Dad refuses to pay for daughter's college education - because she wants to switch majors

After ten years of saving up for his daughter's higher education, a father received a huge shock when she decided to switch her major from computer science to liberal arts. In a moment of desperation and confusion, he took to website Reddit to make sense of the situation and figure out if he made the right decision when he told his daughter he would no longer pay for her education if she didn't give him a well though-out reason and plan for the switch. While many Reddit users believed he didn't make the wrong decision, some individuals thought he could have handled the situation better.

The father, known as DoomedDOOMED23 on Reddit, wrote, "My daughter is currently a freshman in college. She has just started her first semester and I'm the one paying the bill. I have been saving for over 10 years to do this and I am happy to do it, as long as I feel she is actually setting herself up for success... This last week she was on fall break so she came to stay with me over the weekend after spending a few days at my ex's house. My daughter yesterday morning decided to casually drop that she's planning on changing majors. I was shocked by this and asked why and what she was changing to. She is planning on switching into the liberal arts program."

He continued, "When I tried to get why she was switching, all I got was that she all of the sudden hates computer science and has made multiple friends who are majoring in LA. Apparently she has been talking with the councilors up there as well and they along with her friends have all recommended she switch majors. I tried to ask her the regular stuff: "What about your future?" "How do you plan to get a job?" And she decided to ignore me and tell me that it's none of my business and that she's an adult. This angered me. I'm the one paying for this, I feel I have a right to know and not be blown off like that. I thought over it all day and so last night, I sat her down and told her that while yes, she is an adult, I am the one paying for her education and I won't be paying for her to get what is, in my opinion, a worthless degree. I told her if she doesn't want to do CS, that's fine. But she needs to put more thought into the change and find something that she enjoys AND can get her a career. And, if in the end, she decides that she's an 'adult' and she wants to be a liberal arts major. She can pay for it like an adult should, with her own money."

Some users believed that the father did not take the right approach, while others believed that it was not outrageous for him to ask his daughter for a plan. Proteins911 responded, "It sounds like you don’t care what she majors in as long as she has a plan. That seems entirely reasonable." Meanwhile, Gingeralidocious commented, "This is a very bad parenting move in terms of your relationship with your daughter, but speaking as someone who works in higher ed, this is ALSO a sh*tty academic/professional move." Ultimately, the father decided to talk to the daughter to figure things out - but stuck by his decision. He concluded, "I called my daughter and left a message saying that I wish to talk with her about this and that I feel we left off in a bad place and wish to talk about this more. If my daughter wants to go into LA, then that is her choice. Whether or not I pay for it will be mine."