# If parents are going to push a student into college should they pay?



## MisterPerfect (Nov 20, 2015)

It seems a lot of parents will push a student into college, even stress school is important by preventing the child from doing anything productive like get a part time job. Under the assumption kids who work a part time job dont ever finish HS or go to college, which even the schools stress. Which I find stupid considering most college students get a job just to support college because college is expensive as hell. However a lot of these same parents refuse to pay for it, or help those students fill out fasfa. If a parent is going to push that student into college should they not be the one paying for it?


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## Vast Silence (Apr 23, 2014)

You're 18, make your own decisions and stop asking for hand-outs. 

(I'm kidding I know its complicated...  )


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## MisterPerfect (Nov 20, 2015)

Katfeatherfoot said:


> You're 18, make your own decisions and stop asking for hand-outs.
> 
> (I'm kidding I know its complicated...  )


Most kids do not turn 18 till after or during maybe the last quarter of senior year. So your argument is not valid or relevant in any way.

It seems a lot of parents will push a student into college, even stress school is important by preventing the child from doing anything productive like get a part time job. Under the assumption kids who work a part time job dont ever finish HS or go to college, which even the schools stress. (Can legally work at 16, sorry to break it to you)


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## Vast Silence (Apr 23, 2014)

I know what you mean I wasn't posing an argument, just sort of throwing out a typical generic answer.
Basically being my dad lol

The thing is, if you don't stand up to your parents they'll trample you.
Also, college doesn't have to be right after High School, you can take your time and take it slow.
Don't take loans, just work part-time after high school and save up money enough to be able to pay for some classes.

You don't have to rush into anything, remember its your life, as long as you have a roof over your head you have time to plan things out.


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## BlackDog (Jan 6, 2012)

It would be a nice gesture, but no I don't think they are obligated to pay. Just like the child isn't obligated to go to school just because their parents are pressuring them. If someone decides to go to college, it's because they decided to go. Nobody put a gun to their head. If the parents want to help out, that's a very nice gesture and the kid should accept it if they need it. If the parents can't or won't help out financially, then it's on the person attending school to pay for it. That's one of the joys of being an adult. You get to make your own choices and also take responsibility for those choices. 

Bit of an aside and not directed at anybody here, but I am so sick of 29 year olds complaining that their parents _forced_ them to go get a useless degree after highschool. Maybe your parents gave you _bad advice_ and said that getting a degree would guarantee you a good job (not sure if anybody says that, but there is definitely pressure to have some kind of education). But no, they didn't _force _​you. Nobody strapped you to the desk and made you get that degree, you went because you decided to go. Stop whining. Take responsibility for your decision.


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## MisterPerfect (Nov 20, 2015)

Katfeatherfoot said:


> I know what you mean I wasn't posing an argument, just sort of throwing out a typical generic answer.
> Basically being my dad lol
> 
> The thing is, if you don't stand up to your parents they'll trample you.
> ...


Reality of the matter is you dont have any rights until 18 so you cant really do what you want if your parents dont allow it.


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## MisterPerfect (Nov 20, 2015)

BlackDog said:


> It would be a nice gesture, but no I don't think they are obligated to pay. Just like the child isn't obligated to go to school just because their parents are pressuring them. If someone decides to go to college, it's because they decided to go. Nobody put a gun to their head. If the parents want to help out, that's a very nice gesture and the kid should accept it if they need it. If the parents can't or won't help out financially, then it's on the person attending school to pay for it. That's one of the joys of being an adult. You get to make your own choices and also take responsibility for those choices.
> 
> Bit of an aside and not directed at anybody here, but I am so sick of 29 year olds complaining that their parents _forced_ them to go get a useless degree after highschool. Maybe your parents gave you _bad advice_ and said that getting a degree would guarantee you a good job (not sure if anybody says that, but there is definitely pressure to have some kind of education). But no, they didn't _force _​you. Nobody strapped you to the desk and made you get that degree, you went because you decided to go. Stop whining. Take responsibility for your decision.



It would be nice if things really worked that way but sadly it doesn't. Since according to fasfa you are under mom and dads income. Now it would make sense if students were in fact considered independents at 18 but fasfa is often happy to fit the bill on mom and dad not the student and to get a loan they usually force students to get a co-signer. So no its not the privilege of being an adult since Fasfa does not see you as an adult till 24.

Though if we ignore that for a minute and look at the fact you are pushing your child into college and preventing them from any other options like Work before graduating HS, is it really fair not to pay for college? If that is the only option you left them with. Since you essentially trapped them into something and gave them no freedom to pursue anything else.


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## Vast Silence (Apr 23, 2014)

MisterPerfect said:


> Reality of the matter is you dont have any rights until 18 so you cant really do what you want if your parents dont allow it.


What I'm saying is... 
Go through high school and graduate.
Get any old job after high school.
Work your ass off and save your money while living with your parents.
Once you have a decent amount saved, start taking part-time classes at a community college. (If you choose higher education)

If you don't want to go to college, save enough money, move out, and just work on finding a career that lets you work your way up without a degree.

Manufacturing is a great place to start and I've personally seen people go from highschool to well paid supervisors without having any college education.

You have many options, there's no need to feel cornered.


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## BlackDog (Jan 6, 2012)

MisterPerfect said:


> It would be nice if things really worked that way but sadly it doesn't. Since according to fasfa you are under mom and dads income. Now it would make sense if students were in fact considered independents at 18 but fasfa is often happy to fit the bill on mom and dad not the student and to get a loan they usually force students to get a co-signer. So no its not the privilege of being an adult since Fasfa does not see you as an adult till 24.
> 
> Though if we ignore that for a minute and look at the fact you are pushing your child into college and preventing them from any other options like Work before graduating HS, is it really fair not to pay for college? If that is the only option you left them with. Since you essentially trapped them into something and gave them no freedom to pursue anything else.


I don't know anything about FASFA because I'm not American, but in Canada you aren't required to declare your parents income. That's weird, can't really comment other than that. 

But yeah, you are still an adult. Even if FASFA for whatever reason doesn't consider you independent. If this renders federal student loans not a viable option, then your option is to take a year or two off school to work full time and save up money.Then keep a part time job while in school. Then apply for funding, like scholarships and bursaries. I donno man, this is what I did and I am fine. I work full time while in school full time right now. 

It might not be "fair" for them to push you into school and not offer to help financially, but whatever. Like I said before, if you go its because you want to. Might take you longer without parental assistance but oh well. I don't think most people are really ready for college at 18 anyway. Working for a couple years is probably a good idea.


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## MisterPerfect (Nov 20, 2015)

BlackDog said:


> I don't know anything about FASFA because I'm not American, but in Canada you aren't required to declare your parents income. That's weird, can't really comment other than that.
> 
> But yeah, you are still an adult. Even if FASFA for whatever reason doesn't consider you independent. If this renders federal student loans not a viable option, then your option is to take a year or two off school to work full time and save up money.Then keep a part time job while in school. Then apply for funding, like scholarships and bursaries. I donno man, this is what I did and I am fine. I work full time while in school full time right now.
> 
> It might not be "fair" for them to push you into school and not offer to help financially, but whatever. Like I said before, if you go its because you want to. Might take you longer without parental assistance but oh well. I don't think most people are really ready for college at 18 anyway. Working for a couple years is probably a good idea.


Thats assuming mom and dad dont plan to boot you at 18.

Also Canada really dont make students add parents income? Does that mean they qualify as independent at 18?


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## BlackDog (Jan 6, 2012)

MisterPerfect said:


> Thats assuming mom and dad dont plan to boot you at 18.
> 
> Also Canada really dont make students add parents income? Does that mean they qualify as independent at 18?


Student loan applications have a section asking if your parents will be contributing or not. Also, if you're under a certain age you have the option of submitting your parents income in order to qualify for low-income bursaries. 

You can move out at eighteen and still do this. I did it. It's totally do-able, you just need to work hard. If you work full time, find somewhere affordable to live and don't waste money eating out and partying, you can save up quite a bit in a year. Then cut back and work part time while in school. Apply for scholarships and bursaries, too. I get roughly $1,000 worth of bursaries/scholarships per semester (on average). I could get more if I was less lazy.


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## MisterPerfect (Nov 20, 2015)

BlackDog said:


> Student loan applications have a section asking if your parents will be contributing or not. Also, if you're under a certain age you have the option of submitting your parents income in order to qualify for low-income bursaries.
> 
> You can move out at eighteen and still do this. I did it. It's totally do-able, you just need to work hard. If you work full time, find somewhere affordable to live and don't waste money eating out and partying, you can save up quite a bit in a year. Then cut back and work part time while in school. Apply for scholarships and bursaries, too. I get roughly $1,000 worth of bursaries/scholarships per semester (on average). I could get more if I was less lazy.


Wow, Im kind of jealous now. Wish it was that easy to opt out of it here.


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## BlackDog (Jan 6, 2012)

MisterPerfect said:


> Wow, Im kind of jealous now. Wish it was that easy to opt out of it here.


There's always more than one way to skin a cat.


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## flamesabers (Nov 20, 2012)

BlackDog said:


> It would be a nice gesture, but no I don't think they are obligated to pay. Just like the child isn't obligated to go to school just because their parents are pressuring them. If someone decides to go to college, it's because they decided to go. Nobody put a gun to their head. If the parents want to help out, that's a very nice gesture and the kid should accept it if they need it. If the parents can't or won't help out financially, then it's on the person attending school to pay for it. That's one of the joys of being an adult. You get to make your own choices and also take responsibility for those choices.


I agree. The sheer cost of college I think is a compelling reason to either not go or to postpone going to college. Young adults could simply tell their parents, "I don't want to be one of those people with $100,000+ in student debt living in my parent's basement and working a job that doesn't even require a college degree." Trying to get by in this world is all the more difficult when one has a huge student debt burden to pay off. Or young adults could say something like "I want to get some real-world experience and start making some money before I decide on committing to college."

Excluding parents who are control freaks, I think most parents would be happy if their children are proactive, whether it be by going to college or working full-time.


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## Thomas60 (Aug 7, 2011)

From a certain pov in economics, if the dollar value of explicit costs of a particular degree is worth $80,000, but the a student's demand for it is only $40,000 before he/she has another use for their $40,000, then a parental incentive is needed to cover the economic losses the student would occur if he/she paid the full $80,000.

However, parents are able to use various sanctions, as well as withdrawal of existing lines of support, in such a way to decrease the value of decisions to undertake alternative degrees.

If the degree of force used transgresses certain benchmarks of parental duty, lowers the value of alternative degrees to less than $0 in the eyes of the student, there's more to be concerned with than just who pays, but also who's life is being lived.


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## Arzazar Szubrasznikarazar (Apr 9, 2015)

The main problem here is the cost of education and the idea of paid college. Higher education should be free, in state schools. Subsidizing it partially only creates incentive for fee hikes.


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## Hao (Apr 20, 2016)

*Yes...with their lives.*


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## MonieJ (Nov 22, 2010)

If you're at the age for college then you should make up your own mind about if you want to go or not.
Since this wasn't the question asked, I say yes if they want too push you into uni then they should pay.
Why pay for something you didn't want to do in the first place?
If the kid wanted to do it anyhow then I still think the parents should help if they are able to, I know uni ain't cheap.


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## LandOfTheSnakes (Sep 7, 2013)

The problem is that there are major societal pressures every step of the way that push kids to go to college. In addition, absolutely no lessons in personal finance, in economics, or anything that would enable a 17 year old (which is the age most Americans are when they are applying for college) to make a remotely informed decision are made even close to readily available. So how can you possible put responsibility on 17 year olds for making dumb decisions to go to an expensive college when they have never been presented with any sort of alternative that doesn't involve a minimum wage job?

This would be like me calling everyone a bumbling idiot undeserving of the right to vote in the US who doesn't know that the US has been involved in countless coups or "regime changes" since WWII in order to make money and has, in the process, destablized entire regions of the world and created an unsustainable global economy wholly dependent on a fiat currency that is being artificially saved from failure for the time being.

The point is, people need to recognize that there is a major problem with the way attending college is presented as an essential life step and high school graduates are abhorrently unprepared to make any sort of real life decisions, especially financially. And I'm not even getting into the whole farce that are federal student loans which have created this mess of higher education being increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible.


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## LibertyPrime (Dec 17, 2010)

LandOfTheSnakes said:


> The problem is that there are major societal pressures every step of the way that push kids to go to college. In addition, absolutely no lessons in personal finance, in economics, or anything that would enable a 17 year old (which is the age most Americans are when they are applying for college) to make a remotely informed decision are made even close to readily available. So how can you possible put responsibility on 17 year olds for making dumb decisions to go to an expensive college when they have never been presented with any sort of alternative that doesn't involve a minimum wage job?


I agree. College should be viewed as a investment. Ppl invest time, effort and money to acquire a profession or skills which will allow them to pay back the loan or money spent and make more over time then otherwise would be possible without going to college. IF this does not happen, college becomes a failed investment & the student risks losing time, effort, money, defaulting on loans. This harms everyone.



> This would be like me calling everyone a bumbling idiot undeserving of the right to vote in the US who doesn't know that the US has been involved in countless coups or "regime changes" since WWII in order to make money and has, in the process, destablized entire regions of the world and created an unsustainable global economy wholly dependent on a fiat currency that is being artificially saved from failure for the time being.


Yup. ^^; lol we had to kick out US financed organizations here in Hungary, because they were attempting to distort public opinion and undermine our media and democratic institutions. :/ we received a media shitstorm for it in the west... so yeah when the US starts saying things about dictators :/ I feel like face-palming myself.



> The point is, people need to recognize that there is a major problem with the way attending college is presented as an essential life step and high school graduates are abhorrently unprepared to make any sort of real life decisions, especially financially. And I'm not even getting into the whole farce that are federal student loans which have created this mess of higher education being increasingly unaffordable and inaccessible.


There are compelling reasons why the federal student loans are the reason for the price hike:

The shocking truth about "making college affordable" - Foundation for Economic Education

:kitteh: starting to like you.


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