College Costs - ridiculously high

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The OP made clear that she/he was talking about "an average student." Such a student would most definitely NOT qualify for a National Merit scholarship or any other kind of scholarship that requires high academic achievement/test scores.

Why would a NMS kids want to go to Alabama/ASU to save money instead of instate flagship

Because Alabama/ASU may cost less than the instate flagship and provide a great education. It's not complicated.

Do you actually know of any NMS going to Alabama/ASU? None of them would even apply.

I know a couple at Alabama, one from Michigan and one from Chicago. Both double major and study languages and seem to enjoy their experience despite not being involved in Greek Life.

[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?

It was for us.

I have a 3.89 1490 34 kid.

Got lots of merit at SLACS, but the bill is $50-60K because they start at a hugely inflated price of $80k or more!! Outrageous for less than 9 months of college.

In-state options were <$30k.

We don't qualify for any FA anywhere, but we do not have the income to pay $85 per year for college (for four kids!), and don't want to saddle ourselves with loans or mortgage our house.

We saved a lot for college, but the price kept outpacing our college savings!!

The cost of college is outrageous. It should cost $40-50 at private colleges, but they jack up the price because they can. Lots of people take out loans for college, which is stupid.

Suck it up and go to your in-state option. Let these privates wither on the vine for lack of students willing to pay their outrageous price.

I'm not going to pay $500 for a pair of shoes. I'm middle class and perfectly happy with my $40-$60 pairs of shoes from Kohls or TJMaxx. Why should I pay $85k for a year of college, when I can pay $25k in-state?

OTOH, my kids were not thrilled with our in-state options. Their wealthy friends went to prestigious privates, but we were not going to sacrifice our retirement or mortgage our house to let them go to a private college.

When I went to private college (yes an elite Ivy), the cost was within reach of the middle class. No more.

We've tried getting enough merit for our four bright, but not superstar kids, and in the end, they all attended state schools.

[Anonymous]

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

My kids would not even consider any midwestern or southern colleges, so that wasn't an option at all for us. East or West cost or nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, you are late to the party.

Look, OP, if you have a kid with super-high stats (4.0/1600, for starters), plays a varsity sport or two, has done some fabulous social service projects, started her own business that's wildly successful, etc. etc., maybe you're kid can get one of those full-ride scholarships. But those kids are rare. A lot of kids do really well in college, but aren't top students in high school. My kids were like that. B+ in high school, and Phi Beta Kappa in college. The early bloomers can get a full-ride scholarship. The late-bloomers are going in-state or take out huge loans if you don't earn $300k per year or more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh Op ... Ttere are a zillion threads here on DCUM and College Confidential about Merit Aid. Learn something.

Don't be rude.

OP, merit aid is worthless unless you can pay a minimum of $40K. If you've got a bright student, they are not going to want to go to many of the schools mentioned on this thread. They just won't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh Op ... Ttere are a zillion threads here on DCUM and College Confidential about Merit Aid. Learn something.

Don't be rude.

OP, merit aid is worthless unless you can pay a minimum of $40K. If you've got a bright student, they are not going to want to go to many of the schools mentioned on this thread. They just won't.

Exactly, kids don’t want to be at certain schools. Even if they shouldn’t feel this way, they do. We can afford $40k but not $50k and even $45k is a stretch I’m not comfortable with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

The OP made clear that she/he was talking about "an average student." Such a student would most definitely NOT qualify for a National Merit scholarship or any other kind of scholarship that requires high academic achievement/test scores.

Why would a NMS kids want to go to Alabama/ASU to save money instead of instate flagship

Because Alabama/ASU may cost less than the instate flagship and provide a great education. It's not complicated.

Do you actually know of any NMS going to Alabama/ASU? None of them would even apply.

Google is your friend:

The Capstone enrolled a record 281 new National Merit Scholars in its 2021 fall freshman class, a 26% increase from UA’s fall 2020 class, which had 223 freshman National Merit Scholars. The freshman class of fall 2019 had 210 National Merit Scholars, according to the National Merit Scholarship Program.

The University has a total of 940 National Merit Scholars enrolled, another record for the Capstone.

https://news.ua.edu/2021/10/ua-enrolls-record-numbers-of-national-merit-scholars/

There are about 150 National Merit Scholars in Alabama every year, so at least some of them came from OOS.

[Anonymous]

I know of a Tiger mom whose kid did well academically. High stat kid who got into an in-demand high paying STEM program at in-State flagship that is also ranked in T15 for that major. Lots of merit aid and other aid. Their yearly out of pocket cost will be 5K for meals as their HHI is 350K+ and they had money saved for college also. I guess the university did not want to give them everything free.

So, after many years of hearing how horrible it is that some parents are Tiger parents invested in their kid's education, it seems that those parents got it right, no? They are not sweating it, are they?

Cheers!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

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.

Check on whether or not an OOS can get into a Cal State (not talking about the UC system). My info is stale but when we looked into Cal State Fullerton because it had an animation program that fed into Disney, the AO told my DH that it would be near impossible for a Virginian to get in. The Csl States were for Californians. There is also a strict residency program for use of their community colleges. But check that

Different schools have different requirements. I think to apply out of state to ANY of the Cal State schools, you have to have a 3.0 minimum. Then there are minimum curriculum requirements, which I hadn’t even looked that seriously at because California is sooo far from home.

That said, the one I was most interested in was San Jose State, but Fullerton and Sacramento also have decent programs. But oos for any of the California publics is quite complicated.

I honestly only keep going back because of the Dobbs case nightmare that SCOTUS caused. I’m not even sure VA will be safe for female students in 2 years

CAL STATE FULLERTON has only 1.18 percent OOS student’s

[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?

It was for us.

I have a 3.89 1490 34 kid.

Got lots of merit at SLACS, but the bill is $50-60K because they start at a hugely inflated price of $80k or more!! Outrageous for less than 9 months of college.

In-state options were <$30k.

We don't qualify for any FA anywhere, but we do not have the income to pay $85 per year for college (for four kids!), and don't want to saddle ourselves with loans or mortgage our house.

We saved a lot for college, but the price kept outpacing our college savings!!

The cost of college is outrageous. It should cost $40-50 at private colleges, but they jack up the price because they can. Lots of people take out loans for college, which is stupid.

Suck it up and go to your in-state option. Let these privates wither on the vine for lack of students willing to pay their outrageous price.

I'm not going to pay $500 for a pair of shoes. I'm middle class and perfectly happy with my $40-$60 pairs of shoes from Kohls or TJMaxx. Why should I pay $85k for a year of college, when I can pay $25k in-state?

OTOH, my kids were not thrilled with our in-state options. Their wealthy friends went to prestigious privates, but we were not going to sacrifice our retirement or mortgage our house to let them go to a private college.

When I went to private college (yes an elite Ivy), the cost was within reach of the middle class. No more.

We've tried getting enough merit for our four bright, but not superstar kids, and in the end, they all attended state schools.

You sound pretty wealthy and real middle class aren't buying $60 shoes.

[Anonymous]

I would suggest just settling for an Ivy rather than a state school. A place like brown or princeton have the most liberal financial aid and will workout cheaper in the end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest just settling for an Ivy rather than a state school. A place like brown or princeton have the most liberal financial aid and will workout cheaper in the end.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone but I mentioned in the original post that child would not revive any merit, so not the typical DMV high stats kid. Just your average nice kid who got mostly Bs. And nothing out of the ordinary, like sports superstar or science champion.

[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?

You are, in fact, late to the party. That said there are a lot of myths about how aid works.

As a general rule, though, OOS doesn’t give much aid at all and privates rarely bring the cost in line with or below in-state options.

[Anonymous]

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

I graduated from Miami. Had my 4.66 GPA 1460 SAT kid apply there last year. It still came in much more expensive than UVA. They don’t give as much merit aid as you think they do. They actually came well under what they said they guaranteed for high-stats kids on their web site (and then that page disappeared).