Parents cuts off funding for kid in college after they fail classes and 'make excuses.'
In concept, all parents want to be there for their kids. But in reality, there are times when they need to draw a line or cut a kid off, particularly when they've reached adulthood.
Communicating this can be painful, and extended family won't always agree on whether it's the right call. That's why sometimes the ever available opinions of the internet are just what the doctor ordered.
In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a parent asked if they're wrong for cutting off financial support from their kid whose in college.
They wrote:
AITA for telling my kid I’m not paying for their college anymore and they needed to figure it out on their own?
My kid has been in college for three years now. Their first year they failed almost all of their classes. We had them meet with a counselor and the next year their grades improved. Well this past year they tell us school is going fine, but won’t share anything about their grades or make up an excuse why they don’t have them. Come to find out they either dropped or failed every class that year.
I’ve got over $20K in parent plus loans for three years of them being in college, but they’ve only successfully completed one year of school. I finally told them that I’ve had enough and wasn’t signing for anymore loans, which has funded a majority of their expenses and that we have two other kids that we need to get through college that we need to start thinking about.
People shared all of their thoughts in the comment section.
KimchiAndLemonTree wrote:
NTA. Having a parent pay for your college is a privilege. Not a right. Maybe they'll appreciate it more when they're the ones paying for it. Maybe they'll get jobs. If you want them to go to college and want to support them have them bring you a report card with an acceptable gpa for 3 straight semesters. And you can choose to help them again.
holdholdholding wrote:
NTA, your kid should figure it out on their own. There is no reason for you to pay when he/she doesn't take it seriously.
FreudianSlipper21 wrote:
NTA. You went above and beyond to give them an opportunity to get an education. Perhaps traditional college isn’t their thing and they need to look at trade school, but I don’t believe you should feel any further obligation to fund it. It’s their dishonesty that is most galling considering they were failing and dropping classes funded on your dime. Let them figure it out and save your money for your other kids.
tommytavor wrote:
u/tommytavor
1Post Karma
1Comment Karma
No more funding. This is coming from a guy who went 4 years to a community college. I partied most of the time and routinely missed classes. Then I went into the military and finished my degrees. When someone else is paying for it, the student doesn't realize the importance studying, just partying away from the parents.
Clearly, the internet is on OP's side.