A College Contract ™ is a signed, written agreement between a college-bound adult and another adult. The agreement describes unique understandings between the parties. Parent child contracts include a budget, expectations, limitations, and related circumstances put in writing. The contract also covers a specific time period.
Too many children today are graduating college with large amounts of looming debt over their heads. As parents, you can help in making sure your college bound student appreciates the value of a college education through a proper college student budget. With this parent student college contract, you will be greatly assisting your college student with the decision making process regarding their college budget.
In my travels to cities across the United States, parents and their adult children of all demographics share their stories of success and misfortune.
The great news is that not all college stories have tragic chapters and many have barely a hiccup of surprise. But more often than not, I am finding many parents and their adult college-bound children do not fully share a vision for the college years. Avoidable expenditures, mountains of debt caused by no defined college budget, delayed or stretched-out time lines, and just plain stupid decisions happen.
The issues go both ways. Loving parents get surprised by their princess going off the deep end while a well-deserving engineering student discovers his parents have been living above their means. The issues frequently involve money-absolutely. But the issues are equally about miscommunication, an issue which a solid parent student college contract could easily address.
The time-tested principles I believe to be valuable today are straightforward:
1. Stick to realistic college budgeting.
2. Communicate the full truth.
The College Contract aims to improve how and when money is invested in young adults for their college education, and to improve dialogue between you, the parent, and your college-bound student. This effort will have succeeded when you and your child save money on the college journey and when you begin a deeper, more authentic dialogue with your child. Help prevent the formation of financial issues between you and your college bound student by drafting a parent student college contract with the help of one of our templates.