The GFM to end all GFMs

PrettyGirlLost · June 2015

loveislouder said:

While I agree that GFMs for education are lame, I just want to throw out there that I didn't qualify for student loans because my dad made too much money and they expected that he'd be able to give me approximately $23,000.00 to contribute towards my education PER YEAR. What they don't take into account is that he had 3 other kids also in school, a house, bills, etc. That being said, I never turned to GFM. I worked my ass off, got scholarships and in the end, was sponsored for what was left of my tuition by a continuing education foundation.

THIS!

The FAFSA process is a fucking joke for a lot of people. "Oh your parents make $60K or $90K pre tax? Well tuition is only $20K or $35K a year, so they can just pay full tuition." Ok, sure, we just won't pay the mortgage, car payment, get gas, buy food or clothing, pay for hot water or electricity, etc. Perfect!

I had the same experience as above, which is why I took out loans. Luckily I graduated before the financial crash of 2007, so my interest rates are super low. My loans were actually how I've developed credit, as for years I never had any credit cards.

themosthappy91 · June 2015

PrettyGirlLost said:

banana468 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

beachyone15 said:

I mean, I know we've all seen some eyeroll-worthy Go Fund Mes. But I have never seen anything like this...One of my FB friends shared a link for her friend who is asking for $38,000!!!!! to continue going to college in Boston (I think she's done a year or two). The whole description talks about how her family is "hard working people" yada yada yada but they can't afford it anymore. Yeah, I'm hard working too but I didn't beg randos on FB for tuition money.

Hmmm...should I have created a GFM for my mortgage? I mean, I'm hard working and all so I feel like I deserve it...

LRN2LOAN.

But yeah, rather than taking out a mortgage you shold have set up a GFM for the purchase of the house.

ETA: I do think college tuition is grossly over priced, especially if you look at the universities with the highest endowments in the country. And supposedly the student loan bubble is the next big financial meltdown brewing in the US. But taking out student loans might be the best option for some (most) people.

I hope they are. In any other loan-taking agenda you need to show promise that you'll pay it back. It's too easy to take out a ton of student loans without showing that you have a plan to earn the income required to start paying them.

That should be the required process before you apply to college and before you fill out the FAFSA.

Regarding trades, my FIL works in an industry where they can't find people to do the job required. They need to be certified to do what they do and it's in an area of the state where more and more people are college educated and working in NYC.

As a student applying for the loan, you are not required to prove you have any plan towards paying them back. That's the main reason tuition is skyrocketing. Higher Ed knows they can keep jacking up the tuition rates, and that the lending industry will keep approving those loans. It's why the student loan debt bubble is the next financial crisis.

And how would a student applying for a loan even show they have a plan to pay it back? They can't prove they are going to have employment, nor what kind and at what salary, 4 years prior to graduation.

Tuition rates are so high, even state schools now, I don't know how anyone who doesn't have a trust fund can possibly afford college w/o tking out a loan.

I just wanted to speak to this for a moment- I attended a state university for four years that my parents were able to pay for in its entirety without having to take out any loans. And for context, my father is a professor at a public liberal arts university and my mother was a stay-at-home mom up until I was in 10th grade, when she became a public high school teacher.

I think a lot about how my family, which is solidly middle class, was able to pull this off when so many other families in our situation can not. I think there are two main factors that made this possible (outside of the obvious systemic factors at play- white privilege, not having to combat the cycle of poverty etc.):

The attitude that education is something you sacrifice for- I grew up in a middle class family that lived like a lower middle class family, because my parents prioritized putting money away every month for my and my brother's college educations rather than investing in having a nice house, taking vacations, eating out, enrolling us in pricey extracurricular activities and the like.

The attitude that it takes a village to raise a child- Both sets of my grandparents, none of whom are especially well-off themselves, also contributed on a monthly basis to my college fund. It was just an expectation in the cultures my parents came from that their extended family would play a role in paying for me, my brother, and my cousins to go to school.

I'm not saying that either of these attitudes is inherently "better" than the alternatives- in fact, I'm not sure I'll adhere to them myself. I'm just saying that for anyone who is curious how a family living on $90,000 a year (before taxes) can pay for two kids to attend four years each of state university without having to take out loans, that's how you do it.

Viczaesar · June 2015

PrettyGirlLost said:

banana468 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

beachyone15 said:

I mean, I know we've all seen some eyeroll-worthy Go Fund Mes. But I have never seen anything like this...One of my FB friends shared a link for her friend who is asking for $38,000!!!!! to continue going to college in Boston (I think she's done a year or two). The whole description talks about how her family is "hard working people" yada yada yada but they can't afford it anymore. Yeah, I'm hard working too but I didn't beg randos on FB for tuition money.

Hmmm...should I have created a GFM for my mortgage? I mean, I'm hard working and all so I feel like I deserve it...

LRN2LOAN.

But yeah, rather than taking out a mortgage you shold have set up a GFM for the purchase of the house.

ETA: I do think college tuition is grossly over priced, especially if you look at the universities with the highest endowments in the country. And supposedly the student loan bubble is the next big financial meltdown brewing in the US. But taking out student loans might be the best option for some (most) people.

I hope they are. In any other loan-taking agenda you need to show promise that you'll pay it back. It's too easy to take out a ton of student loans without showing that you have a plan to earn the income required to start paying them.

That should be the required process before you apply to college and before you fill out the FAFSA.

Regarding trades, my FIL works in an industry where they can't find people to do the job required. They need to be certified to do what they do and it's in an area of the state where more and more people are college educated and working in NYC.

As a student applying for the loan, you are not required to prove you have any plan towards paying them back. That's the main reason tuition is skyrocketing. Higher Ed knows they can keep jacking up the tuition rates, and that the lending industry will keep approving those loans. It's why the student loan debt bubble is the next financial crisis.

And how would a student applying for a loan even show they have a plan to pay it back? They can't prove they are going to have employment, nor what kind and at what salary, 4 years prior to graduation.

Tuition rates are so high, even state schools now, I don't know how anyone who doesn't have a trust fund can possibly afford college w/o tking out a loan.

That actually has little to do with why tuition is skyrocketing, particularly at public universities. The primary reason is decreased funding of education on the state and federal level, along with rising level of bureaucracy (for numerous reasons) and the general economic downturn in the last decade. Students' ability to take out increasing student loans is not a cause, but it does help facilitate the rise in cost.

Viczaesar · June 2015

themosthappy91 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

banana468 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

beachyone15 said:

I mean, I know we've all seen some eyeroll-worthy Go Fund Mes. But I have never seen anything like this...One of my FB friends shared a link for her friend who is asking for $38,000!!!!! to continue going to college in Boston (I think she's done a year or two). The whole description talks about how her family is "hard working people" yada yada yada but they can't afford it anymore. Yeah, I'm hard working too but I didn't beg randos on FB for tuition money.

Hmmm...should I have created a GFM for my mortgage? I mean, I'm hard working and all so I feel like I deserve it...

LRN2LOAN.

But yeah, rather than taking out a mortgage you shold have set up a GFM for the purchase of the house.

ETA: I do think college tuition is grossly over priced, especially if you look at the universities with the highest endowments in the country. And supposedly the student loan bubble is the next big financial meltdown brewing in the US. But taking out student loans might be the best option for some (most) people.

I hope they are. In any other loan-taking agenda you need to show promise that you'll pay it back. It's too easy to take out a ton of student loans without showing that you have a plan to earn the income required to start paying them.

That should be the required process before you apply to college and before you fill out the FAFSA.

Regarding trades, my FIL works in an industry where they can't find people to do the job required. They need to be certified to do what they do and it's in an area of the state where more and more people are college educated and working in NYC.

As a student applying for the loan, you are not required to prove you have any plan towards paying them back. That's the main reason tuition is skyrocketing. Higher Ed knows they can keep jacking up the tuition rates, and that the lending industry will keep approving those loans. It's why the student loan debt bubble is the next financial crisis.

And how would a student applying for a loan even show they have a plan to pay it back? They can't prove they are going to have employment, nor what kind and at what salary, 4 years prior to graduation.

Tuition rates are so high, even state schools now, I don't know how anyone who doesn't have a trust fund can possibly afford college w/o tking out a loan.

I just wanted to speak to this for a moment- I attended a state university for four years that my parents were able to pay for in its entirety without having to take out any loans. And for context, my father is a professor at a public liberal arts university and my mother was a stay-at-home mom up until I was in 10th grade, when she became a public high school teacher.

I think a lot about how my family, which is solidly middle class, was able to pull this off when so many other families in our situation can not. I think there are two main factors that made this possible (outside of the obvious systemic factors at play- white privilege, not having to combat the cycle of poverty etc.):

The attitude that education is something you sacrifice for- I grew up in a middle class family that lived like a lower middle class family, because my parents prioritized putting money away every month for my and my brother's college educations rather than investing in having a nice house, taking vacations, eating out, enrolling us in pricey extracurricular activities and the like.

The attitude that it takes a village to raise a child- Both sets of my grandparents, none of whom are especially well-off themselves, also contributed on a monthly basis to my college fund. It was just an expectation in the cultures my parents came from that their extended family would play a role in paying for me, my brother, and my cousins to go to school.

I'm not saying that either of these attitudes is inherently "better" than the alternatives- in fact, I'm not sure I'll adhere to them myself. I'm just saying that for anyone who is curious how a family living on $90,000 a year (before taxes) can pay for two kids to attend four years each of state university without having to take out loans, that's how you do it.

How long ago did you graduate? Because the cost of tuition at state universities has gone up at a ridiculous rate in the last decade. I graduated from undergrad in 2005 at the same school at which I am now a graduate student. Tuition when I started in 2001 was about $4,000 a year, and by the time that I graduated in 2005 was about $5,000 a year. I had a scholarship that covered tuition and my parents were able to pay for my housing; I worked part time for money for living expenses and books. It was doable then, with their help. Now, in 2015, tuition is about $15,000 a year - it has literally tripled in 10 years - and the cost of living has also grown exponentially.

themosthappy91 · June 2015

Viczaesar said:

themosthappy91 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

banana468 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

beachyone15 said:

I mean, I know we've all seen some eyeroll-worthy Go Fund Mes. But I have never seen anything like this...One of my FB friends shared a link for her friend who is asking for $38,000!!!!! to continue going to college in Boston (I think she's done a year or two). The whole description talks about how her family is "hard working people" yada yada yada but they can't afford it anymore. Yeah, I'm hard working too but I didn't beg randos on FB for tuition money.

Hmmm...should I have created a GFM for my mortgage? I mean, I'm hard working and all so I feel like I deserve it...

LRN2LOAN.

But yeah, rather than taking out a mortgage you shold have set up a GFM for the purchase of the house.

ETA: I do think college tuition is grossly over priced, especially if you look at the universities with the highest endowments in the country. And supposedly the student loan bubble is the next big financial meltdown brewing in the US. But taking out student loans might be the best option for some (most) people.

I hope they are. In any other loan-taking agenda you need to show promise that you'll pay it back. It's too easy to take out a ton of student loans without showing that you have a plan to earn the income required to start paying them.

That should be the required process before you apply to college and before you fill out the FAFSA.

Regarding trades, my FIL works in an industry where they can't find people to do the job required. They need to be certified to do what they do and it's in an area of the state where more and more people are college educated and working in NYC.

As a student applying for the loan, you are not required to prove you have any plan towards paying them back. That's the main reason tuition is skyrocketing. Higher Ed knows they can keep jacking up the tuition rates, and that the lending industry will keep approving those loans. It's why the student loan debt bubble is the next financial crisis.

And how would a student applying for a loan even show they have a plan to pay it back? They can't prove they are going to have employment, nor what kind and at what salary, 4 years prior to graduation.

Tuition rates are so high, even state schools now, I don't know how anyone who doesn't have a trust fund can possibly afford college w/o tking out a loan.

I just wanted to speak to this for a moment- I attended a state university for four years that my parents were able to pay for in its entirety without having to take out any loans. And for context, my father is a professor at a public liberal arts university and my mother was a stay-at-home mom up until I was in 10th grade, when she became a public high school teacher.

I think a lot about how my family, which is solidly middle class, was able to pull this off when so many other families in our situation can not. I think there are two main factors that made this possible (outside of the obvious systemic factors at play- white privilege, not having to combat the cycle of poverty etc.):

The attitude that education is something you sacrifice for- I grew up in a middle class family that lived like a lower middle class family, because my parents prioritized putting money away every month for my and my brother's college educations rather than investing in having a nice house, taking vacations, eating out, enrolling us in pricey extracurricular activities and the like.

The attitude that it takes a village to raise a child- Both sets of my grandparents, none of whom are especially well-off themselves, also contributed on a monthly basis to my college fund. It was just an expectation in the cultures my parents came from that their extended family would play a role in paying for me, my brother, and my cousins to go to school.

I'm not saying that either of these attitudes is inherently "better" than the alternatives- in fact, I'm not sure I'll adhere to them myself. I'm just saying that for anyone who is curious how a family living on $90,000 a year (before taxes) can pay for two kids to attend four years each of state university without having to take out loans, that's how you do it.

How long ago did you graduate? Because the cost of tuition at state universities has gone up at a ridiculous rate in the last decade. I graduated from undergrad in 2005 at the same school at which I am now a graduate student. Tuition when I started in 2001 was about $4,000 a year, and by the time that I graduated in 2005 was about $5,000 a year. I had a scholarship that covered tuition and my parents were able to pay for my housing; I worked part time for money for living expenses and books. It was doable then, with their help. Now, in 2015, tuition is about $15,000 a year - it has literally tripled in 10 years - and the cost of living has also grown exponentially.

Oh yeah, that probably would have been helpful to include. I graduated from undergrad in 2013. My brother graduated this year- so I'm definitely speaking from the point of view of someone who understands the current state of tuition prices and cost of living.

WinstonsGirl · June 2015

I was lucky in that my parents did RESP's for me and my Brother. I had enough to cover the first 4 years, and my parents helped with the last year too, so I was able to graduate debt free (2002) with 2 degrees. They contributed each month, but any money they got back in child allowance from the government also went into those accounts. My tuition was between $4000- $5000 per year, depending on my year. I also staying at my local University, which I think is more common in Canada than in the US and worked jobs for books, spending money, etc.

All nieces and nephews get a cheque to start an RESP from us when they're born. The government also does (or at least was) doing a matching donation too I think for all newborns, so their parents have been adding with that too. I refuse to pay into GFM's for tuition.

TrixieJess · June 2015

WinstonsGirl said:
I was lucky in that my parents did RESP's for me and my Brother. I had enough to cover the first 4 years, and my parents helped with the last year too, so I was able to graduate debt free (2002) with 2 degrees. They contributed each month, but any money they got back in child allowance from the government also went into those accounts. My tuition was between $4000- $5000 per year, depending on my year. I also staying at my local University, which I think is more common in Canada than in the US and worked jobs for books, spending money, etc.

All nieces and nephews get a cheque to start an RESP from us when they're born. The government also does (or at least was) doing a matching donation too I think for all newborns, so their parents have been adding with that too. I refuse to pay into GFM's for tuition.

They don't match RESPs but they contribute up to $1000/year depending on household income. We started an RESP for our son when he was born. Both FI and I spent years paying off loans because neither of our parents had the funds.

I don't care if my son goes to College or University so long as he can find an industry that he can find work in.

PrettyGirlLost · June 2015

Viczaesar said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

banana468 said:

PrettyGirlLost said:

beachyone15 said:

I mean, I know we've all seen some eyeroll-worthy Go Fund Mes. But I have never seen anything like this...One of my FB friends shared a link for her friend who is asking for $38,000!!!!! to continue going to college in Boston (I think she's done a year or two). The whole description talks about how her family is "hard working people" yada yada yada but they can't afford it anymore. Yeah, I'm hard working too but I didn't beg randos on FB for tuition money.

Hmmm...should I have created a GFM for my mortgage? I mean, I'm hard working and all so I feel like I deserve it...

LRN2LOAN.

But yeah, rather than taking out a mortgage you shold have set up a GFM for the purchase of the house.

ETA: I do think college tuition is grossly over priced, especially if you look at the universities with the highest endowments in the country. And supposedly the student loan bubble is the next big financial meltdown brewing in the US. But taking out student loans might be the best option for some (most) people.

I hope they are. In any other loan-taking agenda you need to show promise that you'll pay it back. It's too easy to take out a ton of student loans without showing that you have a plan to earn the income required to start paying them.

That should be the required process before you apply to college and before you fill out the FAFSA.

Regarding trades, my FIL works in an industry where they can't find people to do the job required. They need to be certified to do what they do and it's in an area of the state where more and more people are college educated and working in NYC.

As a student applying for the loan, you are not required to prove you have any plan towards paying them back. That's the main reason tuition is skyrocketing. Higher Ed knows they can keep jacking up the tuition rates, and that the lending industry will keep approving those loans. It's why the student loan debt bubble is the next financial crisis.

And how would a student applying for a loan even show they have a plan to pay it back? They can't prove they are going to have employment, nor what kind and at what salary, 4 years prior to graduation.

Tuition rates are so high, even state schools now, I don't know how anyone who doesn't have a trust fund can possibly afford college w/o tking out a loan.

That actually has little to do with why tuition is skyrocketing, particularly at public universities. The primary reason is decreased funding of education on the state and federal level, along with rising level of bureaucracy (for numerous reasons) and the general economic downturn in the last decade. Students' ability to take out increasing student loans is not a cause, but it does help facilitate the rise in cost.

I've read a number of articles that state the ability to take out such high loans actually is contributing to the rising tuition rates. At least in the opinions of those authors, it was one of many contributing causes. I misspoke above when I said that was the main reason, my bad.

WinstonsGirl · June 2015

TrixieJess said:

I was lucky in that my parents did RESP's for me and my Brother. I had enough to cover the first 4 years, and my parents helped with the last year too, so I was able to graduate debt free (2002) with 2 degrees. They contributed each month, but any money they got back in child allowance from the government also went into those accounts. My tuition was between $4000- $5000 per year, depending on my year. I also staying at my local University, which I think is more common in Canada than in the US and worked jobs for books, spending money, etc.

All nieces and nephews get a cheque to start an RESP from us when they're born. The government also does (or at least was) doing a matching donation too I think for all newborns, so their parents have been adding with that too. I refuse to pay into GFM's for tuition.
They don't match RESPs but they contribute up to $1000/year depending on household income. We started an RESP for our son when he was born. Both FI and I spent years paying off loans because neither of our parents had the funds. I don't care if my son goes to College or University so long as he can find an industry that he can find work in.

Thanks. I knew they did something with giving cash to newborns, but wasn't sure how. I had heard that there was some matching part over and above the initial amount though

The GFM to end all GFMs

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