The cost of university leaves most graduates saddled with near-crippling debt. Even if you’re on a scholarship, few cover the entirety of what you’ll be expected to spend. Good parents try to mitigate this to some extent by investing in their children’s education early and often.
One recent high school graduate had a rude awakening when she turned to her mom for help with her upcoming university fees, only to find out the entire fund had been spent. Her mom explained why she only had herself to blame, but asked netizens if that was a jerk move.
More info: Reddit
The cost of raising a troubled child is high, as this woman's daughter found out the hard way
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
After falsely accusing her mom’s new husband of inappropriate behavior, her mom had to pay for an expensive divorce
Image credits: Emma Bauso / Pexels (not the actual photo)
When she was in her teens, she got expelled twice, forcing her mom to shell out more money for a pricey private school
Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Now that she’s graduating, she asked her mom about the money in her university fund, but her mom explained to her it had all been spent raising her as a single, divorced parent
Image credits: Timur Weber / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The daughter now realizes she only really has herself and the childish actions of her past to blame for her predicament
Image credits: Alex Green / Pexels (not the actual photo)
To add insult to injury, her mom has also let her know that she won't be cosigning her loans
Knowing that her daughter would now need to take out a loan, the mom turned to netizens to ask if telling her the hard truth was a jerk move
OP begins by telling the community that her daughter lost her dad when she was 5. When her husband passed, his insurance was enough to pay off a small house, put aside something for a rainy day, and top up her daughter’s education fund.
When her daughter was 11, OP met and married her new husband, something she thought her daughter was OK with since she’d never mentioned anything otherwise, even in therapy. Two years later, though, she accused the stepdad of inappropriate behavior, leading to him being arrested and losing his job.
Well, the couple got divorced and OP says she punished her daughter, which led to her acting out and being expelled from two schools. OP’s only solution was to send her to an expensive private school that she’s graduating from soon. When the topic of university fees came up, though, her daughter was in for a shock.
OP broke down how the university fund had been spent over the years, taking into account the expensive divorce, private school, and the rising cost of raising a child as a single parent. Her daughter got all kinds of upset, prompting OP to ask netizens if she was a jerk for exposing the hard truth.
It would seem highly likely that OP's daughter is going to have to take out a student loan. If you’re a student, you can probably relate. But just what is the state of America's student debt crisis? We went looking for answers.
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In his article for Forbes, Robert Farrington writes that, collectively, students and families are borrowing way too much money for degrees that don't always have the best return on investment.
One of the biggest factors forcing students to borrow more is the rising cost of attendance, plus the cost of room and board. CollegeBoard data indicates that for the 2023-2024 academic year, average in-state costs to attend a public four-year institution came in at $11,260. This is $270 higher than the 2022-2023 year.
According to the Education Data Initiative website, in 2024, US citizens owed a total of $1.75 trillion in federal and private student loan debt combined, and federal student loan debt alone totaled $1.62 trillion. What’s more, the cost of college attendance has increased at an annual rate of 6.8%, a growth rate 196.2% faster than currency inflation and 89.2% faster than wage inflation.
With the skyrocketing price of going to university and the low chance of landing a lucrative job once you graduate, it’s no wonder OP’s daughter is having a hard time dealing with the consequences of her angry actions.
What would you have done if you’d found yourself in OP’s shoes? Do you think she’s a jerk for telling it like it is, or is her daughter acting like an entitled brat? Let us know your opinion in the comments!
In the comments, readers lamented the fate of the woman’s ex-husband and slammed her daughter for ruining the poor man’s life, child or not
