Do Parents Pay for Masters Degrees??

LOL no, never.

I suppose that if I were in a position to I might entertain the idea, but even if we could easily afford it, I doubt I would do that.

My former boss and his wife probably make somewhere between $300 and $500K per year, combined. He paid for 4 years of private college for both of his children, plus law school for one. The other is a recent college grad who took a job on the west coast and he is buying a condo for her - she'll pay rent, but it won't be at market value and it's far nicer than anything she would be able to afford on her own. To me, this seems like coddling adult children but honestly, they are smart young women and anyone would be proud to be their parents, so who am I to judge? His parents had the means to be very generous in starting him off as an adult and he used that somewhat cushy start wisely, so maybe it depends on the student.

But for us, college alone will be a stretch and I have no intention of paying all of it. They can do advanced degrees on their own.

We'll never be able to afford to pay for even the whole of their bachelor's, but we'll help as much as we can.

I believe in allowing children to become adults. Do I plan to pay for his college, to obtain a bachelor's degree...yes. After that, it's his life. He is an adult. He chooses his path, and pays his way down it. That will be the time in my life, where I get to kick back and relax. That is his time, to find his way in the world.

My Husband and I will look at each child individually to make the decision if we will pay for any college at all and a masters. It really depends on a lot of things: their drive, what they are going to college for, their self entitlement attitude (who wants to help someone who feel entitled), & how well we are doing with our own retirement. I'm sure their will be more to consider when the time gets closer.

I didn't plan for or pay for my daughter's associates degree. I put myself thru college. I know college is more expensive now but it's still possible for a student to pay their own way. Doing so is an added educational and social experience.

So no, I don't think you should have to pay for a master's degree too. Your children are so very fortunate to have you pay for their bachelor's.
Do what you can afford. Keep in mind that you need money for your own retirement.

As ideal as that would be, I think that if my son wanted his masters, it would be good for him to have the chance to earn it himself. Paying for college or a technical/trade school is likely what we'll be able to afford, esp. as my husband will be 62 when our son graduates; even with 4 years of college he'll be 66 when and if our son decides to pursue his masters. We have to think about our retirement and the fact that our future should not depend on him, but us ourselves. Just as I do not want to burden my son with my expenses as I get older, paying out thousands of dollars for continued education may have a more negative affect on his life than him paying the cost himself.

Do I hope he goes for it? If he wants to-- I hope he will be in the position to pursue his dreams. That said, I don't think it's reasonable for a child to look to their parents to provide for their master's degree. Time to stand on one's own two feet and assume adult responsibility if one wants the title of "Master". .

Our daughter just graduated from college and is taking a year to work and decide about a Masters.

There was no way for her to work while getting her Bachelors. She went to a very rigorous college and graduated with 2 degrees with honors. Thank goodness for the College fund and grants and scholarships..

But after taking Advanced classes since middle school, she needed a break from school.

If she decides to get her Masters we will help as much as we can.. She has proven to be a very good steward of her money.. She actually saved money each year of college!

We plan to help as much as possible (hopefully pay for) a 4 year degree. Then, I think it will depend on a lot of variables when they get to grad school.

My husbands family paid for undergrad, but not graduate degrees, even though I'm pretty sure they "could" have afforded it. It was a family decision that anything beyond a bachelors degree was up to the kid.

Yes we will. Our daughter (now 17) is fully funded for college and we will provide funding through all of her college, MBA, abroad programs, etc because we feel it is our parental obligation to make sure she has no debt when she gets out of school and starts out on her own.

I know we are a different breed from many on MP but we started saving before she was born and it has been a priority for the last 20 years. Of course, our retirement is as important and we have funded ourselves as well.

How? Delayed gratification, living debt free and having priorities in order. We are also very much numbers people and we are both on the same page as far as financials, etc. We run our company together as well.

Our daughter is a good student, high achiever and is not in the "entitlement" mode. She understands financials because she has lived it all of her life and she knows hard work, being productive and ethical mean higher financials as well. She is currently employed by our family company and on my payroll. She shadows me to learn what I do, why and how along with her schooling which involves being in AP classes, Captain of the cheer squad and serves on the BP Fashion board for Nordstrom.

You have to do what is right for you and not worry about what others do or think.

I'm 28, and just finished my masters last month. I was very fortunate that my parents had saved enough for each of my degrees, including my doctorate if I were so inclined to go get one (i'm not). I hope to be able to save enough for my son to get any degree he wants. I know it's not always possible, but we will do our best.

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No.

First of all, the cost of graduate school is not even something you can know or estimate. Many graduate programs come with tuition waivers with TAships or RAships. Even without those, you don't know how long it will take them to get through, how expensive it will be etc.

Second... and maybe I'm being a snot here... but graduate students are ADULTS. Graduate work should be a serious, earnest commitment to a topic in which you plan to devote CONTINUED work. Making it "free" can make it seem... well... free.

That being said... if they can afford it... good for them... (they may also want to prepare for their kids to want to move back in for a couple of years after school while they save their paychecks, but that's another issue).

I am not planning on paying for masters degrees. Sure I've heard of it from very wealthy families, not from middle class not even much from upper middle class.

My kids have paid for their own education, even the bachelor's .......

Your going to get a wide range of answers for us and our family, they are going to be on their own just like we were, I have no college debt, I have been paying as I go. I will assist when needed for college but not pay for it outright

No, I won't pay for a masters. My employer paid for a big chunk of my graduate degree, and usually people take time off between a bachelor's and a master's degree - so the student is usually old enough not to rely on mom and dad for that.

We have 529s for our kids and we are contributing what we can and we have family contribute in lieu of gifts. They can go as far as they want on that money, and if we are financially capable that we will pay what we can when the time comes, if they need more. But if we can't pay, than we won't. It is better to save for our retirement, than for our kids college. I will have the same rules my parents did. If you are old enough to get married, you are old enough to pay for their college. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. I thought I was ready to get married at 19, but wanted to have my parents finish paying for college. By the time I finished college, my boyfriend and I broke up.

Wow - that's great that they can do that!

Personally, we're leaning toward trying to pay for some (perhaps half?) of our son's education, but not all of it. We want him to work for it so he appreciates it. It honestly would not occur to me to pay for any graduate degrees by then bc -

1. They're adults at that point
2. If they have jobs, oftentimes their employers pay for all or part of it
3. They may have no interest and, depending on the savings plan, that money could be essentially locked away and couldn't be used for anything else. We'll want to pay off the rest of our mortage (although I don't think we'll still be paying for it at that point) and funding our retirement.

I think paying for grad school is way above and beyond what parents should feel expected to do.

Yes, we will pay for DS's graduate or professional school.

My parents loaned me the money for professional school. Then happily they were doing well and made it a gift retroactively. It is extremely difficult to pay for professional school today - even with loans. So yes it can be done - but if I can do this for my son - I will.

How can people pay for their kids' college? I can only speak for myself but - we both work full time and we save. We have a single child. We were older (I was 40) when we had a child. We have been saving for retirement since we have each been working. We have been saving for college since DS was born.

We are also both professionals - yes it pays (both financially and personally) to go to college and professional school. When people say they can 'get a decent job' without a degree that is somewhat true. But I don't want my son to have a 'decent job' - I want him to have a career that he loves. And I want him to be an educated member of civil society. That means college - even if he ends up in a completely different field than the one he majors in - he will be educated. It may or may not mean graduate or professional school.

Nope. I had to sweat hard for mine and it took a long time. I believe I should assist IF needed, but I do not think I should be saving my hard earned money to pay for a Master's degree for my child- Most degrees that require that are like psychologist, doctor, social worker, teacher, etc. By that time they should be smart and responsible enough to get a job to EARN that degree, not have it given to them (unless they are pursuing one at 16yrs old). If they are not and finding a job is difficult, they can hold off until they find one to pay for it themselves.

Lisa, this is such a good question. I have a son in college and he has brought up the discussion of grad school. I told him that he would need to work for a few years to get experience out in the work force before going to grad school. I feel that a business has little incentive to hire a kid with just an education and no real work experience other than summer jobs, and that's too much of a gamble for me to take as "the bank", so to speak. (Not counting majors like engineering, that kind of thing. That's not what my son is doing.)

I also told him that some programs are for adults who are in the business world and can be done evenings and weekends while he continues to work.

I have told him that I will not promise to put him through grad school. He has a sibling that has first dibs on the college funds for undergrad, just like he is having now.

So it will be interesting to see what happens down the line!

Dawn

Well, we are not planning on it, but if we have the money and one of our kids shows both the maturity and the potential, then yes, we probably would.
Though at this point I don't see it happening, I think after a lifetime of schooling and four years of college they will be DONE!!! And so will we :)

We're saving what we can. The rest will be up to our son. That's the way it was for DH and I.

I just don't get how people can save that much!

My parents paid for my car insurance while I was in graduate school. I was thrilled!

Seriously, how in god's name are they saving that much?!?!?!?!?!? Are they not saving for retirement? Do they live on noodles? My husband makes a good amount of money. We save 15% for retirement and then a very small amount for college. There are things my kids need NOW, like memberships to museums, etc. We don't even save half of what we should for their education, and I'll tell you what, I don't worry about. College costs are a bubble. I doubt college will be in the same form it is today in 18 years.

Um, no. My parents didn't pay for mine and I turned out just fine...

My dad's parents paid for him to go to school and they gave my parents the down payment for their first house. My dad decided (probably before we were born) that he was going to do the same for his kids.

My parents paid for each of the three of us to earn our bachelor's degrees and gave each of us the 20% down payment on our houses.

Their tremendous gift to me will never be forgotten or taken for granted! It is my goal to do at least this much for my kids and to instill in them a true appreciation for what has been given to them as well as a desire to do the same for their children.

I was able to pay for grad school through an assistantship (and some loans). My sister did the same.

My brother went to law school, so an assistantship was not an option. Law school and Med school (and probably other fields) really do not have that option and can be extremely costly.

I hear people say they won't pay for their kid's college education because they don't want them to be spoiled. It's not that simple. Kids are spoiled, not because they are given too much, but because they are not taught to appreciate it. They feel entitled. Huge difference.

I had such an amazing college experience. In part, because I went away at 18, even though I was scared. I met amazing people, and I had so much fun!!! I didn't really drink, I certainly didn't party, I went to church every Sunday. I just got really involved, met some great people and decided to really enjoy my experience. I would never have had the same experience going to community college. Sure I would have earned the credits for less money, but I would not have had the same experience.

I want my kids to have that experience.

Undergrad, definitely.

Graduation, we have a split concept about it. We'd be glad to sponsor it, but we'd like to encourage our child(ren) to earn/take a loan for some portion of it. In our humble opinion, it'll give them a greater sense of responsibility and achievement.

I can't even fathom how much money we would have to make each year to save for college tuition, let alone grad school! How lucky they are to live such a comfortable lifestyle.
And no, we are not saving for their higher education. We will provide room and board and books, but the rest is up to them if they decide to go. We live in a city with FIVE colleges including 2 state colleges and one medical college, and at least 3 technical schools, they have lots of choices.

I paid for mine, and I'm still paying! I work for a masters program as an administrator. Most of our students pay for themselves, usually taking out loans. Occasionally the very lucky ones have parents who pay for it. Most at least get help with living expenses.
If parents have the means how nice to be able to start your career free of debt!

nope.
but then, my kids are paying for their own bachelors degrees too.
we did community college. everything beyond that is up to them, although we help, support, feed and co-sign as needed.
one of the best things anyone can do for their children in this weird economy is to take care of themselves. i'm far more concerned about making sure my kids aren't stuck changing my diapers and coping with my impending dementia. that would suck for them far worse than figuring out their own schooling.
khairete
S.

Absolutely if my daughter chooses to get one. She is a Freshman in college this year at a university and is even taking both summer sessions to get that much ahead while working a part time job. Our lives are very planned out and I wouldn't have it any other way.

I paid my own way through college back in the day when it was possible to do so working and going to state universities concurrently. I graduated without debt and she will do the same. I owe her that life.

No. In our family, we help to pay for a bachelor's degree, but after that you're on your own.

I would if I could without causing a financial strain on the family household.

Every family is different. The reason I would is so my child could dedicate more time for study and continue to enjoy the college life.

We have to be working adults for a long time.

Blessings....

nope. i am concerned about having food to eat and a roof over my head during retirement. once that is established, then we will work on college degrees. if i was in the position your sister is (good lord i would hope their retirement is taken care of!) then yes we would start saving for college, but no one i know has their masters handed to them - bs yes, but then they pay for the rest themselves. i see zero reason to hand someone something like that. our whole job as a parent is to prepare them to TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES. (of course, i know VERY FEW who would be able to afford to pay for three masters degrees, so culturally speaking we may be worlds apart. this is just my experience down here on the "bottom rung")

No. My parents' rule was that they would pay for 4 years of college and that I would pay for my own books and spending money by saving up from part-time jobs while in high school and over summer breaks during colllege. Their rule besides the 4 year limit was that it had to be a degree or skill where I would be able to get a job using my degree afterwards. I told my parents that I wanted to major in French, and they said, "Only if you're going to get an education degree to go with it because a French degree alone will not make you employable. " I told them that I would get a business degree then to make them happy and a French degree to make me happy. When I told them this plan to double major, my parents said, "That's fine, as long as you can be done in 4 years." I wanted to spend a semester overseas, and my paretnts said, "that's great, as long as you'll be done in 4 years." You better believe that I was done in 4 years with a double major and a semester overseas.

When I wanted to start my MBA a year after graduation, my parents said, "That's awesome! Does your employer have tuition reimbursement? If not, how will you be paying for it?" Turned out my employer did NOT reimburse for an MBA, and I paid the whole thing myself working during the day and going to school at night. I have no complaints about that at all.

I promised to pay for my nephew and niece to go to college, so I will be funding 3 college educations despite having only one child. The 4 year limit will definitely apply, as will a minimum GPA and the rule about a degree that will facilitate employability.

I am 10 weeks away from having my MBA...I WISH my parents could have paid for it. I am one of 5 kids and they helped by paying our loans while we were in school, and we took over after. I will do the same for my kids. I am giving them a great life now with tons of expreiences, and they should expect to graduate with some student loans. It's not impossible to pay back and it is what it is.

I have tons of friends who's parents didn't help pay at all.

No. We are just paying for the first two years.
My husband and I worked our way through college with no loans. We also paid for our advanced degrees.

I was told that after college, and further education was on me. My husband's parents paid for his law school, but they didn't pay for his undergrad. I will tell my kids that if they want to get a master's they will need to find the money some how.

My parents didn't save anything for my college. I had to rely on grants and tons of loans. Tons and tons of loans. I think that fact that my parents were relatively poor enabled me to qualify for a lot of financial aid, esp. grant money. Plus I worked some during college and over the summers. I went to a very expensive private school. Had a mountain of debt after graduation, but it was manageable. There should be plenty of financial aid available for those continuing on to graduate school...

However, I am saving for my children's college expenses with 529 plans. Hoping that their tax adavantages don't dissappear sometime in the future do to the whim of the government.... But who knows how much college is going to cost in 15-20 years?

We paid for our daughter's college education (bachelor) and are paying for our son's college (bachelor). We agreed to pay for ONE degree. Anything post graduate is on them. I do not feel it is my responsibility to pay for that. We ensured that they came out of college debt free. This is what my parents did for me and my brother and my ILs did the same with hubby and BIL.

I do not have my masters, my brother does. He paid for it. My daughter will go for her masters in a couple of years, she will pay for it.

Hot Topic! My husband and I fully intend on paying for each child (3) to get a bachelor's degree. Our parents did it for us, and we are forever thankful. Depending on our situation, we would like to help with whatever else as much as possible. My in-laws paid for 25% of my husband's 1st Master's Degree (the Army paid 75%). They also paid for about 25% of mine (I worked at the university and got tuition reimbursement for 50% and paid the other 25% in cash).

I'm sure most people don't expect it, but we will do what we can.

Nope.

I MAY be done with my education by the time kiddo starts. (I call it the 'Paying for College Perpetually Plan'.)

HOWEVER:

A) I'll certainly help. I am practically Career Center on legs as far as scholarhip / grant searching and writing, subsidies, housing, etc. There is sooooo much out there! It just mostly needs to be done 1-5 years in advance. So that's one way, and then we'll see when we get there about other kinds of help. Chickens and eggs and all of that.

B) I know many families who ticket their kids their entire education. Sometimes it works great, sometimes it doesn't. JUST LIKE families who can't pay for a dime. The whole "every kid is different" and "every familiy is different" thing.

*** Most people don't have the (median number) $250k per kid in savings to fund for BS/BA & MS/MA & Doctorate per kid. So whether they'd do it if they could? Most people I know who come into substantial money when their kids are in school DO pay. No idea what I would do, since, as yet, I couldn't. ***

If I had the money then I would want to help but as of right now no. My husband and I paid for our own college through loans/working but I am very proud of the fact that I did it all on my own. I think my parents were tapped out after 12 years of Catholic school. Depending on the kid, they take their education a little more seriously when they contribute.

No.

Yay Marda. Finally, someone who agrees with me on (not) paying for your kids' college.

My father is helping my sister with her masters. But he didn't help me, which pisses me off!
I think it would depend on circumstances. If I had enough money to share I would, but if they are working and I am not, then, NO!

My parents told me that they would pay for my college as long as I work part time and lived at home. I ended up getting married at 21 years old and never finished college, not even a 2 year degree, lol! So I guess I saved them some money

If I am in the position to do so, I do not see why not. To be honest, we are not even in a position to do much more than help at this point in our lives.

I am a strong yes when it comes to paying for college but even I draw the line at a masters degree. My parents were very self sacrificing to save and save to pay for my college but when I wanted to go back to school later, I wouldn't take any more money. I was an adult and didn't "need" to go to school to get a decent job. I had a decent job - I just wanted even more and that's not my parents' responsibility. So I hadn't really considered paying for graduate school. I feel like grad school falls into 2 camps - you go bc you want to make a lot of money ie: law school, or you want to pursue a dream ie: masters in music. In the first camp, they should be able to pay for it themselves after they get the really high paying job. That's what I've seen in my career. In the second camp, if they're pursuing a career that isn't lucrative, that's their choice but i"m not going to keep funding more and more school for it... I'd rather give the money for a downpayment on a house. I think the time I might be very tempted is medical school. I feel that's such an honorable calling and it so brutal to get through that I likely would try to help with that. Otherwise, I think having 4 years of college paid for is pretty good... I also lived at home to save for grad school and I"d be happy to have my kids do that. Employers often will pay for a masters as well. My husband went that route.

No some parents are so protective that they have plans that may not go there way.. I really hope they are ok if there plans don't happen. Some go to college others don't.

I plan to help my kids with college, but in all honesty they will probably need to get grants, loans, scholarships too. My parents helped me, but I also had to take out loans and help with the payments. I got work to pay for the bulk of my masters degree. I think it is great if parents can help pay for a masters degree too, but most of us just don't have that type of money.

I have friends who have saved money all their adult years to pay for their kids college. They pay for their dorms, fees, classes, food, etc...they are not expected to work but pay full attention to heir classes so they can be straight A students. They all have families of their own and their wives stay at home or go to school too. One of my friends has a son who just graduated from dental school. They helped support him and his family.

The kids should be able to get scholarships or teach entry level classes in their field by the time they get their first degree. My friends all paid for their own Masters and PhD's by teaching and working in the departments on Stipends.They don't always have to just pay out cash for their continued education. They should be able to pay part of their education themselves by working to make good enough grades and excelling in some areas so they are students that colleges want enough to pay part of their way.

My friends kids that went to BYU all got wonderful scholarships. BYU does not accept government financial aid. So the kids that want to go there and need to pay less all work to excel in their scholastic careers. They play sports and work hard to be very good at them so they can offer those skills to the college they apply to. They work hard at being a great student that any college/university would be standing in line to make offers to.

All kids that are planning on attending college need to work like this. School/college should not be a free ride. It should be for kids who are good students and have the skills needed to succeed.

Everyone should be allowed to attend college, that's why we have scholarships and financial aid. There are so many people out there who could offer the world so much if just given the chance to get the education they need.

My parents helped/paid for undergraduate...I had to pay for my own master's...

They only saved enough for the bachelor's. It was a good experience doing it on my own...I have some student loan debt but not too bad...

We live paycheck to paycheck unfortunately.

We don't even have enough saved up for a rainy day fund or if something major happens to our house or car. Im scared to think what would happen if one of us couldn't work for some reason.

I wish we could afford to pay for any of our kids college but its not going to happen for our family.

What we have done though is helped our kids learn the importance of good grades and studying so that way they can help themselves out by getting loans and grants for school if they choose to further themselves.

My oldest son is almost 16 and he sees how hard we work at providing for our family and he has already made up his mind he is joining the service and as of now wants to make a career out of it. If he doesn't make a career out of it he wants to at least be able to go long enough until they pay for his college once he figures out what it is he wants to do with his life.

The other 4 are younger and 2 of them are just starting out preschool so we have a ways to figure it out with them... the 2 middle kids we are just pushing the importance of school and studying and doing the best they can and we will push why its so important soon enough like we have with our oldest.

But no we will not being paying for any college for our kids.

No-my parents paid for all of my college and my siblings but none of our advanced degrees. Same for all of my friends and relatives. You are a full fledged adult upon college graduation and so therefore should be able to figure out how to pay for your advanced education.