Reply to WaPo's Wonkblog: "Private colleges are a waste of money for white, middle-class kids"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It really depends on how you define middle class, what caliber of student, and financial aid decisions.  Many of these private colleges have huge endowments and give a lot more financial aid than would be available at a state school.  I'm white, middle class parents, and went to a small liberal arts school for far less than it would have cost me to attend a state school.  [/quote]

My school gave me a lot of financial aid.  And I love having a liberal arts education. I loved living in a residential setting at an LAC for four years. It wasn't just about getting a major and a career; it was about becoming educated.

I think state schools do a great job teaching kids material in their majors, but they aren't always good thinkers across a broad range of topics, and they aren't educated in a well rounded way. [/quote]

State schools have the same classes that small LACs do. Kids at state school take History and Philosophy and they think about all the problems in the world too. [/quote]

They take some of the same classes, but those classes aren't integrate into a whole curriculum in the same way. They aren't living in the same type of residential "community of scholars."  They don't make the connections between fields in the same way.

I've taken classes at state schools. They are excellent in their majors, but they don't train thinkers. It's just not the same. [/quote]

Of course this is a giant load of BS. But if you've dropped $150K+ on a degree, and the guy next you paid $40K for his, you've gotta justify it somehow.[/quote]

I didn't spend a dime on my undergrad education. I had a full ride, on a merit scholarship. I also had multiple full rides to state schools. I was a National Merit Scholar. I had my choice of schools.

For most middle class kids and working class kids,  grant aid at many LACs will make them comparable in cost to most state schools.  Given that costs will be roughly equal, kids are better off at LACs.

It's kids who have parents with high income, but not high wealth, that are really screwed. They don't qualify for much aid and their parents are looking at sticker prices and trying to justify the extra $$$$$.  I feel sorry for them. 
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