This week I had an interesting chat with two interns from the US. One is Megan from University of South California and another one is Rebecca from MIT. They told me about the tuition fee cost in their universities and I can't close my mouth afterwards.
It was sooo expensive :(:(
The funny thing is, Megan said that her parents have saved lots of money for her to go to university. Because of that, she can get any other grants / financial aid because they are need-based, not merit based. Another issue about tuition fee loan is also the high interest rate. So yeah...they told me about the "untold story" of the various financial aid provided by the universities. She has a friend who is very smart and this friend was accepted in the Medical School of John Hopkins university, but because this friend could only get lower class of grant, this friend went to other school that has lower quality, but provides more financial aid. So she said, "I don't trust university rankings because there are people who are so smart and talented, but they go to lower quality of university because they cannot afford to pay the tuition fee". :(:(
This reminds me of my mom's advice that she always repeats over and over again, "You should be thankful that you can study in the university without worrying too much about money." My uncle went to university for 7 years because he worked in the morning and he was too tired when he attended his class. He's the only one who gets university degree in my mom's family.
So one thing I asked Megan and Rebecca was, "How long must your parents set aside fund for your college degree?" I asked the same thing to my boyfriend. He told me that there's an article in newspaper that mentioned how expensive the university tuition fee and how parents must set aside money so early. However, at that time, I innocently told Paul that, "Oh well... I'm on study loan now. I think it's still okay in Singapore to let your kids pay their own study loan. Or parents can pay half of the tuition fee." (I heard that the study loan interest in Singapore is the lowest in the world, even though after I start working, I realize that it's still lots of money to pay just the interest of the loan)
I don't know...
I'm just curious, what's the safe borderline on how much people MUST save for their kids' education? I don't think that people should have the mentality of "I must have this amount of $$$$$ before having another kid" but I think many people now tend to have this mentality. *warning sign*
On a positive note, I'd like to share two interesting posts on: Why having big families is good for you (and cheaper) and Feeding Children on a Budget. Now I realize why the Gospel reflection that I use keeps emphasizing on "writing letters to influence policy-making" because there are many policies that can either destroy or improve family life. (I seriously say "destroy" because I think that's what's happening in Singapore). For example, housing policy. When a couple purchase a public house, it will only be ready 3-5 years after the purchase time. So what's happening in Singapore is most people people "wait" until they have 'stable' career and 'enough' money to buy a house (or a resale house). Some choose to do the civil registration much earlier (perhaps before they are really ready for a marriage), so in-between this process, apparently things do not work out well and they break up and there's complication because the house is already under both names. While it's quite 'normal' for me and my parents to think that "It's okay if you can't afford a house N.O.W", not many people think in the same way. This (the mindset of I must have a-z before getting married) is another mindset that needs to be challenged in Singapore (in Indonesia too. People start to think like this too! :( ).Oh maaaan, I should write separate post on this.
Nevermind, the moral of the current post is, please study well because it's a form of being grateful that we have opportunities to study!!!!
It was sooo expensive :(:(
The funny thing is, Megan said that her parents have saved lots of money for her to go to university. Because of that, she can get any other grants / financial aid because they are need-based, not merit based. Another issue about tuition fee loan is also the high interest rate. So yeah...they told me about the "untold story" of the various financial aid provided by the universities. She has a friend who is very smart and this friend was accepted in the Medical School of John Hopkins university, but because this friend could only get lower class of grant, this friend went to other school that has lower quality, but provides more financial aid. So she said, "I don't trust university rankings because there are people who are so smart and talented, but they go to lower quality of university because they cannot afford to pay the tuition fee". :(:(
This reminds me of my mom's advice that she always repeats over and over again, "You should be thankful that you can study in the university without worrying too much about money." My uncle went to university for 7 years because he worked in the morning and he was too tired when he attended his class. He's the only one who gets university degree in my mom's family.
So one thing I asked Megan and Rebecca was, "How long must your parents set aside fund for your college degree?" I asked the same thing to my boyfriend. He told me that there's an article in newspaper that mentioned how expensive the university tuition fee and how parents must set aside money so early. However, at that time, I innocently told Paul that, "Oh well... I'm on study loan now. I think it's still okay in Singapore to let your kids pay their own study loan. Or parents can pay half of the tuition fee." (I heard that the study loan interest in Singapore is the lowest in the world, even though after I start working, I realize that it's still lots of money to pay just the interest of the loan)
I don't know...
I'm just curious, what's the safe borderline on how much people MUST save for their kids' education? I don't think that people should have the mentality of "I must have this amount of $$$$$ before having another kid" but I think many people now tend to have this mentality. *warning sign*
On a positive note, I'd like to share two interesting posts on: Why having big families is good for you (and cheaper) and Feeding Children on a Budget. Now I realize why the Gospel reflection that I use keeps emphasizing on "writing letters to influence policy-making" because there are many policies that can either destroy or improve family life. (I seriously say "destroy" because I think that's what's happening in Singapore). For example, housing policy. When a couple purchase a public house, it will only be ready 3-5 years after the purchase time. So what's happening in Singapore is most people people "wait" until they have 'stable' career and 'enough' money to buy a house (or a resale house). Some choose to do the civil registration much earlier (perhaps before they are really ready for a marriage), so in-between this process, apparently things do not work out well and they break up and there's complication because the house is already under both names. While it's quite 'normal' for me and my parents to think that "It's okay if you can't afford a house N.O.W", not many people think in the same way. This (the mindset of I must have a-z before getting married) is another mindset that needs to be challenged in Singapore (in Indonesia too. People start to think like this too! :( ).Oh maaaan, I should write separate post on this.
Nevermind, the moral of the current post is, please study well because it's a form of being grateful that we have opportunities to study!!!!
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