Anonymous wrote:Total cost at her OOS Catholic college- $48,000
minus merit aid - $14000
Paying $34K out of pocket.

She probably could have gotten into some "higher ranked" schools but we knew we absolutely could not do 50/60K or more a year so we focused our efforts on schools that gave merit aid. And state schools, but she didn't really like any of VA's options except William and Mary which she was rejected from.

As a Maryland parent, it kills me when I hear Virginia students say they just don't like the Virginia colleges. I wish we had in-state choices like yours. That said, I know it must kill you, too!

Total cost at her OOS Catholic college- $48,000
minus merit aid - $14000
Paying $34K out of pocket.

She probably could have gotten into some "higher ranked" schools but we knew we absolutely could not do 50/60K or more a year so we focused our efforts on schools that gave merit aid. And state schools, but she didn't really like any of VA's options except William and Mary which she was rejected from.

Ugh. This is a very depressing post. It's ridiculous the cost of higher education!

Belt tightening PP here. I do have to say that it's sad when we can't really look to the / a decent state school option.

Maybe a better answer is to forego the so-called prestige of a school and suck up a lesser undergrad institution.

NP here. These are horrifying numbers! I'm in a very similar position as OP (8th grader with $40k saved) and I'm worried he won't get in to a state school he'll want to attend.

I don't know how we could spend $57k (or more!) a year on college. There's no way we'll get FA either.

Tightening the belt now appears to be the only way out of this predicament (assuming we don't want him to have to work his way through the first two years of college, at least).

DC is at Dickinson College in Carlisle PA. Tuition, room and board, fees etc = $64000. DC has $10,000 merit scholarship which it brings it down to $54,000 for one year. Ouch!

Freshman in-state at William and Mary - no financial aid - first semester payment (tuition + housing + meal plan) was just over $15,000.

In-state VA, about 25K for everything.

Those of us who pay full freight choose to do so (in almost every case there's a less expensive option, just not one we want). For us, our kids probably wouldn't be accepted to the one or two VA colleges they'd want to go to so we looked OOS.

This describes us. Our DC is in his 3rd year at an OOS private SLAC. Cost is 34K (includes a "scholarship"). We would have been full pay in state if he had been accepted to a public school he liked, but it didn't happen (in VA). This decision means about 60K more over 4 years. We would be enjoying more meals out, travel, new clothes, house renovation, etc. if this had not happened. Crossing our fingers that he is gainfully employed after he graduates.

In-state, about $23,000.

OP, this is not a crowd-sourcing question-at least without knowing the family HHI and the kid's credentials. Those of us who pay full freight choose to do so (in almost every case there's a less expensive option, just not one we want). For us, our kids probably wouldn't be accepted to the one or two VA colleges they'd want to go to so we looked OOS.

Too damn much...!!

Full pay, private = approx. $60K. My DD is happy and she's having a great experience, but the cost boggles my mind every time we get the tuition bill.

We had prepaid tuition for state school. DC also received merit scholarship for full tuition. So we are using prepaid for room and board, meals and textbooks.

DC picks up all supplies from home - snacks, paper products, cleaning supplies...and shops for clothes online using our account.

So, I would assume DC is spending around $200 or so every month to socialize in college.

And we paid 10 K for the year for the prepaid tuition, some years back.

Anonymous wrote:So I'm completely right to be freaked out.

Have you looked at what the cost is of your instate option? All websites list tuition, room and board. Much more relevant than what I am paying as a full pay at a private college.

$23 OOS SLAC. Would be more than $50 without scholarships. Still more than I can easily afford.