College Costs - ridiculously high

[Anonymous]

I guess I'm late to the party ... I'm now finding college costs for the average student is pretty much the advertised price, particularly for OOS publics. The SLACs do offer merit but even if they offer $20K, then final price tags is still > $50K.

Is in-state pretty much the only option for those that don't qualify for the free money part of financial aid?

[Anonymous]

If you live in a state.

[Anonymous]

Nothing wrong with staying on your state for college.

[Anonymous]

not necessarily

we are in VA and have basically narrowed down to 2 schools here. they will PROBABLY come out cheapest in the end, but not by much.

Also looking at:
-a PA state school in that large system that has very reasonable tuition even for OOS and even better if your kid has a 3.0 or above. they come within $5K per year of VA schools
-a NJ state school that offers a tuition break to OOS students with a 3.0 or above. Same as above price wise
-a couple privates with merit awards that will bring the price to within a few thousand per year of the VA publics.

Some schools aren't as transparent with the costs and scholarships available. So, I also have a RI state school, a NC state school, an IL state school, a NY state school, a NC private and a VA private on our list that aren't CRAZY expensive to start, but we'd definitely need scholarship money and the info isn't 100% clear at the moment. Based on what I've HEARD about these schools, I think they will be similar to the above.

I have looked very closely at all of these schools for the specific program offered AND the costs.

There are a couple other schools I have recently removed from the list for various reasons that were state schools in other states (MA, OH, WI and NM) offering discounts to OOS students with a certain GPA level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:not necessarily

we are in VA and have basically narrowed down to 2 schools here. they will PROBABLY come out cheapest in the end, but not by much.

Also looking at:
-a PA state school in that large system that has very reasonable tuition even for OOS and even better if your kid has a 3.0 or above. they come within $5K per year of VA schools
-a NJ state school that offers a tuition break to OOS students with a 3.0 or above. Same as above price wise
-a couple privates with merit awards that will bring the price to within a few thousand per year of the VA publics.

Some schools aren't as transparent with the costs and scholarships available. So, I also have a RI state school, a NC state school, an IL state school, a NY state school, a NC private and a VA private on our list that aren't CRAZY expensive to start, but we'd definitely need scholarship money and the info isn't 100% clear at the moment. Based on what I've HEARD about these schools, I think they will be similar to the above.

I have looked very closely at all of these schools for the specific program offered AND the costs.

There are a couple other schools I have recently removed from the list for various reasons that were state schools in other states (MA, OH, WI and NM) offering discounts to OOS students with a certain GPA level.

Would you be willing to share the schools you're looking at? It sounds like many of us are in the same boat!

[Anonymous]

Some OOS publics offer generous aid that will bring the costs down to in-state. Check out Miami U in OH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I'm late to the party ... I'm now finding college costs for the average student is pretty much the advertised price, particularly for OOS publics. The SLACs do offer merit but even if they offer $20K, then final price tags is still > $50K.

Is in-state pretty much the only option for those that don't qualify for the free money part of financial aid?

what state are you in OP?

[Anonymous]

Yes, you are late to the party.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some OOS publics offer generous aid that will bring the costs down to in-state. Check out Miami U in OH.

There are also specific scholarships at certain universities like National Merit scholarships or for students with equivalent standardized test scores and/or GPAs that may bring tuition down to in-state, cover tuition, or cover tuition + room & board. In past years, schools like Alabama and ASU had programs like this, though this may have changed somewhat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I'm late to the party ... I'm now finding college costs for the average student is pretty much the advertised price, particularly for OOS publics. The SLACs do offer merit but even if they offer $20K, then final price tags is still > $50K.

Is in-state pretty much the only option for those that don't qualify for the free money part of financial aid?

I agree. College costs are crazy without enough aid, specially for top colleges where there is no merit money. Top SLACs doesn't have merit money either. All of these top universities and colleges have huge income generating endowments they waste on random things but try to squeeze every dollar they can from middle and upper middle class. These place are only suitable for wealthy, poor and people committing financial fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess I'm late to the party ... I'm now finding college costs for the average student is pretty much the advertised price, particularly for OOS publics. The SLACs do offer merit but even if they offer $20K, then final price tags is still > $50K.

Is in-state pretty much the only option for those that don't qualify for the free money part of financial aid?

I agree. College costs are crazy without enough aid, specially for top colleges where there is no merit money. Top SLACs doesn't have merit money either. All of these top universities and colleges have huge income generating endowments they waste on random things but try to squeeze every dollar they can from middle and upper middle class. These place are only suitable for wealthy, poor and people committing financial fraud.

+1 greed

[Anonymous]

I don't know... my kid is going to college for less than $30k per year (full pay, including room/board); VA, small liberal arts public university.

If her HS grades had been better, it would be even less... could have been closer to $20k including everything.

I'd say that's reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know... my kid is going to college for less than $30k per year (full pay, including room/board); VA, small liberal arts public university.

If her HS grades had been better, it would be even less... could have been closer to $20k including everything.

I'd say that's reasonable.

Longwood, CNU or Mary Washington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I'm late to the party ... I'm now finding college costs for the average student is pretty much the advertised price, particularly for OOS publics. The SLACs do offer merit but even if they offer $20K, then final price tags is still > $50K.

Is in-state pretty much the only option for those that don't qualify for the free money part of financial aid?

That’s pretty much my conclusion, unless you have a high stat kid open to going to third tier colleges for a discount (bring down to closer to instate, not free)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:not necessarily

we are in VA and have basically narrowed down to 2 schools here. they will PROBABLY come out cheapest in the end, but not by much.

Also looking at:
-a PA state school in that large system that has very reasonable tuition even for OOS and even better if your kid has a 3.0 or above. they come within $5K per year of VA schools
-a NJ state school that offers a tuition break to OOS students with a 3.0 or above. Same as above price wise
-a couple privates with merit awards that will bring the price to within a few thousand per year of the VA publics.

Some schools aren't as transparent with the costs and scholarships available. So, I also have a RI state school, a NC state school, an IL state school, a NY state school, a NC private and a VA private on our list that aren't CRAZY expensive to start, but we'd definitely need scholarship money and the info isn't 100% clear at the moment. Based on what I've HEARD about these schools, I think they will be similar to the above.

I have looked very closely at all of these schools for the specific program offered AND the costs.

There are a couple other schools I have recently removed from the list for various reasons that were state schools in other states (MA, OH, WI and NM) offering discounts to OOS students with a certain GPA level.

Would you be willing to share the schools you're looking at? It sounds like many of us are in the same boat!

OK, I will share, but remember, I am looking for a dance program for a kid who is NOT the best student:

VA in state options: Radford and ODU
PA public: Slippery Rock
NJ public: Stockton
Privates with good aid listed on website: Rider (NJ) and Springfield (MA)

RI public: Rhode island College
NC public: UNC-Greensboro
NC private: Meredith (women's college)
NY public: SUNY-Fredonia
IL public: Illinois State
VA private: Shenandoah

Forgot about a random NH public that is a possibility: Plymouth State

Schools I have removed for various reasons: Akron (OH), Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Univ of New Mexico and Bridgewater State (MA).

If you want to look west, a couple of the Cal State campuses are pretty reasonable. There was a very random one that I ran the numbers past a CA friend of mine and she was very surprised at how "cheap" it was. It was what used to be Humboldt State (just changed to a CalPoly campus). There was a CO public that has breaks for oos students above 2.5 - CO Mesa (I am not going to pursue that one because it is VERY remote and also has a reputation for being crazy conservative and has problems with LGBTQ and minority hate speech)

Frostburg and Salisbury in MD both have tuition discount programs within a certain mileage radius

I am fully aware this list is very, very strange to most.