Do Parents Have to Pay for College? | Personal Finance & Lifestyle | Yakezie Forums

Do you think it's the parents responsibility to pay for their child's higher education?

According to a report released by the McKinsey Global Institute, between 90 and 95 million low-skilled workers, or 2.6% of the global workforce, could be permanently jobless by 2020.

At the same time, employers will increasingly seek medium-  and high-skilled workers, meaning those who have completed secondary school and some vocational training, and workers with college or postgraduate degrees.

I am writing an article on this topic and would love to get your opinion/quotes on the matter. A link to your blog will be provided for all used comments.

krantcents said:

I think you have a good subject there!  What is  a parent's responsibility anyway? I starting to think of a lot of questions related to this subject.   I look forward to your article.

I'm publishing it on Monday :-)

I plan on funding as much of my (future) children's college costs as possible. My parents paid for my education, and I am so grateful that I didn't have to start out my professional career with student loan debt. The one downside was that for the first couple years of employment, I didn't feel like I had any obligations, so I spent way too much money on useless stuff. Hopefully I'll be able to get them started on the right foot like my parents did for me while making a point to be as transparent as possible so they better understand the value of their education.

Hi Dominique,

I thought I'd give some insight from my own experience as a student in the U.K

-I am solely responsible for my tuition fees

-I am solely responsible for my student loan

Thankfully I went to university before our fees got racked up to £9000 per year (up from £3000). So in that respect I'm very lucky.

To answer your question: I don't think parents should be responsible for paying course fees entirely. Sometimes a healthy contribution from mum and dad will suffice for most enrolees.

I feel that in earlier education it should be schools/colleges responsibility to make students aware of apprenticeships as I feel they are held in higher regard by employers – in terms of practical implications and having low paid trainees – in the U.K many students upon graduating are feeling a sense of betrayal when approaching the job market. Conversely those who left at school/college level to gain practical skills through apprenticeships seem to be benefiting more.

Maybe a question you could cover should be; do you think parents have a responsibility to show their children other options upon leaving school or college?

Perhaps apprenticeships are not that readily available, as they are here in theU.K.

Hope I gave you some food for thought.

Best wishes,

Daniel

Interesting topic for discussion. I'm gonna say no. My parents helped me out a bit in my last year of university but basically their philosophy was if you want to go to school, you can pay for it. It made me appreciate my education and work harder because of it, and I'll definitely do the same with my kids I think.