Anonymous wrote:Wow. Reading this thread I feel very poor. We are just hoping we can afford a good state school. Not sure we will be able. Our HHI is not anywhere close to the ones I see posted here.

Don't panic. I'm 10:48. Our issue is that our HHI was not always $500k. We just got there within the last 5 yrs. but our kids were born 20 yrs ago. Back then we had a combined income of $30k. We could barely afford rent and food. Saving for college was not even on the radar screen. Neither was saving for retirement. So now, we make a lot of money and so we have to pay out of pocket for college and the kids really don't have college funds. We just write the check 2x per year. We are busily trying to out away for retirement because someday we would like to stop working. My choice is retirement or an expensive school. If any of my kids got into Harvard, I would find a way. But like I said, the one that's already in college was a solid B student. If your a B student in high school, you can go B student school.

Our next youngest has LD and has not done well in HS. He's a C student on a good day and by the grace of his teachers. He's off to community college because that's what's best for him. I suppose that there is probably some 4 yr LD college that will cost me $60k but I don't see the point.

Wow. Reading this thread I feel very poor. We are just hoping we can afford a good state school. Not sure we will be able. Our HHI is not anywhere close to the ones I see posted here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That list includes Dartmouth, John Hopkins, Trinity, Sarah Lawrence, USC, Northwestern, Columbia, Chicago, and Oberlin. All of those schools are worth the price. I would pay it, if I had the money and my kids got in.

For me, it's about value. These schools are great schools, but no way are they worth the price tag. Most of the kids get discounted prices via aid packages, but for people who have the $ to pay full price, it's still not worth it. These colleges are luxuries. I don't buy silly things like fancy cars or fancy jewelry because I don't believe in wasting money on name-recognition, even when I can afford it. Not worth it. Send your kid to a state university and send the extra $$ to Haiti or Doctors Without Borders. Much better value.

I don't disagree with you but it's not so tidy IRL. Our kids would love to attend our state flagship college for $25,000 but wouldn't be accepted there. But their stats have been good enough to get them into a few of the higher-ranking schools on this list. For us, Johns Hopkins, Wake, Dartmouth and many others--even with their big price tags-- are "worth it". So, yes, we'll gladly spend $45K+ per year over what say JMU would cost us so that our kids can go to the colleges that best suit them.

Anonymous wrote:this trend of peoepl not willing to pay for the high priced places is real and the schools are seeing it.

It won't be long beofre you start to see schools close.

I don't think they should close. They should lower their sticker prices. And pay taxes.

Anonymous wrote:That list includes Dartmouth, John Hopkins, Trinity, Sarah Lawrence, USC, Northwestern, Columbia, Chicago, and Oberlin. All of those schools are worth the price. I would pay it, if I had the money and my kids got in.

For me, it's about value. These schools are great schools, but no way are they worth the price tag. Most of the kids get discounted prices via aid packages, but for people who have the $ to pay full price, it's still not worth it. These colleges are luxuries. I don't buy silly things like fancy cars or fancy jewelry because I don't believe in wasting money on name-recognition, even when I can afford it. Not worth it. Send your kid to a state university and send the extra $$ to Haiti or Doctors Without Borders. Much better value.

this trend of peoepl not willing to pay for the high priced places is real and the schools are seeing it.

It won't be long beofre you start to see schools close.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No doubt these are good colleges but please tell me what they offer that would justify a $60,000+ price tag. There must be something very specific besides name recognition.

http://www.businessinsider.com/50-colleges-charge-60000-dollars-2014-7

these are wonderful schools, worth every penny

I'm guessing your HHI is upward of $400K. In your case, yes, in mine, no way ever.

Even Warren Buffet would find college costs exorbitant! No sane person should pay this much to send little snowflake to college for less than 9 months. And no way for a no-name college, like some of the ones on this list. Many accept 80% of their applicants!

Our HHI is just over 500k. We have 4 kids. $60k per kid is not an option for us. One is already in state school and it's fine. He was a solid B student in HS. He's don't going to move mountains, be the next Zuckerberg, or do anything more than get a nice paying entry level job in an IT firm. His state school degree is fine for that.

Anonymous wrote:My kid attends a school on the list and another graduated from one of the listed schools. After merit and need based aid we ended up paying less than 20K.

Which one?

We don't qualify for need-based aid, so we're at the mercy of merit aid.

Slightly OT, but do schools pay more for top students? ie offer larger merit aid packages? Just curious. One of the schools DD is applying to lists merit packages of $20K on its website, but nothing larger. Even if DD gets $20K merit aid, she ain't going to this school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don'the see any difference between a 'slightly' less than $60,000 school than a $60,000 school.

As noted in our case (we are full pay) it's $40,000 for 4 years so yes, there is a difference to me. It was not a factor in school selection but I was pleased when DC picked the slightly less expensive school that is just as highly regarded, if not more so, than DCs other options.

$40K per year or $40K for FOUR years??

If I could find any college for $10K for a year, DD's going there!

I'm 8:34. The difference between "slightly" less than $60k and $60+k in our case is a $40k savings over 4 years. I consider it savings because we were otherwise expecting to pay the $60k+ tuition.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don'the see any difference between a 'slightly' less than $60,000 school than a $60,000 school.

As noted in our case (we are full pay) it's $40,000 for 4 years so yes, there is a difference to me. It was not a factor in school selection but I was pleased when DC picked the slightly less expensive school that is just as highly regarded, if not more so, than DCs other options.

$40K per year or $40K for FOUR years??

If I could find any college for $10K for a year, DD's going there!

a local CC

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don'the see any difference between a 'slightly' less than $60,000 school than a $60,000 school.

As noted in our case (we are full pay) it's $40,000 for 4 years so yes, there is a difference to me. It was not a factor in school selection but I was pleased when DC picked the slightly less expensive school that is just as highly regarded, if not more so, than DCs other options.

$40K per year or $40K for FOUR years??

If I could find any college for $10K for a year, DD's going there!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No doubt these are good colleges but please tell me what they offer that would justify a $60,000+ price tag. There must be something very specific besides name recognition.

http://www.businessinsider.com/50-colleges-charge-60000-dollars-2014-7

these are wonderful schools, worth every penny

I'm guessing your HHI is upward of $400K. In your case, yes, in mine, no way ever.

Even Warren Buffet would find college costs exorbitant! No sane person should pay this much to send little snowflake to college for less than 9 months. And no way for a no-name college, like some of the ones on this list. Many accept 80% of their applicants!

Anonymous wrote:I don'the see any difference between a 'slightly' less than $60,000 school than a $60,000 school.

As noted in our case (we are full pay) it's $40,000 for 4 years so yes, there is a difference to me. It was not a factor in school selection but I was pleased when DC picked the slightly less expensive school that is just as highly regarded, if not more so, than DCs other options.

I don'the see any difference between a 'slightly' less than $60,000 school than a $60,000 school.

Anonymous wrote:I'd love my kid to attend U Mich. But from out of state, it's $55K for freshman and sophomore years, and $58K for junior and senior years.

http://www.finaid.umich.edu/TopNav/AboutUMFinancialAid/CostofAttendance.aspx

At that point, if what you really want is a small ivory-tower experience, and you can afford it, why not spring the extra $6K for Vassar.

Also, many of the schools on that list provide significant merit aid. I know a kid who got a great merit package from Bennington, for example.

Not to quibble but the Michigan numbers include $3200 of books and personal expenses so it's slightly less expensive on an apples to apples basis. I have one at each - Michigan and a $60k plus school. While Mich is expensive for a state school I have to say that saving $40k over 4 years does make a difference.