Of the top private colleges, which ones do you think are worth $57,000 a year?

[Anonymous]

I went to a top 30 private school twenty+ years ago. Then it was just a nice private school, now it seems so overpriced! So sad and so crazy.

[Anonymous]

We are paying full freight for one. It's worth it to me, although I certainly recognize that DC could get the education part for less at UMD or another MD state school. We looked at those but they were not appealing to DC. I might feel differently if we were sacrificing retirement savings or borrowing money, but we aren't.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends. If you meet friends whose parents work in lucrative industries (finance), and you get contacts to get a job paying $1,000,000 a year, then it's worth it.
Not everyone takes on that much debt for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are paying full freight for one. It's worth it to me, although I certainly recognize that DC could get the education part for less at UMD or another MD state school. We looked at those but they were not appealing to DC. I might feel differently if we were sacrificing retirement savings or borrowing money, but we aren't.

Thanks for saying so. I was afraid we were the only ones who pay college in full.

[Anonymous]

I think the majority of posts here are ludicrous. Why the surprise and outrage? Why the assumption that all students have the same aptitude or drive? Anyone could see this coming 20 years ago. Our financial advisor suggested saving $250,000 for each child. Expensive colleges aren't for everyone, but if your kid has the ability to do top notch work (and not spend college at a frat or sorority in a drunken stupor going to football games and taking watered down preprofessional coursework like business, communication, hospitality or sports management) the economic payoff, not to mention the self-improvement, can be well worth it. I suspect that the majority of posters here would also contend that there's no value to private secondary school.

Are private colleges way expensive? Yes. Should certain students forget a pricey college and go instead to a community college or a state school (and don't get me wrong, some of them are fine schools)? Yes. Not all students are the same. Know your kid and know the requirements of certain sectors of the workplace. One size doesn't fit all.

[Anonymous]

I think private colleges are nice too. I went to one. I think the price increase is crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are paying full freight for one. It's worth it to me, although I certainly recognize that DC could get the education part for less at UMD or another MD state school. We looked at those but they were not appealing to DC. I might feel differently if we were sacrificing retirement savings or borrowing money, but we aren't.

Thanks for saying so. I was afraid we were the only ones who pay college in full.

Another full-pay family here. Unless your HHI is under about $120K (with some variation), you're not going to get FA, and the ivies don't give merit aid. We're not sacrificing retirement, though, or we wouldn't do it. Some people spend on fancy cars, we spend on education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at two schools on the Forbes list. They each borrow 3,500/year in subsidized loans. We pay 10K for one and 12K for the other. The rest is covered by the schools in scholarships and need-based aid. It's doable.

+1 very few people pay full freight. Ask the admission office what the discount rate is and how much aid you can expect, then go from there.

If we make $290,000 should we expect to pay full freight? I'm assuming so. Unfortunately we have a second child in private school and a high mortgage so these schools are probably not doable for our almost college student.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at two schools on the Forbes list. They each borrow 3,500/year in subsidized loans. We pay 10K for one and 12K for the other. The rest is covered by the schools in scholarships and need-based aid. It's doable.

+1 very few people pay full freight. Ask the admission office what the discount rate is and how much aid you can expect, then go from there.

If we make $290,000 should we expect to pay full freight? I'm assuming so. Unfortunately we have a second child in private school and a high mortgage so these schools are probably not doable for our almost college student.

Yes, I'm afraid you're not going to get a lot of understanding from the federal financial aid formula about the private school. I forget how mortgages were treated. Some colleges make you fill out another financial aid form run by the College Board people, and many colleges have their own forms or adjustments to the federal formula. And then after DC gets accepted it's always possible to appeal to your college FA office about special circumstances that don't show up on the forms. But at the end of the day, federal aid (Pell grants, subsidized Stafford loans) are basically limited to HHI under $50,000. So at your AGI you would be looking at what the school will provide in the way of merit aid (at non-Ivies), grants and/or subsidized loans, all of which depend on the school's endowment. And frankly, they are going to ask hard questions before giving HHI>$200K a FA package when they could be giving the same money to HHI=$100K, given that the endowment pie is limited.

In any case, many college FA packages are a combination of grants and loans, so you'd be looking at substantial student loans. You could take unsubsidized student loans out from Sallie May, although you have to fill out the FAFSA to do that. You could also take out a federal PLUS loan for parents, although that could jeopardize your retirement. The most complete book I've read on the subject is published by the Princeton folks who do SAT and AP study guides. That book talks about how they have helped millionaire clients get FA, but the circumstances seemed pretty unusual in those cases.

[Anonymous]

Did anyone else hear the piece on NPR this morning about Gov. Perry's proposed changes to the state schools in Texas? He wants them to be amped-up community colleges, basically. If other states follow suit, and I wouldn't put it past them, and my kids want a traditional college education, I will pay what it takes to get it for them.

http://www.npr.org/2013/05/09/182474603/perrys-vision-for-university-of-texas-criticized

[Anonymous]

Why is Fordham so expensive? It doesn't seem as though it's in the same league academically with the others, although I graduated from college more than 20 years ago, so my perception may be completely wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is Fordham so expensive? It doesn't seem as though it's in the same league academically with the others, although I graduated from college more than 20 years ago, so my perception may be completely wrong.

It's in NYC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have kids at two schools on the Forbes list. They each borrow 3,500/year in subsidized loans. We pay 10K for one and 12K for the other. The rest is covered by the schools in scholarships and need-based aid. It's doable.

+1 very few people pay full freight. Ask the admission office what the discount rate is and how much aid you can expect, then go from there.

If we make $290,000 should we expect to pay full freight? I'm assuming so. Unfortunately we have a second child in private school and a high mortgage so these schools are probably not doable for our almost college student.

Yes, I'm afraid you're not going to get a lot of understanding from the federal financial aid formula about the private school. I forget how mortgages were treated. Some colleges make you fill out another financial aid form run by the College Board people, and many colleges have their own forms or adjustments to the federal formula. And then after DC gets accepted it's always possible to appeal to your college FA office about special circumstances that don't show up on the forms. But at the end of the day, federal aid (Pell grants, subsidized Stafford loans) are basically limited to HHI under $50,000. So at your AGI you would be looking at what the school will provide in the way of merit aid (at non-Ivies), grants and/or subsidized loans, all of which depend on the school's endowment. And frankly, they are going to ask hard questions before giving HHI>$200K a FA package when they could be giving the same money to HHI=$100K, given that the endowment pie is limited.

In any case, many college FA packages are a combination of grants and loans, so you'd be looking at substantial student loans. You could take unsubsidized student loans out from Sallie May, although you have to fill out the FAFSA to do that. You could also take out a federal PLUS loan for parents, although that could jeopardize your retirement. The most complete book I've read on the subject is published by the Princeton folks who do SAT and AP study guides. That book talks about how they have helped millionaire clients get FA, but the circumstances seemed pretty unusual in those cases.

PP again after checking that Princeton book. Of course, don't take financial advice from some random stranger like me on the interwebs, and do your own research. But FWIW:

The size of your mortgage does not matter for FA. The FA methodology assumes your family gets a certain amount of living expenses left over after tuition, and that amount is pretty low. For example, the Princeton book cites $25,210 for a family of four in I think that was 2010. That includes ALL living expenses, including rent/mortgage, food and clothing. The book says most people think this figure is "bad joke," but whatever. So whether you have a $1000 or $4,000 monthly mortgage payment is immaterial. With some adjustments, the FA formula will assume that all income over $25K (for a family of four) is available to pay tuition.

While the federal methodology doesn't look at a sibling's K-12 private tuition, some colleges will look at part of the tuition payment and so does another standardized form called PROFILE that some colleges use. If the college doesn't ask for this information explicitly, you could appeal to the FA office, especially if you have a case that the private school is necessary for an LD. The time for appealing would be after DC is accepted to the college. In any case, when the second child starts college, those additional college tuition payments will be factored into the FA calculation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the majority of posts here are ludicrous. Why the surprise and outrage? Why the assumption that all students have the same aptitude or drive? Anyone could see this coming 20 years ago. Our financial advisor suggested saving $250,000 for each child. Expensive colleges aren't for everyone, but if your kid has the ability to do top notch work (and not spend college at a frat or sorority in a drunken stupor going to football games and taking watered down preprofessional coursework like business, communication, hospitality or sports management) the economic payoff, not to mention the self-improvement, can be well worth it. I suspect that the majority of posters here would also contend that there's no value to private secondary school.

Are private colleges way expensive? Yes. Should certain students forget a pricey college and go instead to a community college or a state school (and don't get me wrong, some of them are fine schools)? Yes. Not all students are the same. Know your kid and know the requirements of certain sectors of the workplace. One size doesn't fit all.

Your post is what's ludicrous. I've worked in higher ed, including for one of these expensive colleges. To suggest that one cannot receive academically rigorous coursework outside of a $50K+ per year school is the height of arrogance and ignorance. But hey, if you have the money to waste and you think it's worth it, go for it. I'm sure the facts won't stop you from assuming that everyone who doesn't go to an "elite" school is an idiot who is drunk for four years. Enjoy life in your bubble, PP!

[Anonymous]

What is your reason for going there?
Is it for the education, which you can get elsewhere as well, or the peer group or the expectation that the college friends are going to like your child so much that some big shot will give them a starting salary of $1million?

No big shot will give your kid that kind of a starting position, sometimes contacts made from college just end. And if the education is the same, your kid will not have some magical lightbulb in his head that no-one else has.
If you want him to find a spouse who comes from money, chances are he will bring home a girl who has huge student loans.

Look at the top 100 universities world wide. I saw an interesting article about US students studying in St. Andrews in Scotland.
Just broaden your horizons a little and make an informed choice