing about how we handled it," this reader added.

The author or authors do not own shares in any securities mentioned in this article. Find out about Morningstar’s editorial policies.

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