Amherst College COA $92,816 per year

[Anonymous]

They expect upper middle class to pay almost a $100K per year per child.

https://www.amherst.edu/tuition

[Anonymous]

That's one way to be need blind, ignore legacy, and still get the traditional percentage of the top 1% elite SLACs desire

[Anonymous]

Ridiculous. Hard to think of many schools that are worth a cost like that. Probably the only ones that are certain are HPSM Caltech and Wharton. Maybe Duke, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth.

[Anonymous]

This is a school that coddles the wealthy

[Anonymous]

NO college is worth that as students getting accepted there can easily qualify for full rides at tier two or state schools and partial scholarships at one or two top tier colleges as well. These colleges are only worth it for very wealthy or high need baaed aid eligible families.

[Anonymous]

If you can get significant merit scholarship at Vanderbilt or USC, why would it make fiscal sense to pay twice as much at Amherst or Columbia or even Harvard or MIT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That's one way to be need blind, ignore legacy, and still get the traditional percentage of the top 1% elite SLACs desire

This^.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous. Hard to think of many schools that are worth a cost like that. Probably the only ones that are certain are HPSM Caltech and Wharton. Maybe Duke, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth.

Some of those schools colluded to keep the financial aid packages down.

IMO, colleges aren't worth $80K/yr. That's insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can get significant merit scholarship uat Vanderbilt or USC, why would it make fiscal sense to pay twice as much at Amherst or Columbia or even Harvard or MIT.

Most people don’t get into/get merit aid at those schools so don’t have that choice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you can get significant merit scholarship at Vanderbilt or USC, why ... pay twice as much at Amherst or Columbia or even Harvard or MIT.

Tuition is around $60K at these schools. Harvard and MIT have amazing connections. They also have some truly excellent departments. If you want your kid to go to school in NYC, Columbia is pretty great. Personally, I would prefer my child to attend an elite liberal arts college like Amherst or Williams.

USC is fine, but in a bad part of L.A. I suspect that funding cuts have hurt programs at UCLA. If your kid does not attend a nerd school like Caltech or Harvey Mudd, Pomona would be nice. I might balk at paying full price for USC, unless my spoiled kid really wants warm California weather.

Vanderbilt is great, like Washington University in St. Louis, Notre Dame, or Emory. I'm not sure I want my kid to develop friends and career contacts in the south or midwest. So yes, I would definitely consider paying an extra $120K to give my child friends, a spouse, and elite career connections in the northeast.

[Anonymous]

Real UMC aren't going to those schools. Simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous. Hard to think of many schools that are worth a cost like that. Probably the only ones that are certain are HPSM Caltech and Wharton. Maybe Duke, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth.

Some of those schools colluded to keep the financial aid packages down.

IMO, colleges aren't worth $80K/yr. That's insane.

especially when you are talk 5 classes/15 hours of teaching a week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ridiculous. Hard to think of many schools that are worth a cost like that. Probably the only ones that are certain are HPSM Caltech and Wharton. Maybe Duke, Yale, Columbia, Dartmouth.

Some of those schools colluded to keep the financial aid packages down.

IMO, colleges aren't worth $80K/yr. That's insane.

especially when you are talk 5 classes/15 hours of teaching a week.

When you put it that way, the price of college is a huge scam.

[Anonymous]

Not even 2000 students attend, why worry about this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you can get significant merit scholarship at Vanderbilt or USC, why ... pay twice as much at Amherst or Columbia or even Harvard or MIT.

Tuition is around $60K at these schools. Harvard and MIT have amazing connections. They also have some truly excellent departments. If you want your kid to go to school in NYC, Columbia is pretty great. Personally, I would prefer my child to attend an elite liberal arts college like Amherst or Williams.

USC is fine, but in a bad part of L.A. I suspect that funding cuts have hurt programs at UCLA. If your kid does not attend a nerd school like Caltech or Harvey Mudd, Pomona would be nice. I might balk at paying full price for USC, unless my spoiled kid really wants warm California weather.

Vanderbilt is great, like Washington University in St. Louis, Notre Dame, or Emory. I'm not sure I want my kid to develop friends and career contacts in the south or midwest. So yes, I would definitely consider paying an extra $120K to give my child friends, a spouse, and elite career connections in the northeast.

The post title number amount is misleading and includes estimates for personal expenses etc. which are not paid to the college. The tuition at Amherst is 67k, plus room and board. Other schools are similar — Columbia is 66k and Williams is 65k. In other words, Amherst is about the going rate.