S/O of paying for college

It was a combo of parents, scholarships, financial aid, loans and me paying.

My parents paid.

I voted Other. My parents paid for the first two years, until I got married. I did have a small amount of financial aid in those 2 years - small loan (about $3,000 total in 1975-77) as well as 4 semesters of a part-time job on campus. Once we were married my parents paid the loan payments until DH graduated in 1979. After a break of a year or so, I did go back and get my degree. At that point my loan payments were suspended and DH and I paid the full cost of tuition/books. We paid off the loan once I graduated and went to work.

I got some scholarships my freshman year, then federal student loans each year. I think back then it was maxed at $5500/yr.

It wasn't quite enough my freshman year because I lived in campus, so my parents split the remainder with me there (I had savings from working in high school).

After freshman year I moved into off campus subsidized housing and between work and the federal loans each year I made it. I took one summer quarter which required a parent plus loan. I came out of school with about $25k in debt. I paid the PPL off first since my parents names were on it.

They couldn't help with much, and that was fine. I didn't begrudge them that.

I was in college 1966-1970. Tuition was about $500, I lived in the sorority house which was equivalent to an air conditioned dorm in price. My dad was a planner on an enlisted man's salary. He put both my sister and me through college. He was an amazing man.

Our son went to a CC then a Cal State University. He worked the entire time but, since he lived at home, we had him save his money towards a townhouse and we paid for college. That was in 2004-2008, it was way cheaper then.

BTW tuition was about $600 a quarter and books averaged about $150 a quarter. We had a great used section and buy back program.

The company I worked for had educational reimbursement of up to $5000 per calendar year with passing grades. They reimbursed for everything, books, tuition, parking, etc.  I paid up front and they reimbursed me at the end of the semester.

It was a great benefit but the work environment was soul sucking! I stuck it out and worked 40+ hours a week and went community college and a Cal State school at night.

I never asked my parents for a penny and never expected them to pay for it. I did live at home and didn’t have to pay rent so that was a major assist in my book.

ETA: this was in the early 90s

I picked My Parents Paid, and Other. I went to a 4 yr university (JMU in VA) and my parents paid for most of it. I graduated in 1998. I did have a loan, I think my total was $6500. I moved back home and started my fulltime job (which was part time when I was in college) 2 days after graduation, and before the loan kicked in, I had saved enough to pay the whole thing off. If I hadn't moved home, I doubt I could have saved that much.

I was the oldest of 6, so I had to pay my own way. I lived at home and worked. I did get a grant my second year that helped.

I worked 4-9 pm M-F my entire second year. I had to pay my own car expenses, too.

I will say that I could earn a big portion of my annual tuition working FT in the summer. That is not true for students today.

I got two scholarships, lived at home and worked to pay for community college. I got my AA and went no further because I couldn't afford to. I refused to fall into the student loan trap.

As of last year I am currently enrolled in a bachelor's program that my union is paying for. I will graduate with a bachelor's in business administration in a couple of years at absolutely no cost to me. I would have never done it if I had to pay.

I worked full time and went to school at night. I only took classes as I could afford so some months I went full time  and other times I took 2 classes. I took out a little bit of student loans but it was less than $5,000. It took me longer than it should have but I'm glad I didn't graduate with a lot of debt. 

College tuition was about $800/year back in my younger days. 😁 My folks paid for it and my books. I lived at home. When I went to grad school I paid for part of it and my company paid the rest.

A combo of student loans and Parent Plus loans. My parents thought they had saved enough. Turned out the amount they saved only covered a portion of the first year. I went to an in-state university. Had to take summer classes between my junior and senior years in order to graduate with the credits needed for my major "on time". The mixed blessing was my father passed away 8 years after I graduated and all the parent plus loans (for me and my younger sisters) were in his name. That wiped them out, and therefore my mother wasn't burndened with them. But of course I'd rather have him over wiping out the debt.

After I graduated I put every spare penny I could against my student loans. It still took about 7 years to pay them off. My BIL is nearing his 50s and is still paying on his student loans because he deffered so many times as well as chose a career that is just above minimum wage in this area of the country. He's been paying on them for three decades now.

I didn't vote as it was a combination of scholarships, loans, grants, and savings/working. I also took 9 years to finish (graduated high school in 1988, graduated college in 1997) for a variety of reasons.