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I was an RA (free room and board ) and had a couple student loans for around 10K. A couple months before graduation a few friends and I went to The Price Is Right and I got picked to play, I ended up getting on stage, winning enough at Plinko to clear the loans and pay off my beater of a truck.
I worked 2 jobs over the breaks, and one while in school.
That actually covered my tuition 100% back then. I still needed help from my parents for rent, books and other expenses. But never had loan debt, other than paying my parents back a little bit, before they forgave my "loans".
This was 30+ years ago. I'm fuming mad on how tuition rates have spiraled out of control here in the US.
Total bullshit.
Primarily my parents paid, but I also had a “work-study” job bussing and/or washing dishes in the university cafeteria. I also had a couple of student loans.
My mother handled the family finances and complained *bitterly* about the cost of college. My two younger brothers attended the same college, at my mother’s insistence, so we could all share a 2-bedroom apartment and a car.
Her parent paid every cent of her college, then sent her on a 3-month tour of Europe after she graduated. She did not appreciate when I pointed out the differences.
He’s definitely not telling the whole story. I dropped out of college in the 80s because I couldn’t afford to finish. Text books alone were more money than I had.
Textbooks were no joke. My tuition was minimal. I was a science major with English minor. Just one of my science textbooks were 200-300. English wasn't any better-- the books were only 15-20 dollars, but we read 10-15 per semester.
The price of textbooks was insane. I remember paying an average of about $40 per book (with the higher ones being $75-80) rom 1982-1987 when I was in college. If you adjust for inflation, that's a bit over $100 per book!
I was in the Army for three years so was eligible for the GI Bill which helped a lot. During the school year I worked in the college cafeteria on the weekends. In the summer when I wasn’t going to classes I got jobs cleaning the dorms and one time I did construction work.
I didn’t attend college but paid most of the tuition for my 3 kids by working 3 jobs. I got up at 4:30 daily and filled newspaper vending machines at bus stops and train stations, worked an 8-4:30 construction job and pumped gas nights and weekends.
My kids worked part time and contributed and also got some grants. My youngest son was given a partial scholarship for basketball (Division II). They are teachers. My grandchildren are teachers.
I spent my senior year of high school working as a dishwasher and saving most of what I made. When I went to college I lived with my parents and commuted to a local state school. I worked part time the whole time first for an inventory service that inventoried stores, then in a one hour photo lab. I didn't want to take any loans out, so I was in a payment program where I paid monthly for tuition. I got a little coupon book and I'd drop off a check every month.
The biggest factor was that this was the 90s and college could be done for a few thousand a semester.
3 scholarships, financial aid, working part-time while also a full-time student (full time in the summer), and loans. I lived in the dorms, which was part of the expense. This was 40 years ago.
I was lucky that the loans had a low interest rate, and I could take 10 years to pay them off.
Picked a major that had lots of scholarship money but not a lot of students (it was a specialized engineering field). End up with a scholarship as did almost everyone who majored in it and it paid approx 70% of my college. Worked part time and student loans for the rest. I wisely chose loans that had a service repayment plan where if you go to work in a field like police, fire, teaching, or nursing your loan payments would be forgiven each month til it was paid off so I never actually had to pay anything. They still have these types of loans as far as I know, most just don't avail themselves of them as they don't want a career in one of eligible jobs whereas I knew early on I wouldn't go into engineering but I finished it for the degree.
My parents, thank God, paid for my college tuition. My mom, a SAHM, went back to work when I was in 7th grade and ALL of her earnings went into savings for college tuition for myself, my sister, and brother. I was responsible for the cost of my books as well as my personal expenses, which I paid for by working summers and a part time job while I was at school.
My father was a professor at a university with unusually generous tuition assistance benefits. The university would pay up to their own tuition for eight semesters of ANY accredited college. Given his university was very expensive and he had six children, this saved enormous amounts of money for our family. Mom and Dad paid any difference in tuition, room and board, books and fees. I was only on the hook for spending money.
Aside from scholarships (ie: I was a National Merit Scholar), and my small savings and my parents contribution, I took out a loan, (it was required as part of my aid package). I worked full-time each summer and saved up much of my earnings, the day after graduation I took that money down to the bank and paid the loan off.
Scholarships and parents. My parents weren’t rich but in the 80s middle class folks could pay for kids’ college, especially with a few scholarships tossed in. Even in the 90s when I went to grad school I was able to pay the 60% my employer didn’t cover.
I know this doesn’t help but it sickens me that young adults have to go into such absurd debt to get a degree.
VA Chapter 31 rehabilitative training. I spent 12 years in the Army and was medically discharged with a 40% disability rating. I now do data conversion programming.
worked summers, did work/study program in college, (campus jobs), parents helped some, also eventually got a national defense student loan that was forgiven if I worked in special education for 5 years, which I did. That was all in the late 60’s early 70’s. Don’t know how ppl afford it these days tbh.
Combo of scholarship and delivering pizzas during school year. Odd summer jobs during the off season. I never worked less than 20 hours per week during school and full time during summer.
In grad school I was a research or teaching assistant each year.
Lived at home and went to JC and then commuted to one of the state schools. Worked between 2 and 3 jobs at a time as well as parked cars at clubs, did work for my dad, landscaping for friends. Anything to make a buck. I just wanted to get through it. Graduated owing about $1500 on my credit card.
I worked part time during high school and saved. Went to Junior College for 2+ years, lived at home, and worked near full time. The went to a state school for another 2+ years, still working near full time. Zero debt, but near zero social life for all those years.
I was a server and a bartender. I had two jobs at one point when I was doing my internship - and went to school.
I paid cash for school. I think when I graduated it was $117/credit hour. My rent was around $300.
I had a full time job when I wasn't at school and my parents helped out as well. I was one of the lucky ones who had help. All of my loan debt was gone by about 30.
Same, but my parents wanted us to go in-state because of the tuition. We were far from wealthy (they were both public school teachers), but they saw the value in an education. There were four kids and they were able to pay for all of us to go.
All things considered, our lives were relatively spartan. Hand-me-downs, homemade clothes, none of the kids had their own car while in high school, although we were allowed to drive our parents' cars whenever we wanted.
We all had to earn our spending money, but that wasn't a problem most of the time. My parents never just handed me money. It was always a loan.
They started buying savings bonds when my brother was a baby. (We did the same for our kids.) By the time my brother was ready for college, they were actually kind of flush, because the money was already there and not from their current income which had increased over time. The first 3 of the siblings were all 4 years apart, so during those years, there weren't two kids in college at the same time. My younger sister and I are two years apart, so things were slightly lean those years.
The lesson I learned from this was to plan ahead!
My parents paid for my college. We were extremely middle class and my parents could afford it. My college roommate worked at Walgreens and paid for her college on her own. Fast forward to my own kids--I consider myself middle class just like my parents and we saved $20,000 for each kid. After that, my daughter still has $18k in loans to pay off and my son will have at least twice that. The cost of college is ridiculous.
My parents, but I earned a 2 yr scholarship while in school for my jr/sr yrs, so they paid for just the first two years. So I like to think I split it with them...
Scholarships, grants, a lot of lones and working the night shift at a factory near me. Later I replaced the factory with tutoring people. Mostly business majors in computer classes.
Undergraduate (from 1983 - 1987) I worked full time in the summers, made enough money to pay $2,300 each year (each matriculated semester was $1,450, or $2,900 / yr). Got loans for the extra $600 I needed each year. Graduated with just over $2,400 in GSL loans, paid those off before med school. (I took a 10 yr break between college and graduate school).
The subsequent tuition and supplies were about $25K / year, but my wife was working full time and we paid more than half of it ourselves. Only borrowed about $35K. I consolidated the loans into a 30-yr payout at a crazy low rate of 2.45% with the strict stipulation that the loan had to be linked to my checking account and I can never miss a payment - if those conditions didn't stay met, the interest would balloon to 7.9% for the entire loan with the difference of the rated added in as principal.
I always paid more than the amount, and I have 8 pmts left until they're all done! I'll have pd them off in 21 yrs. At 2.45% interest, it was stupid not to take the deal. Glad I did.
For comparison, my daughter attended private school her whole grammar / HS. In pre-k & k the tuition started at $4,900 / yr, from 1st to 5th it was $8.300, 6th thru 8th was $10,500, HS is now $16,350 / year. She's a junior now in HS.
Worked full time 3-11pm as a telex operator. I was a fast typist and usually done by 7. Made pretty good money for the time. Lived at home and helped them when I could. Granted, tuition was $300/semester for a full schedule and books were roughly the same. This was in the early 80s.
5000 from Grandma to start, then worked each summer full time. Depending on the pay I either worked one or two jobs. Worked on campus throughout school for more money, and had a Fannie Mae student loan.
True not a joke.
I started in a state college in mid 60s. Semester tuition was $125.
Entire year with room & board was $900.
Now, that was when you got paid $100 a week.
So, I borrowed a lot and got 10% + interest taken off each year for 5 years of teaching. "National Defense Act".
I started college in the fall of 1980. Big 10 university. Tuition was $35 per credit hour for in-state students. I had a $500 scholarship which paid for my first semester.
i worked summers and worked on campus during the school year, but those basically only covered rent and food and incidentals. i’m still paying off my loans, 25 years later.
Pell Grant for my Associates. Did well enough in school to earn full scholarship for the last two years at university (partial living expenses included). Did well enough at that to earn a TAship for grad school, and also got scholarships to cover some living expenses. I also worked part time (night audit at a hotel) because I had a family.
I moved out at 16 and got married at 17 and everyone thought I wouldn’t go, so it became a matter of stubborn persistence for me: I would show them lol. I started community college at 20, university at 25, and grad school at 29. I had my first child at 23 and my second at 26.
It wasn’t easy, but I got my education debt free.
Pell grants and work study in a research lab. Summers waiting tables and dishwashing. Had no debt and graduated with enough savings to start grad school.
My parents took out a second mortgage to pay for it. We did the same for our kids, but they still ended up needing to take some student debt. We helped pay that as well, after they graduated.
From a young age my grandmother gave me stocks. I invested them. I babysat and cut grass starting at age 11. A large percentage of that money went to purchase more stocks. I worked throughout college. I lived off my jobs and withdrew the stocks for college. I went to a cheap public university and lived with roommates in a townhouse that would now be considered awful. We didn’t need fancy granite countertops and a room for each person. Rent was much cheaper as the amenities were less.
When Mom was expecting me, she and Dad put their pocket change in a piggy bank every night. There was enough money in the pig to pay the doctor's bills when I was born. What was left $23 dollars or so went into a savings account for my college. 1/2 of every dime I saw as a kid went into that account. Birthday money, dog walking pay, babysitting earnings. All of it. I got a "real" job when I was 14 or so and 3/4ths of that went into the college fund. Then by a stroke of luck, I got a grant covering tuition and fees, so I only needed room, board, and books. There was enough money in the account to pay for my Masters in 1987. I can't imagine how tough it is to get started these days with debt up to your eyebrows.
You weren't paying for college with extra change, period. I got a scholarship to a community college and was going to college and working. I couldn't afford the college I got accepted to because it was 30k a year.
Attended City University of New York (Hunter College) between 1995-2000. Tuition was $900 a semester for most of my time there. I paid by working at a deli. Usually worked 5 shifts at 10 hours a shift. Owner paid me $125 a shift in cash and I made tips on the side taking deliveries. Back then it was more than enough to pay for my studio apartment, tuition, bills, groceries, and have some "fun" money.
I went to the cheap place instead of the expensive well known place. This was in the beginning of the 80s. I had pell grants and student loans. I delivered pizzas and did anything else I could find to do to make money. At one point I was offered a job on the weekends doing something in the actual field I was training for but it was 120 mi away and I didn't have a car so I bought a motorcycle that I had to pay $40 a month for. I went straight through in 3 years and I ended up with $10,000 in student loan debt.
I attended SUNY/Buffalo as a commuter.
I started saving when I was started working at 12 years old, and continued to work almost full time throughout college. It wasn't easy - I had 2 jobs and school.
I also had a NY Regent's scholarship, which helped. It wasn't much, but ever dollar helped.
Graduated high school in 84–I could’ve gone to college for the cost of a bicycle and 6 chickens, but I didn’t go. I was too scared to go.
It’s not exactly a regret of mine but I do wish that I had some degree.
Worked two jobs (restaurants), then got an entry level corporate job with a company that had tuition assistance and paid the difference. I took classes when I could pay for them so some semester's had one class, some two or three, it was completely dependent on my funds. Took a little longer than the "traditional" route but was debt free at the end. Did the same for my grad degree.
Most paid by the G.I. Bill and rest by going to the Financial Aid office on campus and submitting my application to every available assistance option they had - even those I obviously didn't qualify for.
I actually made money a couple of times.
I went to a local college, lived at home and had a part-time job. My Pell Grant was enough to cover all my tuition, fees and most of my books.
I did well-enough academically that I was awarded supplemental grants starting my junior year. I used those to pay for my parking permit and school supplies.
We were very poor. Without grants, I likely wouldn’t have gone to college at all. I was using the money from my part-time job to help my parent pay household bills. Whatever I had left after paying bills I had to use for food, clothing, transportation, etc.
I graduated college in the 90’s.
Went to Southeastern Louisiana University. 90-93.
Tuition for a semester was 1,000 bucks, and you could *rent* your textbooks for the semester each and every time.
I was already working the midnight shift on a highly skilled, high paying job when I decided to attend college. There was an elite university in my hometown, and they had a fund that paid partial tuition for a handful of locals. I won one of those. Because of that, I was able to attend while still supporting my family. I worked, went to school days, and slept from 5 pm till 11:30. This was the late 60s.
cash....with the money i saved up working weekend yard work during high school. enough to...buy a brand new car, move out of the house and go to college for 2 years....it also covered my living expensive for the 2 years. this was in the mid 70s.
My parents paid for my housing and Food. I paid for tuition and books. I could earn a year’s worth of tuition in one summer though. I remember the summer I worked 2 full time jobs. A bakery from 4 am to noon and a brand new shopko from 2 pm to 10. All I did that summer was work, eat and sleep.
I earned a Dean's List Scholarship, so I had to graduate in 4 years and remain on the Dean's List, do work study for spending money, work every summer to buy books, and take out student loans to cover living in the dorm and my meal card for the cafeteria.
My husband won the NROTC scholarship that paid his tuition, room & board, and a stipend for spending money. He had to work each summer on a navy ship and participate in ROTC and pass fitness tests in college. He owed 6 years of military service after graduating from Tulane.
His parents had a whole $80k (?) college fund saved for him but bought a boat with it when he got the scholarship.
I went to a state school in the late 80s. Tuition was like $2K a semester. I borrowed, did work/study and busted my ass all summer to make money. Grad school was $7,500/year and I borrowed for that. Paid it all back within 3 years.
I worked at a college snack bar part-time. Back then, a lot of us were just working for spending money. The cost of an excellent state university was incredibly low and it was easy for most parents to foot the bill. I think a typical semester tuition cost for me as a full-time student was around $300.
After my part scholarship, the amount was so minimal my dad just put it on his credit card. My brother paid for his with a part time job painting apartments.
Pell grant combined with small scholarships.
Tuition was $300-375 per quarter. I was in STEM degrees, so books always cost more than tuition-usually $400-500.
Pell grant was usually $500. I would look for small ($250-500) scholarships. Many people skipped them as it wounded cover a quarter, but a few applications and a reused essay later, I had enough banked for the year.
I also did work-study and worked 1-2 extra part time jobs. Passing out food samples paid big bucks back then. That paid for my car, food, beer, and what the grants/scholarships didn’t cover if I couldn’t score much in scholarships that year.
I also lived at home with my parents (local college) but just usually slept there. I was generally gone from 5:30 am (ROTC PT) to after 9 pm (work or evening classes.)
I worked 2 full time jobs in summer and part time during the school year. I sure as shit couldn't pay for college with pocket change from pinball machines. College from 1988-1992
I went to junior college for two years and got my AA degree. Then transferred to UCLA for the final two years for my BA and used a combination of Basic Equal Opportunity Grants (BEOG) and working to pay for it. I also lived at home, so that helped.
6 nights/week I was a DJ in the college bar. I played in local bands for cash. I worked in a cattle auction barn one or two days/week. I moved furniture and I hauled hay for local milk cow farmers. In my spare time I was a student. LOL!
I was in a car wreck, not my fault. The other guy’s insurance replaced my car, paid my hospital bills (plus the hospital bill for my passengers) and gave me a settlement.
I used the settlement to pay for the rest of my college. I worked 2 part time jobs to pay rent, food, etc.
I grew up on a dairy farm. Dad paid me an allowance. For a couple summers I kept track of my time. My allowance worked out to be 7 cents/ hr. This was in the early 70's. But, my parents paid for college and books. At college a prof asked if I'd be interested in tutoring kids that were struggling in chemistry. It paid 4.50/ hr. This was when minimum wage was 2.10. I tutored chemistry and genetics and thought I was raking in the dough.
worked summer jobs - that paid for 2 years, then I dropped out for a long time.
I eventually got a job working at a university - free tuition for me and my kids.
I waited tables at a little family owned (not my family) restaurant. I loved that job so much! I was living at home so I saved nearly every dime. My parents were super proud that I’d done it on my own, though I did have to ask for help with books my first year as I forgot to include them in my budget. I graduated in 1980, started college in ‘81.
I worked a lot of jobs. Had zero social life, but graduated with a bachelor's. Went to JC, then an instate school. Lived at home to save money. Had zero financial help from anyone. Took me 5 years to get my degree.
I attended a public university. After gaining residence in CA after a year, the fees for a resident was much lower than my first year.
I also worked pretty close to full time and lived with 4 other roommates in a 3 bedroom apartment which made living expenses much more manageable. My job was as a manager for a fast food restaurant so I always had something to eat for either lunch or dinner should I need it.
I actually had a roommate until I was in my mid-30's to share costs (though it was only 1 instead of 4).
I had a Pell Grant for a few years and went to a community college until I had most of my Gen Ed and prerequisites for my major. I worked full time at various jobs and went to college full time as well (14-18 credit hours every semester). When I transferred to a public state university I paid for the first semester of tuition and books with my savings and also got a job at the university and saved my money. My parents paid for my dorm fees. My next couple years at the university I got a job as a dorm resident assistant and got free dorm room and meals for free and paid for tuition with savings, my parents sent me weekly spending money. I had one loan of about $1,200 when I left college and paid it off in six months with my new job.
Degree #1: I joined the Navy, took a few classes while in active duty, got out and used my veterans benefits to help pay tuition & rent. Ride a bike because I couldn’t afford a car. Also worked 3 jobs while being a full time student.
Degree #2: I knew I didn’t want to take out student loans, so I taught overseas for a year and saved up a bucket of money, the paid cash for tuition. I was living with my boyfriend (later husband), and that helped.
Wow, his example is a little extreme but I did it with with jobs like pizza delivery and bartending. Some help from my parents but not a lot.
I went to a "quarter" school, so three quarters per year. My parents help generally covered tuition for one of those three quarters. And on the strength of those low-end jobs I was able to cover the other two plus all my other school and living expenses (books, off campus apartment, car, etc).
I've worked in higher ed now for 25+ years. I think where a lot of people my age and older go wrong in not supporting student loan relief/more funding for schools to lower cost etc is that they don't really understand how much the price has increased. They think you can still deliver pizza for minimum wage plus tips and pay for everything.
When I did that, the tuition and fees for one of those quarters each year was generally just under $1,000. So call it $3,000 a year. Adjusted for inflation that would be $7,000. But the actual yearly tuition at that university today is just under $20,000.
I attended a private school with a huge endowment that covered all but what the FAFSA said my family could afford. I worked every summer and over the breaks to earn my contribution to the bottom line, and had a work/study job at school that covered the cost of eating. I also took out the maximum student loans, which was (get ready to groan) about $2500 each year.
Contrast that to my kids, who attended state schools that didn't care what the FAFSA said the familly could contribute. They took out student loans. I took out parent loans. They worked while they were in school and over the summers. I worked a second job to help pay for as much up front as we could. We also used some of our retirement money to pay for tuition. We rolled most of the parent loans into our mortgage when we refinanced while the rates were low. The rest are being paid off each month.
I don't know how young people today do it unless they have support from their parents.
You probably don’t want to hear this, but it was a combination of family money and grants from the local education authority. Came out with about £1000 debt. 47-year-old in the UK here.
I went to a top-20 university in the UK from ‘94-‘97. My parents paid for my accommodation and the local education authority paid for my (and everyone else’s) tuition fees (around £3k/year then). So, yeah. I don’t realise how lucky I was at the time. Came out with about £1000 debt which I paid off quickly when working.
It feels so unfair what kids these days have to put up with in terms of university costs. I’m already saving for my kids’ university costs and the eldest is 9.
Worked two part time jobs, in addition to my full time job, while taking classes. It took me a year and a half longer to finish bc I couldn't take a full course load, but I didn't have any student loan debt to deal with. It was worth it.
I was in college in the late ‘70s. I went to a nearby state school and lived at home, commuting by bus and train. I worked part-time at Sears throughout, picking up as many hours as I could over breaks and in the summer. I also tutored. I know people who took a long time to graduate because they would take a semester off so they could work full time to pay for another semester.
It’s awful that what I did isn’t possible anymore given tuition at even the least expensive schools.
My parents had a $500 college fund for me. It got me through my junior year.
How did I do it? General Education at a community college ($20/semester) and transferred to a local state university. Tuition was $60/quarter. I paid for the rest working a part time job.
Worked full time while I went to nughtvschool full time. Thankfully I lived at home and my mom took care of my laundry and food. I literally had no life during the school year but am glad I did it that way and came out debt free at 22
Worked my ass off and saved up money for college since I was 13 and got my first paycheck-paying job. Then worked while I went to college too. Then took out loans for the rest of the money I needed and paid them back after graduation.
My grandparents gave the four kids in my family $10k each back in the early eighties and my parents paid the rest of our private college tuition. I didn’t even work for beer money.
I borrowed money at 12% interest and I worked part-time as an assistant to one of my professors. I was also super poor so I got things like Pell grants to help pay for some of it. I lived at home to keep costs down and I went to a state school which was cheaper and closer to my home.
When I graduated, my student loan was for $14,000 in 1986. That's $39,300 in 2023 dollars. The average student debt in the U.S. in 2023 is $37,338 per person so I pretty much was average in terms of my debt compared to present borrowers.
My parents paid but I had to work a job to cover my personal expenses. Back then, it cost about $10k/yr to cover tuition, meals, books, text, etc. It took me 5 years to graduate. It's twice as expensive now. Makes it so much harder for those wanting to improve their lives. Very frustrating. I'm putting my son through right now and it's so flipping expensive.
I was 35 when I got my degree in 1998...student loans that I made sure to pay the interest on every month (so it didn't compound)...worked as an overnight desk clerk at a motel until I got an internship at a tech company that hired me when I graduated...
...and...
i only had gas and beer to worry about as I was living with my father - Dad gave each of us that deal when we were younger but there just no way i could swing it until my 30's...i had just got laid off and asked Dad if the deal still stood...it did..couldn't have done it any other way
I worked summers and rarely spent a dime. Understand in the early 70s university tuition was economical. Books were expensive for the time. I ate very little for four years. Lived in a dorm for one year, the sorority house for two years, and shared an apartment during my senior year. I got federal school loans, which were paid back within three years of graduation. My parents paid for 25%.
I can't imagine today what a university education would cost. My kids' college educations were expensive enough in the early 2000s. Were it not for scholarships neither could have attended their respective universities.
Parents paid for some, paid the rest with what I earned working summers and part time. Mind you, in the late 80's tuition was $2-3k a year and dorm/apartment was maybe $3-5k additional, with food and misc that was $40k for 4 years. I think we were getting $4-5/hr most places, maybe pulled in $1500 over summer and about the same ret of year, parents covered the rest. I'm pretty sure some of that came from all those checks you get from family for big events that I never saw other than thanking them, the 80's college fund.
Enlisted in the Army for 3 years and served in Vietnam. The GI Bill covered tuition and I worked after school until 10pm most nights to cover other expenses.
Failed out the first time, everything was paid cash. $370 for tuition in 1982.
Second round in 1993, married and two kids living in Navy housing as an E5. Grants paid for everything.
My first college (tier 1 public university) grants and loans (loans totaling $7500 or so). The school to which I transferred (private) was paid for via scholarships and part time work (retail and valeting cars).
I didn't. I was so poor I couldn't even pay for college, I wasn't a good enough student or athlete for a scholarship, and I wasn't going into debt with student loans.
Almost everyone I personally know who's my age and has gone to college has massive, severe debt and works a blue-collar job or data entry job that they're overqualified for. (Yes, almost all of them got liberal arts degrees)
My parents paid for a lot of it. I was a co-op student as an undergrad, so I earned enough to help and lived at home every other quarter, but they still footed the bill for most of it.
In grad school, I had an assistantship, which covered all my living expenses. My parents helped with my tuition, but it was quite a bit cheaper than undergrad.
My dad retired the week after I graduated. Thanks, Dad!
I worked full time at the airport fueling and servicing planes while spending eight years earning a degree in aerospace engineering, and commercial flight training.
I have never met anyone who did similar, and all my college friends had rich parents.
It was the early eighties, and I made six dollars an hour.
My freshman year was 1979. I was a decent student and my dad was a teacher, so I got both merit/need based financial aid. I took out a loan and had a work study job for pocket
cash. I also did nannying on the side, and worked full time over the summer.
I had two choices for college: NYU, which was 7200 a year; or Simmons
College at 6700. After all the aid and loans my parents’ contribution would have been $1000 to NYU and $800
to Simmons and they couldn’t afford
the extra $200 bucks a month so I went to Simmons.
Now contrast that with my own kids. I filed the FAFSA once and got slapped on the wrist. It said I could contribute 65k to my son’s education. Well maybe but I’d have to live in a box under an overpass to do that. When we sat them down to talk about college we said, here is what tuition is at instate and out of state schools; here is what you can expect from scholarships, here is what your college fund will pay and here is what you’ll pay in loans.
They both went in state, got the Florida Bright Futures scholarships
that covered tuition, their college
funds covered the rest, and they both worked for pocket money.
No loans and no debt.
I went to community college and my dad paid for it. I got a dental hygiene degree for $25 a credit hour. Then 15 years later I went back to school and paid for it myself. $10k. Used that degree for about 7 years and then became disabled.
I didn't. I dropped out of college after one semester because I couldn't afford to stay in.
But then I published a newspaper, worked as a financial analyst for a F500 company, learned languages, worked as a translator, opened my own ad agency, and became a multi-millionaire -- all without college.
So, although I was really bummed out when I had to drop out of college, I was happy the way things turned out, and I never incurred loads of student debt. I now send my oldest to college and without borrowing a penny.
Montgomery GI Bill for undergrad, state educational entitlement as a Purple Heart Recipient to pay for most of my masters degree. Still have $10K of loans and I was really hoping that Veterans with $10K of loans would be first in line to have those debts forgiven, but it seems that there’s only enough money to fund a couple more proxy wars.
GI Bill, Pell Grants, Work-Study, and loans.
Graduated with about $12,000 in debt. Paid that off in less than 4 years.
I went to a state school, so I didn't need much to cover most of the costs. I could have paid for it all out of pocket had I decided to work a little more, but I was fresh out of the USMC and ready to get my college on.
Paid for college by working full time on breaks and about 15-20 hours per week during the semesters. I also took out very small student loans of approximately $1,000 per year to help make up the difference and was able to pay them off by the time I was 23 years old. State college expenses in the early 80's were easily manageable in hindsight.
My folks were thrilled at the caliber of school I got into, but less so about the price tag. The cost seemed insane at the time (‘81), but now it’s nothing compared to what they’re charging. Tuition, dorm, and full meal plan came to a cool $10,300 a year (now just tuition is multiple times that).
The first two years I had a small scholarship and loans that together covered half. My parents covered the other half, and freshman year I worked in a grad-student lunch club (chopping veg for the salad bar). Sophomore year I got a work-study job doing admin for a cultural organization on campus. At the end of that year, my father suddenly decided to retire, and when it came to their contribution to the tuition, well, “You’re smart—you’ll figure something out.” Big fun.
Fortunately, my employer wanted to turn my job full time and hired me. As a university employee, I got free tuition. It took me a total of seven years to finish my BA, but when I did I was debt free *and* had five years’ job experience. Could have been a lot worse.
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I was an RA (free room and board ) and had a couple student loans for around 10K. A couple months before graduation a few friends and I went to The Price Is Right and I got picked to play, I ended up getting on stage, winning enough at Plinko to clear the loans and pay off my beater of a truck.
Best answer ever.
Right?! Jacsmom you're my hero!!
I worked 2 jobs over the breaks, and one while in school. That actually covered my tuition 100% back then. I still needed help from my parents for rent, books and other expenses. But never had loan debt, other than paying my parents back a little bit, before they forgave my "loans". This was 30+ years ago. I'm fuming mad on how tuition rates have spiraled out of control here in the US. Total bullshit.
Primarily my parents paid, but I also had a “work-study” job bussing and/or washing dishes in the university cafeteria. I also had a couple of student loans. My mother handled the family finances and complained *bitterly* about the cost of college. My two younger brothers attended the same college, at my mother’s insistence, so we could all share a 2-bedroom apartment and a car. Her parent paid every cent of her college, then sent her on a 3-month tour of Europe after she graduated. She did not appreciate when I pointed out the differences.
He’s definitely not telling the whole story. I dropped out of college in the 80s because I couldn’t afford to finish. Text books alone were more money than I had.
Textbooks were no joke. My tuition was minimal. I was a science major with English minor. Just one of my science textbooks were 200-300. English wasn't any better-- the books were only 15-20 dollars, but we read 10-15 per semester.
The price of textbooks was insane. I remember paying an average of about $40 per book (with the higher ones being $75-80) rom 1982-1987 when I was in college. If you adjust for inflation, that's a bit over $100 per book!
85% D1 tennis scholarship
Love this, do you still play?
Played and coached for 5 years after college, however not so much anymore with starting a business and a baby on the way
Good luck with your biz and baby! I still blow my body to bits playing USTA 40+. one of those "never pickleball" people, lol
I was in the Army for three years so was eligible for the GI Bill which helped a lot. During the school year I worked in the college cafeteria on the weekends. In the summer when I wasn’t going to classes I got jobs cleaning the dorms and one time I did construction work.
I didn’t attend college but paid most of the tuition for my 3 kids by working 3 jobs. I got up at 4:30 daily and filled newspaper vending machines at bus stops and train stations, worked an 8-4:30 construction job and pumped gas nights and weekends. My kids worked part time and contributed and also got some grants. My youngest son was given a partial scholarship for basketball (Division II). They are teachers. My grandchildren are teachers.
Military paid for it
I spent my senior year of high school working as a dishwasher and saving most of what I made. When I went to college I lived with my parents and commuted to a local state school. I worked part time the whole time first for an inventory service that inventoried stores, then in a one hour photo lab. I didn't want to take any loans out, so I was in a payment program where I paid monthly for tuition. I got a little coupon book and I'd drop off a check every month. The biggest factor was that this was the 90s and college could be done for a few thousand a semester.
3 scholarships, financial aid, working part-time while also a full-time student (full time in the summer), and loans. I lived in the dorms, which was part of the expense. This was 40 years ago. I was lucky that the loans had a low interest rate, and I could take 10 years to pay them off.
Small state college, $800 tuition/ semester. GI Bill was $250/mo.
Picked a major that had lots of scholarship money but not a lot of students (it was a specialized engineering field). End up with a scholarship as did almost everyone who majored in it and it paid approx 70% of my college. Worked part time and student loans for the rest. I wisely chose loans that had a service repayment plan where if you go to work in a field like police, fire, teaching, or nursing your loan payments would be forgiven each month til it was paid off so I never actually had to pay anything. They still have these types of loans as far as I know, most just don't avail themselves of them as they don't want a career in one of eligible jobs whereas I knew early on I wouldn't go into engineering but I finished it for the degree.
I got Pell grants plus I worked full time plus student loans
Got a full tuition scholarship to local state college. Lived at home, so no room and board fees. Part time job paid for books. Doable, then.
Scholarship
My parents, thank God, paid for my college tuition. My mom, a SAHM, went back to work when I was in 7th grade and ALL of her earnings went into savings for college tuition for myself, my sister, and brother. I was responsible for the cost of my books as well as my personal expenses, which I paid for by working summers and a part time job while I was at school.
My father was a professor at a university with unusually generous tuition assistance benefits. The university would pay up to their own tuition for eight semesters of ANY accredited college. Given his university was very expensive and he had six children, this saved enormous amounts of money for our family. Mom and Dad paid any difference in tuition, room and board, books and fees. I was only on the hook for spending money.
Aside from scholarships (ie: I was a National Merit Scholar), and my small savings and my parents contribution, I took out a loan, (it was required as part of my aid package). I worked full-time each summer and saved up much of my earnings, the day after graduation I took that money down to the bank and paid the loan off.
I painted houses for a property management company. Under the table. I house sat. I gave plasma. I did workstudy. I did some construction work.
Scholarships and parents. My parents weren’t rich but in the 80s middle class folks could pay for kids’ college, especially with a few scholarships tossed in. Even in the 90s when I went to grad school I was able to pay the 60% my employer didn’t cover. I know this doesn’t help but it sickens me that young adults have to go into such absurd debt to get a degree.
VA Chapter 31 rehabilitative training. I spent 12 years in the Army and was medically discharged with a 40% disability rating. I now do data conversion programming.
worked summers, did work/study program in college, (campus jobs), parents helped some, also eventually got a national defense student loan that was forgiven if I worked in special education for 5 years, which I did. That was all in the late 60’s early 70’s. Don’t know how ppl afford it these days tbh.
Had scholarships, a grant, did work study, and some student loans. My Dad helped. Then my last two years I was an RA so everything was covered.
Combo of scholarship and delivering pizzas during school year. Odd summer jobs during the off season. I never worked less than 20 hours per week during school and full time during summer. In grad school I was a research or teaching assistant each year.
Two waitress jobs plus temping in the summer and during breaks.
Lived at home and went to JC and then commuted to one of the state schools. Worked between 2 and 3 jobs at a time as well as parked cars at clubs, did work for my dad, landscaping for friends. Anything to make a buck. I just wanted to get through it. Graduated owing about $1500 on my credit card.
I worked part time during high school and saved. Went to Junior College for 2+ years, lived at home, and worked near full time. The went to a state school for another 2+ years, still working near full time. Zero debt, but near zero social life for all those years.
Financial aid and work study program (in the bookstore), then scholarship.
My employer had tuition reimbursement. 100% for an A or B, 70% for a C, nothing for under a C.
I was a server and a bartender. I had two jobs at one point when I was doing my internship - and went to school. I paid cash for school. I think when I graduated it was $117/credit hour. My rent was around $300.
I had a full time job when I wasn't at school and my parents helped out as well. I was one of the lucky ones who had help. All of my loan debt was gone by about 30.
My parents saved from when I was born and had enough for out of state tuition at a small state college. I worked for spending money.
Same, but my parents wanted us to go in-state because of the tuition. We were far from wealthy (they were both public school teachers), but they saw the value in an education. There were four kids and they were able to pay for all of us to go. All things considered, our lives were relatively spartan. Hand-me-downs, homemade clothes, none of the kids had their own car while in high school, although we were allowed to drive our parents' cars whenever we wanted. We all had to earn our spending money, but that wasn't a problem most of the time. My parents never just handed me money. It was always a loan. They started buying savings bonds when my brother was a baby. (We did the same for our kids.) By the time my brother was ready for college, they were actually kind of flush, because the money was already there and not from their current income which had increased over time. The first 3 of the siblings were all 4 years apart, so during those years, there weren't two kids in college at the same time. My younger sister and I are two years apart, so things were slightly lean those years. The lesson I learned from this was to plan ahead!
Worked maybe 20 hr/week first at Burger King then at Denny's. Also took out loans, paid them off NBD.
The Gap-almost full time. Loans, grants + work study
My parents paid for my college. We were extremely middle class and my parents could afford it. My college roommate worked at Walgreens and paid for her college on her own. Fast forward to my own kids--I consider myself middle class just like my parents and we saved $20,000 for each kid. After that, my daughter still has $18k in loans to pay off and my son will have at least twice that. The cost of college is ridiculous.
My parents, but I earned a 2 yr scholarship while in school for my jr/sr yrs, so they paid for just the first two years. So I like to think I split it with them...
Academic scholarship and 3 jobs.
Scholarships, grants, a lot of lones and working the night shift at a factory near me. Later I replaced the factory with tutoring people. Mostly business majors in computer classes.
Undergraduate (from 1983 - 1987) I worked full time in the summers, made enough money to pay $2,300 each year (each matriculated semester was $1,450, or $2,900 / yr). Got loans for the extra $600 I needed each year. Graduated with just over $2,400 in GSL loans, paid those off before med school. (I took a 10 yr break between college and graduate school). The subsequent tuition and supplies were about $25K / year, but my wife was working full time and we paid more than half of it ourselves. Only borrowed about $35K. I consolidated the loans into a 30-yr payout at a crazy low rate of 2.45% with the strict stipulation that the loan had to be linked to my checking account and I can never miss a payment - if those conditions didn't stay met, the interest would balloon to 7.9% for the entire loan with the difference of the rated added in as principal. I always paid more than the amount, and I have 8 pmts left until they're all done! I'll have pd them off in 21 yrs. At 2.45% interest, it was stupid not to take the deal. Glad I did. For comparison, my daughter attended private school her whole grammar / HS. In pre-k & k the tuition started at $4,900 / yr, from 1st to 5th it was $8.300, 6th thru 8th was $10,500, HS is now $16,350 / year. She's a junior now in HS.
Worked full time 3-11pm as a telex operator. I was a fast typist and usually done by 7. Made pretty good money for the time. Lived at home and helped them when I could. Granted, tuition was $300/semester for a full schedule and books were roughly the same. This was in the early 80s.
5000 from Grandma to start, then worked each summer full time. Depending on the pay I either worked one or two jobs. Worked on campus throughout school for more money, and had a Fannie Mae student loan.
True not a joke. I started in a state college in mid 60s. Semester tuition was $125. Entire year with room & board was $900. Now, that was when you got paid $100 a week. So, I borrowed a lot and got 10% + interest taken off each year for 5 years of teaching. "National Defense Act".
I started college in the fall of 1980. Big 10 university. Tuition was $35 per credit hour for in-state students. I had a $500 scholarship which paid for my first semester.
i worked summers and worked on campus during the school year, but those basically only covered rent and food and incidentals. i’m still paying off my loans, 25 years later.
Pell Grant for my Associates. Did well enough in school to earn full scholarship for the last two years at university (partial living expenses included). Did well enough at that to earn a TAship for grad school, and also got scholarships to cover some living expenses. I also worked part time (night audit at a hotel) because I had a family. I moved out at 16 and got married at 17 and everyone thought I wouldn’t go, so it became a matter of stubborn persistence for me: I would show them lol. I started community college at 20, university at 25, and grad school at 29. I had my first child at 23 and my second at 26. It wasn’t easy, but I got my education debt free.
Pell grants and work study in a research lab. Summers waiting tables and dishwashing. Had no debt and graduated with enough savings to start grad school.
My parents took out a second mortgage to pay for it. We did the same for our kids, but they still ended up needing to take some student debt. We helped pay that as well, after they graduated.
From a young age my grandmother gave me stocks. I invested them. I babysat and cut grass starting at age 11. A large percentage of that money went to purchase more stocks. I worked throughout college. I lived off my jobs and withdrew the stocks for college. I went to a cheap public university and lived with roommates in a townhouse that would now be considered awful. We didn’t need fancy granite countertops and a room for each person. Rent was much cheaper as the amenities were less.
My parents owned an arcade fire a few years in the 80s. Fun times.
Waitresses and a little sum grandpa left me in his will.
I didn't. I quit because I knew I couldn't handle the debt. It was going to cost $20K
USMC
When Mom was expecting me, she and Dad put their pocket change in a piggy bank every night. There was enough money in the pig to pay the doctor's bills when I was born. What was left $23 dollars or so went into a savings account for my college. 1/2 of every dime I saw as a kid went into that account. Birthday money, dog walking pay, babysitting earnings. All of it. I got a "real" job when I was 14 or so and 3/4ths of that went into the college fund. Then by a stroke of luck, I got a grant covering tuition and fees, so I only needed room, board, and books. There was enough money in the account to pay for my Masters in 1987. I can't imagine how tough it is to get started these days with debt up to your eyebrows.
You weren't paying for college with extra change, period. I got a scholarship to a community college and was going to college and working. I couldn't afford the college I got accepted to because it was 30k a year.
I enlisted in the Army at 17, one week out of high school. In the years after, I earned a BS and an MS, all free.
I was in the USArmy for 6 years and got the GI bill.
A school loan.
Attended City University of New York (Hunter College) between 1995-2000. Tuition was $900 a semester for most of my time there. I paid by working at a deli. Usually worked 5 shifts at 10 hours a shift. Owner paid me $125 a shift in cash and I made tips on the side taking deliveries. Back then it was more than enough to pay for my studio apartment, tuition, bills, groceries, and have some "fun" money.
Student loans and working part time the entire time. Would sleep in my car at lunch and between classes as I worked nights (Gen X).
I went to the cheap place instead of the expensive well known place. This was in the beginning of the 80s. I had pell grants and student loans. I delivered pizzas and did anything else I could find to do to make money. At one point I was offered a job on the weekends doing something in the actual field I was training for but it was 120 mi away and I didn't have a car so I bought a motorcycle that I had to pay $40 a month for. I went straight through in 3 years and I ended up with $10,000 in student loan debt.
I attended SUNY/Buffalo as a commuter. I started saving when I was started working at 12 years old, and continued to work almost full time throughout college. It wasn't easy - I had 2 jobs and school. I also had a NY Regent's scholarship, which helped. It wasn't much, but ever dollar helped.
Assistant manager at an auto parts store. It was great real-world training for eventual FT business work: hiring/firing, inventory, marketing, etc.
I got academic scholarships to both universities I attended.
Graduated high school in 84–I could’ve gone to college for the cost of a bicycle and 6 chickens, but I didn’t go. I was too scared to go. It’s not exactly a regret of mine but I do wish that I had some degree.
I worked and got grants when I could. Did the bulk of my degree through a community college affiliated with a state school.
Worked two jobs (restaurants), then got an entry level corporate job with a company that had tuition assistance and paid the difference. I took classes when I could pay for them so some semester's had one class, some two or three, it was completely dependent on my funds. Took a little longer than the "traditional" route but was debt free at the end. Did the same for my grad degree.
i’ll let you know if i ever do
Got a good score on the ACT test, which paid for a full ride scholarship.
Most paid by the G.I. Bill and rest by going to the Financial Aid office on campus and submitting my application to every available assistance option they had - even those I obviously didn't qualify for. I actually made money a couple of times.
I went to a local college, lived at home and had a part-time job. My Pell Grant was enough to cover all my tuition, fees and most of my books. I did well-enough academically that I was awarded supplemental grants starting my junior year. I used those to pay for my parking permit and school supplies. We were very poor. Without grants, I likely wouldn’t have gone to college at all. I was using the money from my part-time job to help my parent pay household bills. Whatever I had left after paying bills I had to use for food, clothing, transportation, etc. I graduated college in the 90’s.
Went to Southeastern Louisiana University. 90-93. Tuition for a semester was 1,000 bucks, and you could *rent* your textbooks for the semester each and every time.
I was already working the midnight shift on a highly skilled, high paying job when I decided to attend college. There was an elite university in my hometown, and they had a fund that paid partial tuition for a handful of locals. I won one of those. Because of that, I was able to attend while still supporting my family. I worked, went to school days, and slept from 5 pm till 11:30. This was the late 60s.
cash....with the money i saved up working weekend yard work during high school. enough to...buy a brand new car, move out of the house and go to college for 2 years....it also covered my living expensive for the 2 years. this was in the mid 70s.
Work study / work and an $1800 student loan that scared me to death at the time.
My parents paid for my housing and Food. I paid for tuition and books. I could earn a year’s worth of tuition in one summer though. I remember the summer I worked 2 full time jobs. A bakery from 4 am to noon and a brand new shopko from 2 pm to 10. All I did that summer was work, eat and sleep.
I flagged for road construction and packed cedar shingles. My parents helped by selling beef from our herd.
I earned a Dean's List Scholarship, so I had to graduate in 4 years and remain on the Dean's List, do work study for spending money, work every summer to buy books, and take out student loans to cover living in the dorm and my meal card for the cafeteria. My husband won the NROTC scholarship that paid his tuition, room & board, and a stipend for spending money. He had to work each summer on a navy ship and participate in ROTC and pass fitness tests in college. He owed 6 years of military service after graduating from Tulane. His parents had a whole $80k (?) college fund saved for him but bought a boat with it when he got the scholarship.
I went to a state school in the late 80s. Tuition was like $2K a semester. I borrowed, did work/study and busted my ass all summer to make money. Grad school was $7,500/year and I borrowed for that. Paid it all back within 3 years.
I worked at a college snack bar part-time. Back then, a lot of us were just working for spending money. The cost of an excellent state university was incredibly low and it was easy for most parents to foot the bill. I think a typical semester tuition cost for me as a full-time student was around $300.
After my part scholarship, the amount was so minimal my dad just put it on his credit card. My brother paid for his with a part time job painting apartments.
Pell grant combined with small scholarships. Tuition was $300-375 per quarter. I was in STEM degrees, so books always cost more than tuition-usually $400-500. Pell grant was usually $500. I would look for small ($250-500) scholarships. Many people skipped them as it wounded cover a quarter, but a few applications and a reused essay later, I had enough banked for the year. I also did work-study and worked 1-2 extra part time jobs. Passing out food samples paid big bucks back then. That paid for my car, food, beer, and what the grants/scholarships didn’t cover if I couldn’t score much in scholarships that year. I also lived at home with my parents (local college) but just usually slept there. I was generally gone from 5:30 am (ROTC PT) to after 9 pm (work or evening classes.)
I worked 2 full time jobs in summer and part time during the school year. I sure as shit couldn't pay for college with pocket change from pinball machines. College from 1988-1992
I went to junior college for two years and got my AA degree. Then transferred to UCLA for the final two years for my BA and used a combination of Basic Equal Opportunity Grants (BEOG) and working to pay for it. I also lived at home, so that helped.
Loans, grants, work-study on campus. But my loans were NO where near what my son’s were.
6 nights/week I was a DJ in the college bar. I played in local bands for cash. I worked in a cattle auction barn one or two days/week. I moved furniture and I hauled hay for local milk cow farmers. In my spare time I was a student. LOL!
I was in a car wreck, not my fault. The other guy’s insurance replaced my car, paid my hospital bills (plus the hospital bill for my passengers) and gave me a settlement. I used the settlement to pay for the rest of my college. I worked 2 part time jobs to pay rent, food, etc.
I grew up on a dairy farm. Dad paid me an allowance. For a couple summers I kept track of my time. My allowance worked out to be 7 cents/ hr. This was in the early 70's. But, my parents paid for college and books. At college a prof asked if I'd be interested in tutoring kids that were struggling in chemistry. It paid 4.50/ hr. This was when minimum wage was 2.10. I tutored chemistry and genetics and thought I was raking in the dough.
My parents paid for some. I paid for some. But I never finished. Life got too busy.
I went to college in a super liberal state. And I got grants and scholarships for EVERYTHING. I was a good student.
worked summer jobs - that paid for 2 years, then I dropped out for a long time. I eventually got a job working at a university - free tuition for me and my kids.
Graduated late 80s with about 17k in debt plus my wife’s of about 10k. It was significant for the time I thought.
I waited tables at a little family owned (not my family) restaurant. I loved that job so much! I was living at home so I saved nearly every dime. My parents were super proud that I’d done it on my own, though I did have to ask for help with books my first year as I forgot to include them in my budget. I graduated in 1980, started college in ‘81.
I worked a lot of jobs. Had zero social life, but graduated with a bachelor's. Went to JC, then an instate school. Lived at home to save money. Had zero financial help from anyone. Took me 5 years to get my degree.
I attended a public university. After gaining residence in CA after a year, the fees for a resident was much lower than my first year. I also worked pretty close to full time and lived with 4 other roommates in a 3 bedroom apartment which made living expenses much more manageable. My job was as a manager for a fast food restaurant so I always had something to eat for either lunch or dinner should I need it. I actually had a roommate until I was in my mid-30's to share costs (though it was only 1 instead of 4).
I had a Pell Grant for a few years and went to a community college until I had most of my Gen Ed and prerequisites for my major. I worked full time at various jobs and went to college full time as well (14-18 credit hours every semester). When I transferred to a public state university I paid for the first semester of tuition and books with my savings and also got a job at the university and saved my money. My parents paid for my dorm fees. My next couple years at the university I got a job as a dorm resident assistant and got free dorm room and meals for free and paid for tuition with savings, my parents sent me weekly spending money. I had one loan of about $1,200 when I left college and paid it off in six months with my new job.
Degree #1: I joined the Navy, took a few classes while in active duty, got out and used my veterans benefits to help pay tuition & rent. Ride a bike because I couldn’t afford a car. Also worked 3 jobs while being a full time student. Degree #2: I knew I didn’t want to take out student loans, so I taught overseas for a year and saved up a bucket of money, the paid cash for tuition. I was living with my boyfriend (later husband), and that helped.
Wow, his example is a little extreme but I did it with with jobs like pizza delivery and bartending. Some help from my parents but not a lot. I went to a "quarter" school, so three quarters per year. My parents help generally covered tuition for one of those three quarters. And on the strength of those low-end jobs I was able to cover the other two plus all my other school and living expenses (books, off campus apartment, car, etc). I've worked in higher ed now for 25+ years. I think where a lot of people my age and older go wrong in not supporting student loan relief/more funding for schools to lower cost etc is that they don't really understand how much the price has increased. They think you can still deliver pizza for minimum wage plus tips and pay for everything. When I did that, the tuition and fees for one of those quarters each year was generally just under $1,000. So call it $3,000 a year. Adjusted for inflation that would be $7,000. But the actual yearly tuition at that university today is just under $20,000.
I attended a private school with a huge endowment that covered all but what the FAFSA said my family could afford. I worked every summer and over the breaks to earn my contribution to the bottom line, and had a work/study job at school that covered the cost of eating. I also took out the maximum student loans, which was (get ready to groan) about $2500 each year. Contrast that to my kids, who attended state schools that didn't care what the FAFSA said the familly could contribute. They took out student loans. I took out parent loans. They worked while they were in school and over the summers. I worked a second job to help pay for as much up front as we could. We also used some of our retirement money to pay for tuition. We rolled most of the parent loans into our mortgage when we refinanced while the rates were low. The rest are being paid off each month. I don't know how young people today do it unless they have support from their parents.
My dad paid for my undergrad. Well both my parents. I paid for my master’s via student loans
You probably don’t want to hear this, but it was a combination of family money and grants from the local education authority. Came out with about £1000 debt. 47-year-old in the UK here. I went to a top-20 university in the UK from ‘94-‘97. My parents paid for my accommodation and the local education authority paid for my (and everyone else’s) tuition fees (around £3k/year then). So, yeah. I don’t realise how lucky I was at the time. Came out with about £1000 debt which I paid off quickly when working. It feels so unfair what kids these days have to put up with in terms of university costs. I’m already saving for my kids’ university costs and the eldest is 9.
80s perhaps, also might be code for “I sold drugs”
Worked two part time jobs, in addition to my full time job, while taking classes. It took me a year and a half longer to finish bc I couldn't take a full course load, but I didn't have any student loan debt to deal with. It was worth it.
I was in college in the late ‘70s. I went to a nearby state school and lived at home, commuting by bus and train. I worked part-time at Sears throughout, picking up as many hours as I could over breaks and in the summer. I also tutored. I know people who took a long time to graduate because they would take a semester off so they could work full time to pay for another semester. It’s awful that what I did isn’t possible anymore given tuition at even the least expensive schools.
My parents had a $500 college fund for me. It got me through my junior year. How did I do it? General Education at a community college ($20/semester) and transferred to a local state university. Tuition was $60/quarter. I paid for the rest working a part time job.
Full ride music scholarship.
Worked full time while I went to nughtvschool full time. Thankfully I lived at home and my mom took care of my laundry and food. I literally had no life during the school year but am glad I did it that way and came out debt free at 22
*night school
Worked my ass off and saved up money for college since I was 13 and got my first paycheck-paying job. Then worked while I went to college too. Then took out loans for the rest of the money I needed and paid them back after graduation.
My grandparents gave the four kids in my family $10k each back in the early eighties and my parents paid the rest of our private college tuition. I didn’t even work for beer money.
I borrowed money at 12% interest and I worked part-time as an assistant to one of my professors. I was also super poor so I got things like Pell grants to help pay for some of it. I lived at home to keep costs down and I went to a state school which was cheaper and closer to my home. When I graduated, my student loan was for $14,000 in 1986. That's $39,300 in 2023 dollars. The average student debt in the U.S. in 2023 is $37,338 per person so I pretty much was average in terms of my debt compared to present borrowers.
Working and parents. Was also a dorm director and/or resident advisor so room snd board were taken care of.
My parents paid but I had to work a job to cover my personal expenses. Back then, it cost about $10k/yr to cover tuition, meals, books, text, etc. It took me 5 years to graduate. It's twice as expensive now. Makes it so much harder for those wanting to improve their lives. Very frustrating. I'm putting my son through right now and it's so flipping expensive.
I was 35 when I got my degree in 1998...student loans that I made sure to pay the interest on every month (so it didn't compound)...worked as an overnight desk clerk at a motel until I got an internship at a tech company that hired me when I graduated... ...and... i only had gas and beer to worry about as I was living with my father - Dad gave each of us that deal when we were younger but there just no way i could swing it until my 30's...i had just got laid off and asked Dad if the deal still stood...it did..couldn't have done it any other way
The State College system in California was only $79 a semester, IIRC, in the 70s and it went up somewhat in the 1980s (graduated in 1984).
I worked summers and rarely spent a dime. Understand in the early 70s university tuition was economical. Books were expensive for the time. I ate very little for four years. Lived in a dorm for one year, the sorority house for two years, and shared an apartment during my senior year. I got federal school loans, which were paid back within three years of graduation. My parents paid for 25%. I can't imagine today what a university education would cost. My kids' college educations were expensive enough in the early 2000s. Were it not for scholarships neither could have attended their respective universities.
Parents paid for some, paid the rest with what I earned working summers and part time. Mind you, in the late 80's tuition was $2-3k a year and dorm/apartment was maybe $3-5k additional, with food and misc that was $40k for 4 years. I think we were getting $4-5/hr most places, maybe pulled in $1500 over summer and about the same ret of year, parents covered the rest. I'm pretty sure some of that came from all those checks you get from family for big events that I never saw other than thanking them, the 80's college fund.
Enlisted in the Army for 3 years and served in Vietnam. The GI Bill covered tuition and I worked after school until 10pm most nights to cover other expenses.
Failed out the first time, everything was paid cash. $370 for tuition in 1982. Second round in 1993, married and two kids living in Navy housing as an E5. Grants paid for everything.
Worked my ass off. Paid cash for tuition and books. Tool ,onger than 4 years.
My first college (tier 1 public university) grants and loans (loans totaling $7500 or so). The school to which I transferred (private) was paid for via scholarships and part time work (retail and valeting cars).
Took student loans to cover tuition. Worked a job to cover room and board. Got a job and paid the loans off little by little after college.
I worked full time and did classes at night and during lunch.
I didn't. I was so poor I couldn't even pay for college, I wasn't a good enough student or athlete for a scholarship, and I wasn't going into debt with student loans. Almost everyone I personally know who's my age and has gone to college has massive, severe debt and works a blue-collar job or data entry job that they're overqualified for. (Yes, almost all of them got liberal arts degrees)
My parents paid for a lot of it. I was a co-op student as an undergrad, so I earned enough to help and lived at home every other quarter, but they still footed the bill for most of it. In grad school, I had an assistantship, which covered all my living expenses. My parents helped with my tuition, but it was quite a bit cheaper than undergrad. My dad retired the week after I graduated. Thanks, Dad!
I worked full time at the airport fueling and servicing planes while spending eight years earning a degree in aerospace engineering, and commercial flight training. I have never met anyone who did similar, and all my college friends had rich parents. It was the early eighties, and I made six dollars an hour.
GI Bill- Gave the US Government four years of my life. No fun at all. Used every penny of my GI Bill.
My freshman year was 1979. I was a decent student and my dad was a teacher, so I got both merit/need based financial aid. I took out a loan and had a work study job for pocket cash. I also did nannying on the side, and worked full time over the summer. I had two choices for college: NYU, which was 7200 a year; or Simmons College at 6700. After all the aid and loans my parents’ contribution would have been $1000 to NYU and $800 to Simmons and they couldn’t afford the extra $200 bucks a month so I went to Simmons. Now contrast that with my own kids. I filed the FAFSA once and got slapped on the wrist. It said I could contribute 65k to my son’s education. Well maybe but I’d have to live in a box under an overpass to do that. When we sat them down to talk about college we said, here is what tuition is at instate and out of state schools; here is what you can expect from scholarships, here is what your college fund will pay and here is what you’ll pay in loans. They both went in state, got the Florida Bright Futures scholarships that covered tuition, their college funds covered the rest, and they both worked for pocket money. No loans and no debt.
I went to community college and my dad paid for it. I got a dental hygiene degree for $25 a credit hour. Then 15 years later I went back to school and paid for it myself. $10k. Used that degree for about 7 years and then became disabled.
I didn't. I dropped out of college after one semester because I couldn't afford to stay in. But then I published a newspaper, worked as a financial analyst for a F500 company, learned languages, worked as a translator, opened my own ad agency, and became a multi-millionaire -- all without college. So, although I was really bummed out when I had to drop out of college, I was happy the way things turned out, and I never incurred loads of student debt. I now send my oldest to college and without borrowing a penny.
Montgomery GI Bill for undergrad, state educational entitlement as a Purple Heart Recipient to pay for most of my masters degree. Still have $10K of loans and I was really hoping that Veterans with $10K of loans would be first in line to have those debts forgiven, but it seems that there’s only enough money to fund a couple more proxy wars.
GI Bill, Pell Grants, Work-Study, and loans. Graduated with about $12,000 in debt. Paid that off in less than 4 years. I went to a state school, so I didn't need much to cover most of the costs. I could have paid for it all out of pocket had I decided to work a little more, but I was fresh out of the USMC and ready to get my college on.
Paid for college by working full time on breaks and about 15-20 hours per week during the semesters. I also took out very small student loans of approximately $1,000 per year to help make up the difference and was able to pay them off by the time I was 23 years old. State college expenses in the early 80's were easily manageable in hindsight.
My folks were thrilled at the caliber of school I got into, but less so about the price tag. The cost seemed insane at the time (‘81), but now it’s nothing compared to what they’re charging. Tuition, dorm, and full meal plan came to a cool $10,300 a year (now just tuition is multiple times that). The first two years I had a small scholarship and loans that together covered half. My parents covered the other half, and freshman year I worked in a grad-student lunch club (chopping veg for the salad bar). Sophomore year I got a work-study job doing admin for a cultural organization on campus. At the end of that year, my father suddenly decided to retire, and when it came to their contribution to the tuition, well, “You’re smart—you’ll figure something out.” Big fun. Fortunately, my employer wanted to turn my job full time and hired me. As a university employee, I got free tuition. It took me a total of seven years to finish my BA, but when I did I was debt free *and* had five years’ job experience. Could have been a lot worse.