Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Rising Costs of College *Gulp

This chart is deceiving. When I first looked at it, I looked to the bottom and thought yes, my kids will be 18 when they go to college, so about 40k, not too bad....Another look...........

Nope.

Kolbe is 3 (almost), so it will cost a mere 80k to attend a public in-state university. Wait a minute, we decided to have another, so let's tack on another 90k for the second baby we popped out, making the tab a minimum of 170k.

I have been putting a lot of time looking at the costs of college, and planning on how to save. I think the event that really got me interested in the topic is the huge ordeal my sister just had getting ready for her first year at UNT. She has had the toughest time getting all of her expenses taken care of. The government couldn't even provide her with adequate loan money. How do they expect a very motivated and eager student to be successful without funds and assistance that they will ultimately still need to pay for on their own?

So, I have finally decided to open up a 529 plan for both of my boys, but according to their calculations:

"In order for Kolbe Mueller to attend University of North Texas in the year 2022 it will cost $105,509 for 4 years in college. You can either make a lump sum payment of $42,993 now or an initial investment of $50 now and monthly payments of $362."

But then multiply that by 2 for each son. I think I should rethink having a 3rd.

1 comment:

Jeremy said...

It's a long time between now and when our boys go to college. I'm hoping the US will wake up and give free education like the rest of the industrialized world, but I wouldn't count on it.