interesting article in Slate: massive student loans/debt and the role of the parents
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Anonymous
My kid was offered a very generous merit scholarship at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, another small liberal arts college. |
Anonymous
| I think the author sounds incredibly naive - makes me seriously question his "elite" education considering it produced a young man with zero common sense or street smarts and a huge chip on his shoulder. |
Anonymous
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The point of the article is that college costs way too much and do not take out excessive loans. I just look up a few colleges for cost of attendance.
Georgetown- $67,000 UCLA- $56,000 (oos) Michigan - $57,000 (oos) Brown- $64,000 Ouch! |
Anonymous
| Santa Clara University in California gives merit aid. |
Anonymous
| I like the idea of just saving some money in an account and then telling your child "this is what we have for you. Use it however you like. If you go in-state, maybe it will cover most of your education.if you want to go OOS, then you'll have to find additional funds." |
Anonymous
Denison University in Ohio is an excellent SLAC with very generous merit aid. Our neighbors' kid is about to graduate and loves it (she was initially hesitant because of its small town location but raves about it now). |
Anonymous
| Merit aid is the way to go, but the student has to have great stats and accept that s/he will not necessarily be going to a brand-name school. |
Anonymous
My kid's cost of attendance would have been, with the merit aid he was offered: Kalamazoo - $32,400/year Wooster - $33,200/year Allegheny - $30,300/year Juniata - $26,800/year He attends another (excellent) school now, where he is very happy. It costs (with merit aid) $30,200/year this year. Get over your fixation on name brands and the world opens up. |
Anonymous
+1 The author of the article seemed to be glued to the idea of going to a certain undergraduate college and then glued to the idea of getting through a master's degree in one year with a 70K loan (incredible!) instead of going part-time with a full-time job as a professor there wisely suggested. Shopping around and considering options pays off enormously. It's hard to believe people don't understand that. |
Anonymous
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The average debt coming out of Connecticut College is $28,000. That's very manageable.
Not really the college's fault that some people can't figure it out. |
Anonymous
| UMD and UMBC: $10k/year + ~$3k in books and fees. Living on campus is not a requirement when you're within commuting distance so that's a cost that can easily chop $10k+ off the bottom line. |
Anonymous
I don't get it. Is $30,200/year your idea of a good deal? |
Anonymous
Not the PP, but I assume that amount includes room and board. That's a pretty good deal for a private school (when some are running 60K and more full in). Yes, it's about 10K more than a relatively cheap state school. But it's a good deal for a private school that is small/has small classes and teachers who are not TA's and may be a better fit for certain students. And those who say it is only 10K to be a commuter student are not exactly correct. The student needs a car with insurance, maintenance, parking and gas costs. The student also needs to eat (whether that is at home or on campus, food is not free). There is also the "cost" of the time involved in commuting. It's not an apples and oranges comparison. I still think a young person can go to a 4 year school and live on campus for a reasonable amount IF the student/parents look for better deals. The merit aid at SLACs does make a difference to many students who are caught in the donut hole situation where their parents make too much money to get a lot of financial aid, but not enough to pay full freight at those schools. Many of the "donut hole" students are filling up state schools these days (except for at the SLACs that are giving merit aid). |
Anonymous
If you are comparing the costs to the cost of Connecticut College, which is the topic of this thread, yes.. |
Anonymous
If the goal is an education at a private SLAC, yes, that is a good deal. And that was our goal. |