I'm a BAD parent

I don't plan on paying for my kids' college educations.

There was a program on NPR recently about this topic. One young woman called in and told her story. She is starting school this fall at [expensive Ivy League school] after having been accepted to two other schools which both offered her full tuition scholarships - one even offered a full tuition with stipend scholarship. She turned both down, and instead chose to attend [EILS]. It will cost upwards of $200,000 for her to earn her degree, and her parents are taking out a home equity loan to pay for it. So that's their choice. However, she went on to talk about how a good education was worth the sacrifice, and how it would be so worth it in the end.

The thing that burned me was that SHE was not sacrificing ANYTHING. Then, to make things even more unbelievable, she went on to say that because she had chose this ridiculously expensive school, and her parents were essentially mortgaging their future for her sake, her little brother - several years behind her - would not be able to have the same opportunity. Because her education - which she could have gotten for FREE - is sucking up all of her parents equity, her younger brother will be screwed.

I paid for my own college education. I got Pell grants and student loans, and I worked a part-time job. I've got a modest pile of debt to pay off, but it's MY debt. Not my parents'. All of my siblings that went to college have likewise paid their own way.

So I'm a bad parent, but I won't feel guilty about it.