What if tuition breaks were not breaks, but rather deferments, that you paid off with monthly contributions to the school even after your kids were out? This way there’d be a revenue stream that’s not dependant the on current enrollment of the school. This could be modified by each persons financial situation, such as a taper off towards the end of the obligation. So for example: you have 3 kids in school at 10k each (just an arbitrary number for now, but remember, you wouldnt have these 18k tuitions with funds still coming in from families whose kids have graduated) your obligation is 30k a year for the next 10 years. (I know, at some point one or more kids has left thus screwing up the math a bit, but for simplicitys sake, let’s just use this base number for 10 years.) So you can afford 15k a year paid in 10, $1500 installments over the year,but the other 15k is deferred. After 10 years, you’ve accrued a debt of 150k, which if you continue to pay at $1500 a month (like you’ve been able to do all along) you’ll knock it out in another 10 years (or 8 if you make a payment for all 12 months in a year). Just a thought, what do you think? Of course, the real math is more complicated. This is just a 3am musing…..
