Saturday, April 9, 2016

Home again, home again, jiggity jig


Up the road



Down the road



Waiting for Grandma

All went according to plan. I parked in one of the two remaining handicap spaces. All the street parking obviously has been occupied since before the snow began, overnight. There is no parking area in the vast area of green (ahem) occupied by the Teachout-Price building, where Emily is waiting for me to catch up. Look how clean the walks are at 8:45 a.m.. Their maintenance crew has my seal of approval.

We didn't learn anything I didn't already know, and that Emily confesses she still can't figure out. When the first award letter came, there was a large award sum, then deductions, including a loan fee. Emily's eyes glazed over. 

I called the admissions officer, and eventually teased out the amount of the guaranteed loan  part of the "award." Loans are not free, which the admissions officer  admitted, but this generation seems to think that "other people's money" is the same as theirs, and a monthly loan payment is the same as buying groceries.

After noshing a lovely snack bar and sitting through the Financial Aid presentation, with me making a note of one grant I had not heard of, we met Emily's admission officer. Lovely woman, who could not lay her hands on her email of the initial award, but worked out with paper and pencil a set of figures $2,000 better than the number I remembered from the award letter.

I asked if that was the Ohio College Opportunity Grant. Well, yes it was. She just hadn't included it in the first letter."Now we're down to fifteen thousand short," I explained to Miss Glazed Eyes. Pay attention; you will be doing this every year hereafter, too.

To her credit, on the way home, Emily said she really did get it. Avoid loans. Apply for every scholarship and grant she could find, and if she got too much money, all the better. We've put a lot of hard work into this so far, and have come a long way from the initial fifty grand. 

Isn't that a shame. Fifty thousand dollars a year. I sent her mother to college for ten thousand a year.



25 comments:

  1. Our daughter was lucky, got scholarships, some cause she had good grades, one from the state for top students, one from the Army--she was an Army brat-one for minorities--she's Spanish-- and Pell Grants. Four years ended up costing about $5000, we were so lucky. Can't imagine what it would cost now.

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  2. Oh Joanne. That is terribly expensive. We sent three kids through college, one a private university that was much more expensive. In all, I don't think any of them were that much. Oh well, like you said, there is tons of scholarship money out there. The hard part is finding it. It all adds up though, so even the small ones count. Glad those days are behind me. It is a marathon, but worth it.

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    1. I put both my daughters through college in the eighties for about ten thousand per year each. One private, one public. For two years both were in college, and that was tight, but doable. They both had on campus jobs, and grants and scholarships. But, we weren't up all night scouring the internet for another grant or scholarship.

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  3. My son and daughter-in-law tried to pay off as much as they could of the loans my granddaughter had while she was still in college. She even had a hefty sports scholarship and the amounts were astronomical. It is certainly a financial burden.

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  4. It is crazy how much money a college education costs. I had friends who scrimped and saved all their married years so they could send their two sons to college. One last a year before he flunked out and the other one got kicked out for disorderly conduct. All that money straight down the tubes. I am sure your granddaughter will be much better. It is so expensive. Mine will need all the financial help they can get.

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  5. Incredible cost. It is not as expensive in Canada but still costly. Best wishes to your darling girl!

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  6. Hari OM
    I cannot even imagine ... WTG gran for keeping the glaze becoming crazed!!! YAM xx

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  7. there is absolutely no reason why college should cost $50,000 a year. what has happened to this country?

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  8. Ack. Education is becoming dearer and dearer here too. Out of reach for many I fear.

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  9. I don't particularly like Bernie Sanders for President, but he has touched a nerve on the high cost of college and the problem of graduates being so deep in debt. There has to be a way to keep cost down and offer kids better choices.

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  10. She's getting an education (along with me) in the financial aspect of college. My sister's daughter will be graduating from Ringling College next month; I know she got some scholarships and some other aid, but I think she's coming away with a few students loans....

    If Emily gets into the right field (and I cannot remember if I know what she is going to study for), the cost of the education will be worth it.

    Glad you got home safely!

    betty

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  11. Holy ... it's still $15-20K per year round these parts. That's $60-80K for a full four years. And it's $50K PER YEAR for Emily? Yikes.

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  12. Education is so expensive now, but do the kids learn more? Or just learn different things?
    I didn't go to college, or Uni as we call it here, didn't finish high school, but when I was at school I was on the "free list" which meant we were so poor we couldn't afford supplies and my text books and pencils were given free, exercise books too.
    I know it's been some years since then, but $50k a year?? Wow.

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  13. I started college accounts for all five of our grandchildren at birth. The parents will find out when they need to know. I am determined that they all will have that opportunity, if they choose not to further their education then they will have a healthy bank account to start their adult lives.

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  14. Yes it really pays to put a lot of effort into the scholarship process focussing first on the big ones. I think your granddaughters are very bright and should be able to get some good ones. Some are handed out without applying but many take a lot of effort to get. Once you know which ones they are it is easier to do the next time. Bet of luck! It will all work out. They always scare us with the estimates of the cost of education but I know many who make it work despite not having anywhere near the figures quoted by all the experts.

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  15. Our great granddaughter is going to a Montessori kindergarten this coming fall... 1/2 days... it cost just under $8,000 for the school year! I can't imagine what her college education will cost in 13 years.... especially after reading your post.

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  16. $50,000 a year? Good lord, I've been away for a while -- but my goodness how can anyone afford it? Good luck finding those scholarships -- I am sure they are out there and if anyone can find them I am sure you and yours will be able to succeed.

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  17. Still snow?! Any child of mine would have the best start in life - a job in Woolworth beginning aged 16.

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  18. I'm glad, Joanne, that she gets that loan. On the other hand I think: how hard to get education in America - in Germany you get (almost) all schools for free (there are a few private ones), and all universities. And you can get a scholarship for money to live on when your parents don't earn enough (and pay back a part from it, only ! when you have a job. That's fair, I think).
    But screwing the big sum down for Emily is a good step forward!

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  19. What a nightmare this whole college funding process is! Three of my kids, ages 28, 30, 32, are still paying back college loans. My oldest daughter was born and educated in England where she went to university for free with a grant for living expenses. We seem to have our priorities wrong in the US. I hope you manage to work the system as thoroughly as possible. It sounds like Emily's got the right idea.

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  20. Oh yes Joanne, times have changed - and not always for the better.

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  21. Hello,

    Lovely photos.

    It is better to avoid loans as far as possible. Scholarships are better. The cost of higher education is skyrocketing. Times have changed.

    Best wishes

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