Who paid your undergrad tuition?

[seemunkee]

Got the bill for my son's next semester. I'm also thinking about how we will get through next year when our daughter will be starting too. Include living expenses while you were in school.

I got a partial scholarship, lived at home and my mom paid the rest. My wife's parents paid for her in full.

[billyskank]

1. The government

I sponged off the state like an idle bastard. I smoked grass and gazed at my navel for three fucking years! And I don't even feel ashamed! :P

[seemunkee]

3. Which was your major?

Grass smoking or Naval gazing?

[billyskank]

6. Grass smoking

I minored in Big Band jazz. ;)

(Actually, in Britain we don't do the major/minor thing. We just study one subject).

[tjwmason]

25. Me too - hurrah.

I was in the last year of fully state funded tuition. :bounce:

I did have to take out maintenance loans though - but the various off-licences and pubs were very pleased with that part. :eyes:

[billyskank]

28. Yes, the maintenance loans were around when I went too

It was about half grant, half loan between 1994 and 1997. When I first arrived the students were all complaining about how Ken Clarke was reducing the grant by 10% each year for three years. "Ken ate my grant!" they would say.

Gordon Brown made Ken look like a fluffy liberal socialist :rofl:

[tjwmason]

34. I know plenty of Tories

and they all seem to think that Ken Clarke is a fluffy socialist. :eyes: :rofl:

I've still to get my head round the tuition fees decision though, I think that I lean towards the theory that some wide-eyed new ministers were presented with the plan by civil-servants in a very Yes, Minister style manner.

[undeterred]

31. My parents claimed me on their income tax

even though they didn't support me at all- a girl should find a husband, not get an education.

I could not get financial aid because they made too much money and I could not be considered independent. So I saved for a year, worked during school, and took out loans.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

I hear on that one

Old man claimed me on taxes even though parents where divorced and he never paid support.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

72. double post

[LSK]

2. my parents started, I finished it

I went to Community College, then commuted to the local University, so it was all on the cheap.

[Juffo Wup]

4. Me, until 2015

I didn't go to an upscale enough suburban high school to get any but one scholarship, and my family was too middle class to get much assistance. Hello, loans.

[bicentennial_baby]

5. Waited until I was an Independent student

so my parents wouldn't have to pay...Loans, grants, scholarships, work study... :)

[datasuspect]

7. i did

loans out the ass.

took 15 - 17 hours per semester at UT Austin and worked about 35 hours a week in various retail jobs.

it was rough

[LeftyMom]

8. My Dad offered to pay for it, but I got a fee waiver for financial need

He'll probably chip in for my books and parking pass though.

[YankeyMCC]

9. Finished paying loans

a few years back.

Much of the rest paid by work/co-op and the rest from parents.

I think my son will have to use the same combo, hopefully less loans.

[ceile]

10. Combo, but nothing from mom

Mostly loans and working.

[NewWaveChick1981]

11. Mom paid the first time around. I paid for the

second bachelor's degree and master's degree.

[billyskank]

20. We got this whole thing about tuition fees now in Britain

(which I missed, lucky me, the state paid for my tuition). I didn't really know what to think, until I heard one person who explained it perfectly for me. What he said was this:

"Graduates are not the customers of the higher education system. They are its product."

Then the light came on in a blinding flash. The students are not the customers. Society is.

[NewWaveChick1981]

40. Wow! That;s a real change in attitude, and one that's not

good for students. :( I spent 20 years in student financial aid, and I can tell you, students ARE the consumers of the educational system (at least here, but I know they are elsewhere). What were students doing if not bettering themselves so that society could benefit from an educated population? :eyes:

[billyskank]

42. No, you misunderstand me

Universities exist to produce educated people. It is an impersonal way of looking at it, true, but there's nothing wrong with that in principle. This is the way it has been in my country for centuries. Students are like the raw material, in that sense. What raw materials pay to be turned into the finished product?

The nation benefits by having educated citizens. People used to understand this, before this narrow view of everyone out for themselves came in to vogue. Now people start to see things your way, that graduates should bear the burden of paying for their education. I prefer to think that I should bear the burden of paying for the education of those who come after me; those who are studying now. Instead I seem to be getting away scot free; I didn't pay for my own education, and nor am I paying for that of the current generation of students.

What was the eyes for? I hate the eyes. :(

[NewWaveChick1981]

43. No, the eyes were not for you---it was for the educational

system attitude. :D You got me all wrong too---I was actually agreeing with you! :hug: I agree too that the "all about me" attitude of students is not a good one. At least from my perspective as an aid officer, though, students should look out for themselves to a certain degree, but the flawed US educational system is also to blame for fostering that culture.

It's amazing how the written word can convey a totally different meaning than what I had intended. :) Sorry about that! :hug:

:*

[billyskank]

45. No problem

:hug:

[Bill McBlueState]

56. that's a keeper

"Graduates are not the customers of the higher education system. They are its product."

There's a movement in the US to get free tuition at public colleges: http://www.freehighered.org/

It would cost $25 billion a year to pay everyone's tuition, which is a lot less than we spend annually on our misadventures overseas.

[pagerbear]

12. I was very lucky to be a college student in NC in the early 80s

It was much more reasonable then. Still not easy. I had a combination of scholarships, loans, grants, and a big chunk of parental beneficence, for which I am quite grateful.

[ZombieNixon]

13. Combination of all...except loans.

So far, anyway. I'm trying damnably hard to not take loans. I've got a pretty hefty scholarship (not full, but a very good amount nonetheless), a couple thousand dollars of work study a year (assuming I can find a job, here's hoping), and my parents and grandparents cover the rest. :)

[Rabrrrrrr]

14. The majority of it was me; some was parents.

for grad school, it was me, scholarships, and a lot of loans.

[AngryAmish]

15. Full scholarship

Join the Par Club, folks! I also got state aid (we were poor). I had a good series of jobs too (I liked to drink beer).

[kitkatrose]

16. Full scholarship, the overflow (lab fees, etc)

is paid by me, well, the NSF since they're paying my stipend.

[Lumily]

17. I voted other.

My mother worked at Duke University, and one of the benefits for employees of 10+ years, at the time, was they would pay tuition for college. The catch was that the college/university had to be in the state of North Carolina, and cost less than Duke. I picked Elon College (now University) because I could commute.

So I got to go to a great private school for free. Unfortunately, they no longer provide this benefit for their employees.

[Misunderestimator]

18. I was fortunate enough to have a full scholarship for tuition...

My father paid partial living expenses for nine months of each year (never exceeding $500 a month for rent and eveything else, so... needless to say, I also had jobs), the rest of the year I had to pay for myself or go home to Texas. I went home the first summer, and never again, except to visit.

[sweetpotato]

19. My parents

Back then it was more affordable. The state supported school had more state support.

[Dora]

21. Tuition waiver, parents, loans...

The first time I tried going to college, I had a tuition waiver that reduced my tuition bill to only a couple hundred bucks. My stepdad taught there, and the tuition waiver for children was a staff benefit. My parents paid for my first 2-3 failed semesters there.

I dropped out, and returned after four years. My parents again helped out with my community college tuition, as well as my first couple of semesters back at university (I was ineligible for the waiver). In '95 I received a one-semester fellowship at a Pennsylvania school, and my parents helped out with that too - but that pricetag was steep and dried up the well. I finished out my last three semesters entirely on federal student loans.

And I'm still paying them off.

[trackfan]

22. There was no tuition at the University of California when I went

1977-1981. The registration fee was $131 per quarter, which my dad paid.

[Kickin_Donkey]

75. When I was at UC, 1980-85, the reg fees, if I remember correctly,

were something like $168 per quarter. My mom went to UC in the '50s; I thought I heard her say once that the fees in her day were something like $25 (but I could be mistaken).

Now, the reg fees are in the several hundreds if not thousands of dollars (haven't kept up on it), and the "reg fees" are actually tuition in disguise.

[flvegan]

23. I paid for most of it.

My mom helped the first year, as I was an out-of-state enrollee (higher fees). I paid for my living expenses, housing, books, etc. She gladly would have, and did offer to do so (my mom RULES!) but I was fortunate to have been saving for a while.

[jobycom]

24. My parents paid for the first two and a half years

I paid for the next eight. Well, I'm still paying for them.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

26. Other: the Brazilian Army. -nt

[Mutley]

27. I had scholarships, grants, and loans in both my name

and my parent's names.

[billyskank]

30. Are you all done yet?

:bounce:

[Mutley]

36. Yup yup!

:D :D :D

I'm too excited for my own good right now. :7

:hug:

[Reverend_Smitty]

29. A combination of things...

I got a few government grants which were barely enough to cover the cost of books, my father paid for some and the rest I took out in loans. Right now I'm about $22,000 in debt and I went to a state school

[Iniquitous Bunny]

32. Grants, loans, and ME!

I had better grades and better SATs than most of the people I knew who got a free ride from their parents too. I've done it all myself, but I will do everything I can for my children so they do not. My parents were professional people who had their way paid for themselves. My mother's "problems" and their divorce peaked when I was 18-20, so viola- I did it all. Working toward another degree and doing it all again myself.

[AirmensMom]

33. Combination.

First try, my parents helped but I mostly went on loans and grants. Got married after two years of that. Returned a few years later and went through on scholarships, grants, and loans. Oh yeah, and I gave piano lessons to the local kids but didn't charge enough to pay for more than lunch.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

35. "Paid" is a bit of a misnomer

I'm still paying for it, and will continue to for, oh, another 18 years or so. :-(

But it's a combo of parents, loans, scholarships/grants, and me.

[sarge43]

37. GI Bill n/t

[BrotherBuzz]

46. Same

Arguably the best thing Roosevelt did to re-invigorate the middle class and jump-start the economy. Damn the trickle down theory and all the folly associated with it.

Times have been better

[sarge43]

47. Well, it was also done to keep millions of ex-GIs out of the work

force until the economy recover. Roosevelt and the gang remembered all too well what went on in Europe, especially England, post WWI when millions of soldiers returned to no jobs.

But yes, that Bill remade the middle class.

[BrotherBuzz]

52. That was the brilliance of the bill

It was a twofer; a win-win on all fronts. Fears of another 'Bonus March' fiasco were real, too.

[sarge43]

54. Yup. Goes to show that brains, compassion and a good grip on

reality and history can make all the difference in the world.

[hunter]

38. No loans. Thank goodness.

When I started college in the 'seventies it was much, much less expensive than it is now. Rent was my biggest expense, and it was less than $100 a month. When I worked I got paid $8.00 an hour. My books cost about $75. I got grants, not loans, for tuition and fees. My grandma sent me $100 a month because I was the first person in her family to go to a university.

The United States is crumbling, and we're too fucking stupid to notice. We are turning our children into debt slaves.

[treestar]

39. I paid most of it off for the ten years after graduation

My parents paid a lot of it at the time, too.

The government may have contributed since it was one of those low interest loans. Maybe the interest rate would have been higher otherwise.

[SeattleGirl]

41. Took out loans for the first 2 years, then got a full-ride scholarship

for the 3rd and 4th years.

[xmas74]

44. Full scholarship for tuition,

grants/loans for room and board. I attended a private college so I still had to work for books (did a work study on campus to pay for them.)

I also had a full time job to pay for incidentials like toiletries, clothes (the scholarship was in debate/forensics so I couldn't get away w/ a couple of pairs of jeans from the Salvation Army), etc.

The strangest thing was that at my school it ended up being cheaper to live in the sorority house than to live in the dorms. I moved into the sorority house and was able to cook my own meals, saving money on buying a food pass. A number of us realized how cheap we could buy groceries and ended up doing this , taking turns on cooking each night. Salad, yogurt, cereal and soup is a heck of a lot cheaper than the equivelent of the $10 a meal the cafeteria was charging us!

[bikebloke]

48. Me

My father didn't want me going beyond high school, as it threatened his own ego. On his death bed, he was ranting against college education. I did what I could. Though with more support i could have gone further. At least for that one point I was shy of for immigrating to New Zealand.

[bigwillq]

49. Parents and loans

Parents fronted the money and paid off the loans until I got out of school, got a job and was able to pay the loans myself.

I am very grateful to my parents for being able to do that.

[raccoon]

50. Survivors social security paid for mine.

Of course, that was well before Reagan.

[Deep13]

51. Mostly me, partly the Commonwealth of MA, a little the church.

I went to a state college which was subsidized by the state. I also received a small stipend from an Episcopal Church scholar ship. My share of the tuition and the books and supplies was paid exclusively by yours truly because my divorced folks were too busy fighting with each other to give a shit about my education.

I learned an important lesson though. Hard work and determination will compromise your grades and destroy any chance of either a normal college social life or of getting into a decent law school. Yep, good lesson.

[ikojo]

53. I paid for everything when I was in college

Used loans/grants and work. Nothing from my mom who could not spare any money to help me go to school. I quit because it just got too difficult in the Reagan years to support myself and pay my tuition. I had too many days without food and too many worries about how to pay for it all.

[eyesroll]

55. Undergrad was a combination of scholarships and parents.

Law school will be scholarships (full tuition), my grandmother's estate (some living expenses, books, etc.), and me (the rest of the living expenses, books, etc.). No loans if I can help it...

[mike_c]

57. self + loans....

My family didn't pay a dime toward my college costs.

[fladonkey]

58. Paid for myself....

then I didn't have to justify anything.

[Kali]

59. Other - one parent was state employee

tuition waived for dependents.

[Fox Mulder]

60. The state and federal government.

[querelle]

61. Parents & Loans

Mom & Dad paid for my undergraduate degree but made it clear that if I wished to go any further, I would have to finance it on my own. I paid for my MBA with loans.

Q

[Nikia]

62. Scholarship and subsidized loans and work during the summers

I also worked a little during the school year in order to afford books and incidentals. My out of pocket payment while I was in college ranged from $1500-$3000.
I graduated from a private college 6 years ago. I think that I got a pretty good deal. Of course, I am making payments every month on my government loans but the amount does keep on going down significantly.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

63. Mom paid the first 2 years

Then my grandfather died and left me enough money to take care of the rest of my tuition/books/clothes. Social Security from my late Dad paid for room/board. I didn't have alot of money to spare, couldn't afford a car, for instance, but I did ok. It helped that tuition and stuff was disgustingly cheap way back then.

[Pierre.Suave]

64. Well

I am not completely done yet, I still have 3 years of Law School to go. But as far as undergrad goes, my first year was a mix of financial aid, loans, and parents. 3 following years were an academic scholarship, and some stock purchases made with money from a summer job and a small loan from parents, paid back when stock was sold for a nice profit.

Law School will probably be the same, except no funding from parents.

[maxsolomon]

65. 'Rents

it was $600/quarter back then. Early 80s.

I paid for Grad School, and i still am.

[WindRavenX]

66. a combination of my parents and loans

Before my parents divorced and our finances were ruined, they helped pay the approx. 5K year tuition at BC (I had heavy scholarships-- tuition is 26K).

Now I pay for everything via private loans :(

[fudge stripe cookays]

67. A veritable plethora of payment methods were used

in my fudgy education.

The first attempt, it was mom, loans, and a summer job.

I quit at the end of junior year like a dumbass, paid off the loans, then tried again 6 years later. I was fortunate enough to get Texas Public Education Grants for the entire thing while working full time. I did better the second time because I wanted it more.

[politicat]

68. The Flinn Foundation, me and the state of Arizona.

I ended up needing a couple of small grants and loans to make it through the summers and winter breaks, even though the foundation picked up 99.9999% of the tab.

I worked part time, went to school full time and lived in the cheesiest of cheesy near- campus apartments. When I needed to drive, I drove an antique wreck of a car that I had to work on myself, and my folks picked up the two insurance premiums (car and health) until I was 21. (It was actually cheaper to live off campus, and about 10 times quieter and more conducive to study.) I drove as little as possible since school was pretty much in walking distance.

I am pretty certain that I could not do it today; when I was in school, I could in fact live on something approximating minimum wage in a big city. I am certain that I could not do so now. Minimum was $4.25, and I was making about $5.00 an hour; my rent was $385 and that included utilities in a dinky little fourth floor walk-up. The foundation paid $4000 a year for room and board for 9 months of the year and I had an extended, expenses-mostly-paid summer study opportunity every summer. I had to cover my eating expenses and rent for the three months that I was out of school, or give up my apartment and move back home with my psycho parents. That's why I worked part time.

Looking at tuitions for in-state schools in Colorado, I know I am going to have a terrible time affording to get my doctorate.

[Generic Brad]

69. I financed the whole thing myself

I worked two jobs every summer and took on odd jobs during the school year. And I worked every Christmas and spring break at a friend's business.

By the time I got to graduate school I was burned out and could only handle part time work with school. That is when I finally broke down and took out loans.

My wife also paid her own way through school by taking two years off after high school living at home, and working full time. We are both very proud that we were able to self finance our educations. We each had parents who were under-educated and did not see the value of college. Plus they thought our majors were wastes of time.

Our pre-teen daughter already knows that she is going to have to finance whatever she wants to do by herself. Yes, we will help her out a little when the time comes, but she doesn't need to know that now. We want to see how far she can go on her own.

[Kat45]

70. A combination.

Partial scholarship, loans, work scholarship, parents, who won around $2500 in the lottery to help pay my tuition. I also (technically) lived at home and commuted.

[NMMNG]

71. My mom paid for the first 2 years

The rest of it was paid by a combination of me, partial tuition reimbursement from work, and a tuition reimbursement plan by the state which requires me to work in the mental health and/or developmental disabilities field for X amount of time to "pay off" what they gave me.

[Broken_Hero]

73. myself

but the tuition was super low...

[conflictgirl]

74. Combination of grants, loans and work

I'm still in the process of getting school now, and have three kids to take care of as well. Even though I've taken out quite a bit in loans, I still feel like I've put myself through school. I did get some Pell grants and have worked as well, but of course the money I earn from working goes toward food and shelter for my kids instead of tuition. I'm going to have about $25K in debt when I graduate next May and it scares the shit out of me.

[noonwitch]

76. My parents paid. I was lucky.

It also was a lot cheaper when I went than now. Fewer parents can afford it. My freshman year at WMU cost approximately $3200-for both tuition and room and board. This was 1982-3. My senior year, which was 1985-6, cost my dad about $3600.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

77. The U.K. government n/t