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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Np
Aren’t there a number of schools between top 15 and Wooster or Lawrence? No experience with them at all just curious.[/quote]

Okay, looking at LACs currently in the US News range of say 20-50, here are some that seem to be quietly rising even though they're still under the radar for some folks.

Macalester – Its focus on international studies and practical internships mixed with traditional liberal arts is becoming an appealing mix for more students, as well as its location in an actual city. (Occidental is a runner-up with similar qualities.)

Berea – Known for the radical idea of having all students participate in work-study and graduate without debt, its general repuation is steadily rising too, especially in sciences and literature. (Though the Kentucky locale won't appeal to all.)

Skidmore – Historically its strengths have been social sciences, humanities & arts, but in the past 20-ish years it's beefed up its STEM offerings, and has a large new state-of-the-art science building and even more faculty.

Whitman – A Pacific Northwest LAC that'd likely be more highly rated if it were in Connecticut or something, but it's increasingly catching the eyes of kids from the East Coast. (Even if Walla Walla is a journey to get to from other timezones.) Its off-campus "Semester in the West" program is pretty unique and multidisciplinary.[/quote]

The issue with some in the 20-50 class is that they don't offer merit aid to students who don't have that stats that could get them into the T20 and doesn't have as much reputational difference with the tier below it.  So anyone who doesn't want to pay full freight (or take on significant loans if they are determined to have financial need) goes down a tier.  Since there's not a huge difference in real world reputation and not likely much difference in quality -- Wooster with a total cost of attendance of 35k/yr with merit aid beats Skidmore at 80k (rough numbers here, but that's the metric that strong MC/UMC kids interested in LACs but who can't easily afford them but don't qualify for much aid make).  Berea doesn't really fall into that class--it has long served a very different population. [/quote]

+1 My DD was mainly interested in LACs and we ran into this issue. We weren't willing to pay $70K+ for LACs in that 20-50 range. Some in the 40-50s could get as low as $50k with merit but that was still a stretch. DD visited schools she really liked in the 60-80 range that would cost more like $35k and there just didn't seem to be any real difference in student experience or name recognition for that difference in cost. [/quote]

Ita. We focused on the 60-100 schools and DC got into all of them with varying merit offers. On paper they all offer the same things more competitive slacs have... for significantly less money. Actually, a few of them seem more innovative and more responsive than the tier above.

I do think the real cost of education is trending down with the loss of cheap credit. If we have a tranched system that's split between colleges that cost 90k and only take very rich and very poor students vs. colleges that cost 30-45k for the rest, I know what side of the divide I want my kid to be on.

(No, not the with oligarchs. I went to school with those people. They're awful.)[/quote]

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