Young adults
across the globe mentally prepare themselves for college all the way up until
they’re stepping foot into their hole-in-the-wall dorm building for the first
time, ever. The experience is exhilarating. You have your neighbors poking
their heads in your room to introduce themselves, your RA giving you guidelines
you know you won’t follow; mom and dad are trying to say their last goodbyes,
while you’re just trying to find out where the first party’s at. It all sounds
like a cakewalk until you think about all the money that is being dished out
just for your future. But the real existing question that many wonder, “Who
pays for it?”
While teenagers are saving up their
money to blow on anything and everything they can get their hands on, their
parents are more often than not saving up for their children’s college
education. According to When Parents Pay
for College, Kids’ Grades could suffer, written by Blaire Briody, “Nearly
two thirds of young adults between the ages of 19 and 22 receive financial
assistance from their parents … 56 percent of parents have paid or expect to
pay more for college than they expected when their first child was born”
(Briody). Because young adults expect their parents to pay for their college,
they tend to worry more about the “fun” part of their next four years, rather
than the academic aspect of their college experience.
Sociology professor at the
University of California, Laura Hamilton, states the downfall of parents paying
for their kid’s college. Although this increases their chances of fulfilling a
college degree, it has been shown that their GPA suffered. Studies state from
Hamilton’s report:
It allows for a lot of other activities in college
that aren’t academic. Participation in the social scene is expensive—money to
hang out, drink. But the more you have all these extras, the more you can get
dragged into the party scene, and that will drag down your GPA (Hamilton).
With all of the
articles and news reports about college and how prices are rising—the wealthier
families are offering to pay for the college tuition while the less fortunate
families struggle with the thought that their kids may not have the opportunity
to even have a college experience.
In Hamilton’s research, there are
parents who are more than okay with paying for their kid(s) college in full.
“Some parents were 100 percent complicit in this. They absolutely wanted their
children to go to school and party hard. They told me explicitly it’s not about
the grades, it’s about having fun, the best years of your life” (Hamilton).
Although college is said to be the years that everyone looks back on and
thinks, “If only I could go back…,” that does not give the parents the right to
hand their kids the party life on a silver platter. College can be just as fun
for those who must pay for their own college as those who don’t. The only
difference between the two is responsibility.
More often than not, parents are
paying for their teen’s college tuition so they do not have that burden on
their shoulders throughout college. Even though that is motivation for most
students to persevere to get a degree, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are
also persevering to get the best grades and GPA possible. According to David G.
Mitchell who wrote Why Parents Shouldn’t
Pay Entirely for College, he states the statistics and evidence to those
parents who need a reality check on what really is going on with their teens in
college. “One of the most enduring images that I recall from college was a
video clip of an obviously drunk student at a football game and holding up a
sign which read, “I don’t care. Daddy’s paying”’ (Mitchell). Now, either
parents are oblivious to what their kid’s do in college, or they simply do not
care that their money could be potentially going straight to hell in a handbag.
A friend of mine that I graduated high
school with was someone who was handed almost everything to him without having
to work much for it. He lived in a beautiful home that backed into an almost
fairytale looking wooded lot, windows from one side of the house to the other.
The pool in his basement overlooked the pond in his backyard was breathless
each and every glance. His parents gave both him and his sister more than
enough growing up. Although he never was one to talk about his family’s money,
it always seemed to cross a lot of minds to make people think, “Oh his parents
probably paid for that, too.” Now, following in his parent’s footsteps as a
future Alumni of PSU, he claims he is “living large.” He got his first job a
couple months before leaving for school, and hasn’t had one since. His parents
have given him checks and continuously send care packages to his dorm room.
Although it is a very sweet gesture, I question what exactly they are trying to
teach him.
The Olentangy school district has
been given a distinct label from the surrounding schools that many don’t stop
to take a second thought about. Growing up, Olentangy was labeled as “the rich
kids.” What about the ones with single parents trying to support a family of
four? What about the families that live in apartments on the verge of needing
food stamps? What about those people? The labels are made and often never
backed up. Even though there are a lot of wealthy families in the district,
there are also the ones who aren’t as fortunate. Studies state that those who
aren’t as fortunate are the ones who not only cannot financially support their
kids in college, but struggle to even make sure if their kids could support
themselves. This is why most parents decide to pay for their teenager’s college
tuition so teens do not have to fret the money aspect of college and just go
along for the ride.
Throughout my life I was blessed
enough to live in a friendly neighborhood and a roof to live under provided by
my parents. However, after completing my first semester at Columbus State Community College and receiving my final failing grades my wants and needs are now my number one
priority. Once I realized my GPA had not met the standards of Financial Aid and had resulted in myself being ineligible to receive loans or the Pell Grant, reality quickly sank in. I was no longer skipping classes because I wanted to sleep in or because I just wanted to spend time with my daughter Instead, I came
home, managed to start working full-time on top of being
a full-time student and a full-time single mother. I manage this week to week, day by day, hour by hour.
Although it sounds tough for someone to do at my age, I manage just fine and now have grades to be proud of. Since this semester is my financial responsibility to cover, I take
school much moreseriously. Like any other person my age, I do have my fun too.
Yet, I make sure that my school work is done and do not have a work commitment
to fulfill. The maturity that I have gained in the past year is something I
will take with me for the rest of my life. When I look at my friends that don’t
pay for anything, nor have a job does upset me at times. However, when I put
myself back into reality, I realize that I am not living in a fantasy world
anymore. I have a taste of the real world and I am proud of how far I’ve come
and where I am going all because of how strict I have been on my grades.
Because this is my money, I am a lot harder on myself than a student who
mooches off of mommy and daddy for a monthly paycheck in their dorm mailbox.
According to Two-Fifths of Parents Expect Children to Cover All or Most College
Costs by Eric Hoover states the statistics of who pays for college tuition:
…39 percent of parents expect their children to pay
for all or most of their college education. Nearly half (48 percent) expect
their children to cover some of the costs. If their child had to rely on
student loans, 22 percent of parents said it was very likely that they would
help repay the loans, and 33 percent said it was somewhat likely.
However,
students struggle to come up with the money forcing families to dig into their
savings or retirement plans in hopes that it will all pay off in the end.
Students across the nation are
taking advantage of the fact that mommy and daddy are covering all of their
college needs, some even sending monthly checks on top of that just for some
“extra cash.” Just because the parents are giving their kids a breather from
not having to worry about potential debt, they are putting their kid’s grades
and GPA at risk. More parents need to look at what they have spent on their
kids thus far in their lives, and show them some tough love. Whether a young
adult wants to admit it or not, they are better off learning how to save now
while they pull loans out for college rather than getting bills thrown at them
left and right once college ends. After all, I’d rather pay for a better future
through a well-earned education then settle for just average from so-so grades
and get bombarded with outrageous expenses that I was never prepared for.
Works
Cited
Briody, B. (2013, January 17). When Parents Pay
for College, Kids' Grades Could Suffer. Retrieved October 20, 2013, from The
Fiscal Times:
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2013/01/17/When-Parents-Pay-for-College-Kids-Grades-Could-Suffer.aspx#page1
Hamilton, L. T. (2013, January 3). More is More or More
is Less? Retrieved October 20, 2013, from American Sociological Review: http://asr.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/01/03/0003122412472680.abstract
Hoover, E. (2012, July 23). Two-Fifths of Parents Expect
Children to Cover All or Most College Costs. Retrieved October 15, 2013,
from The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/blogs/headcount/two-fifths-of-parents-expect-children-to-cover-all-or-most-college-costs/30907
Mitchell, D. G. (2009, April 29). Why Parents Shouldn't
Pay Entirely for College. Retrieved October 15, 2013, from Saving Advice:
http://www.savingadvice.com/articles/2009/04/29/104453_who-should-pay-for-college.html
Press, T. A. (2013, January 15). Parents Who Help Their
Children Pay for College Might Find Them Coming Home with Lower GPAs: Study.
Retrieved October 30, 2013, from Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/pay-kid-college-gpa-study-article-1.1240487
