Here's some interesting research on how college spending affects middle-class families.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/opinion/sunday/college-tuition.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
If you're like many families mentioned in this article - I know we fall into that category - you've spent "the college fund" encouraging your kids to discover their passions and develop their skills. Expecting our children to achieve "middle-class" right out of an MT/Acting program - or even a few years down the road - is ludicrous. Our S is a little over a year out of his BFA. He went to a state school with a conservatory-style MT program for free on a merit scholarship and has no loan debt. After working in a hometown restaurant the summer after graduation, he moved to NYC a year ago and makes enough money (with health insurance!) as a back waiter in a fine restaurant to live with two/three others in Manhatten (he could own a house in our hometown if he had his NY restaurant salary), eat (especially with job perks!), take cheap flights home now and again, and save just a bit more than he started with. He spends most of his free time writing music and is developing a musical. At least one of his classmates is throwing in the towel and leaving NY to go back home after less than a year living "the dream".
H and I contribute nothing to MT S's living expenses. We don't have any extra to give right now. We did contribute some to his two older brothers' college experiences and are paying on one small loan. We occasionally feed one S who didn't finish college and is probably defaulting on his student loans. We provide a home for another S who's wings are taking longer than expected to develop and is overwhelmed with his own student loan debt. Fortunately, neither took out "extra" private loan debt. Both work hourly jobs and are in rock bands that haven't yet taken off the way they'd hoped. Like many of you, we did everything possible to encourage our boys to follow their passions as they were growing up. The two older Ss are now closer to 30 than 20. We do not see middle class on the horizon for either of them yet.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/30/opinion/sunday/college-tuition.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
If you're like many families mentioned in this article - I know we fall into that category - you've spent "the college fund" encouraging your kids to discover their passions and develop their skills. Expecting our children to achieve "middle-class" right out of an MT/Acting program - or even a few years down the road - is ludicrous. Our S is a little over a year out of his BFA. He went to a state school with a conservatory-style MT program for free on a merit scholarship and has no loan debt. After working in a hometown restaurant the summer after graduation, he moved to NYC a year ago and makes enough money (with health insurance!) as a back waiter in a fine restaurant to live with two/three others in Manhatten (he could own a house in our hometown if he had his NY restaurant salary), eat (especially with job perks!), take cheap flights home now and again, and save just a bit more than he started with. He spends most of his free time writing music and is developing a musical. At least one of his classmates is throwing in the towel and leaving NY to go back home after less than a year living "the dream".
H and I contribute nothing to MT S's living expenses. We don't have any extra to give right now. We did contribute some to his two older brothers' college experiences and are paying on one small loan. We occasionally feed one S who didn't finish college and is probably defaulting on his student loans. We provide a home for another S who's wings are taking longer than expected to develop and is overwhelmed with his own student loan debt. Fortunately, neither took out "extra" private loan debt. Both work hourly jobs and are in rock bands that haven't yet taken off the way they'd hoped. Like many of you, we did everything possible to encourage our boys to follow their passions as they were growing up. The two older Ss are now closer to 30 than 20. We do not see middle class on the horizon for either of them yet.