[Gil4]

Our 2nd will be joining her brother at a private U this fall. Our speech is similar until we get to the “because” part. Ours is “because there are four more coming behind you and you don’t have the time and we don’t have the money to waste.” (No long vacation for us.)

[SuziQ]

We told our four kids, when the oldest was in 9th grade, that they were going to have to pay for college themselves, because it was THEIR degree, and we wanted to retire at some point in our lives. ;o) We encouraged getting good grades in high school, in order to get scholarships, and helped them, when applying for them, as well as helping navigate the swamp that is FAFSA.

Because they knew it was eventually THEIR money on the line, they didn't waste time on silly courses. They got what they needed for basic courses, and what they wanted for their majors, and limited their debts as much as possible.