$7500 - does that include fees, or is it just tuition?
Minus 35% for taxes and FICA. (FICA 7.65% round up to 8% for quick math, Federal taxes 22% - kiddie tax applies, 5% state/local taxes - not all states have this, but this is a reasonable amount for those that do, my state it would be higher)
Plus books and other supplies.
And working all 52 weeks in a year? Really? No breaks at all? No holidays? No vacations? Time off to cram for finals? How about using 50, that at least is more reasonable.
So that is now 11,111 at 20 hours a week - bringing you to about 7215 after taxes. You are short on tuition, we don't know about fees and you haven't paid for books/supplies yet.
So now you have to creep up even more than 20 hours. Possible? Sure. But good luck finding a job where you can get that many hours AND works with your changing class schedule from semester to semester, or getting classes that work with your required work schedule. And working 25 hours a week while carrying a full load starts giving students problems. Many of DDs friends tried it, but ended up quitting because their grades were going in the dumper.
I'm on board with students working to help cover their tuition, but expecting them to cover it all these days is not reasonable, even living at home. And living at home is a non-starter for many. So reality is that parents need to come up with money, or someone needs to get loans. Which brings us back to the OPs original post....
Well, let's consider a hypothetical kid who has no help from home, doesn't qualify for any financial aid, and doesn't have the grades for any scholarships ... but who is a good long-term planner and is determined to pay for college without going into debt.
I'm using the actual costs from the community college from which my youngest graduated, the university which she currently attends, and her actual job.
He starts at a community college and lives at home for two years. In my area the community college would cost about $1200/semester. He works full time at $8.00/hour (
this is what my daughter actually brings home from her retail job -- she actually makes something like $8.75, but I'm figuring $8.00 to account for taxes) for 12 weeks of summer, which nets him $3840 each summer. This is enough to cover community college + books + transportation.
He's smart enough to recognize that he's going to need more money after community college, so during those two years, he works part-time during the school year ... let's say 20 hours/week X $8.00/hour X 15 weeks. This nets him $2,400/semester. He earned enough during the summer to frugally cover his community college needs, so he banks the majority of this towards his university years.
Review:
Summer after high school, he earns $3840 ... spends it on freshman year
During freshman year, he earns $4800 ... saves it
Summer after freshman year, he earns $3840 ... spends it on sophomore year
During sophomore year, he earns $4800 ... saves it
Summer after finishing AA /AS degree, he earns $3840 ... he should have about $13,440 available for university
Having done the math, he realizes this isn't enough.
So he joins the Army reserves, which pays him $3,431 his first year (freshman year in community college) and $3,856 his second year (sophomore year in community college). He banks it, bringing his total to $17,727.
Then he begins university. Tuition is $2,120 ... but fees, including book rental fee, bring it up to $3,692.
A dorm room is $2,305 and a meal plan is $1,357. Add that together and multiple it by two semesters, and junior year is going to cost $14,708. He's able to pay for junior year -- with a scanty $3,019 left over.
He works part-time during junior year and earns the same $4,800 he earned earlier ... bringing his savings up to $7,819.
He works the summer after junior year, earning $3,840 and bringing his coffers up to $11,659.
He continues in the reserves, which earns him $3,856 again, bringing him up to $15,515.
Enough to pay for senior year.
He continues to work part-time during senior year, earning the same $4800.
He continues in the reserves, which earns him again $3,856.
He graduates with $9,463 in the bank ... and no debt.
Of course, this assumes the student has tremendous laser-focus on his goal, and it assumes he has some positives:
- He is healthy, able to work, and nothing /no one else has any claim on his earnings.
- He chooses community college and an affordable university (again, I used my youngest daughter's actual numbers, and she is about to finish her junior year in college).
- He is able to live with his parents during the community college years.
- He has a paid-for car from his high school years, and it lasts through his college years.
- And the toughest of all: He is extremely savings-focused and doesn't spend on clothing, meals out, etc. often at all.
On the other hand, it also assumes some negatives:
- He had literally no financial help from any side. Most parents or grandparents are going to slip a kid a $20 or a tank of gas now and then.
- He didn't work during school breaks; the above assumes he works only 42 weeks (12 weeks of summer + two 15-week semesters) out of the year ... if he also works those other 10 weeks /Christmas break, for example, he has a lot more wiggle-room in the budget.
- He only worked 20 hours a week during semesters; I personally worked a whole lot more. Why? Because I had to do so.
- He never once received a raise.
- He never earned a penny of interest from his savings.
Easy? Not even remotely. Possible? Yes, with good long-term planning and consistent good choices.
It is crazy to think about spending money on a degree which may never pay you back ... Why spend $100K on a degree in which you are going to start at $35K out of college? It will take the graduate years to get above water ! ... For the original poster, the precedent they are setting for their 1st of 3 kids is scary. What will you tell the others if they want to do the same thing? How can you justify it for one child and then say no to the others ...
I agree with each of these comments.
This is all well and good...unless you don't have a STEM kid! And there's no predicting.
Agree. Kids are who they are, and they aren't all going into engineering.