Footing the bill for college

A decade from now when my son does an Internet search on me and comes across this blog, I want him to read this post in which I state the following:

I love you, and I am not footing your entire college bill.

This is not just because by the time my son will be in school, a college education will be around $200,000. It's because I want to teach you some personal responsibility. And I want you to have values. And character.

OK. It's mostly about the money.

But, at least we are talking about it. It turns out that most parents are not talking about splitting the bill with their children. Children believe that their parents will foot the entire bill for their education, and parents have different ideas in mind. And that's a lot of money that no one is talking about.

I went through college in less than four years. I had scholarships and grants and worked hard in school to keep them to knock some money off the final price tag. I also had student loans and my wonderful mother paid them off until I left school and then they became my responsibility.

But that is the point - I knew that was the plan because she talked to me about it ahead of time. While I was in school, it was my job to be a good student. When I came out, it was my job to be an adult. And I am really thankful she talked to me about it beforehand so I was in on the plan.

Thanks, Mom.

So, son: We're going to talk about money. Because it's your education and you need to help pay for it. Let's work on a plan together.

Who foot the bill for your education? Tell me in the comments.