This soon-to-be engineer is doing the math and realizing that once his youngest brother starts college, he’ll be stuck with more bills and fewer options than the rest of the family.

So he’s thinking of stepping in with some serious financial support. Sounds generous, right?

But not everyone may take it that way…

WIBTA if I promised to help my little brother pay for college even if it might make our siblings jealous?

I’m going to graduate soon with my mechanical engineering degree and have a job lined up that will have me pretty well off.

I’ve been doing math, looking at the current state of federal loans for students, and family situation. My little brother (youngest of 5 and just graduated high school) will not be well off financially in college.

He’s taking a 2 year missionary trip before college and after that, he will be the only kid in the family in college. At the same time, the rest of us kids will be too old to be considered in the FAFSA.

Uh oh.

To put it quite simply, my little brother will get very minimal in terms of loans and I know my parents aren’t well off enough to put anything significant towards his schooling.

The rest of us all get enough in loans to mostly if not cover the full amount of tuition. My little brother will most likely end up paying a lot out of pocket.

If my math is correct, I’ll be able to help significantly towards his education. Tuition will be about $5000 a semester (based on my current tuition, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it goes up), and I should be well off enough to put around $3000 a semester towards his education.

That would be amazing.

This will come with some stipulations such as keeping good grades, but nothing too crazy.

Basically a little above the requirements to stay in good standing to get federal loans.

I’m not sure if I’ll consider this a loan and ask him to pay it back, but something like that can be decided after I start my job and whatnot.

Something to consider.

The biggest issue I can see occurring is our siblings getting jealous and complaining how our brother has it so easy and how we all had to pay back loans with interest.

And I get why they would be upset, but at the same time I know our brother won’t be as lucky as we were to get enough in loans to pay for our schooling.

It’s really just a matter of wanting to make sure he has the same opportunities we all got to succeed in school without worrying about how we’re going to afford it. WIBTA?

Reddit thinks generosity isn’t something to be punished—especially when it’s rooted in fairness, not favoritism.

This person says helping someone because you can, not because you have to, is admirable. And if the other siblings are bitter about not getting the same help? That’s a them problem!

This person says no one even has to know…

In fact, a lot of people feel that way…

Helping your little bro isn’t unfair—it’s just math, empathy, and good timing.

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