Would you do this, aka college costs are insane - Page 2

[annethcz]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

I do buy that it gives *some* advantage, but I'm not convinced its a huge one. A huge part of your ability to succeed lies within yourself and what you put into your education and take out of it and how you can perform. I think kids who go to ivy league schools need more of that to get in to begin with, so they naturally do better when they get out. I think someone who could get into an ivy league school but chooses a less expensive option can do just as well as someone who went to one.

This is what I think also. While there certainly is some advantage to attending an ivy league school, I'm not convinced that it gives enough advantage to justifying spending that much money on undergraduate education.

While I do intend to pay for my kids' college education if possible, I'm not planning to encourage my children to attend pricey college schools unless they are awarded significant scholarships.

[mightymoo]

Originally Posted by shayinme

You make some good points but I will say as someone with a kid who is applying to colleges this fall that in talks with folks whose kids recently graduated that many state schools are not giving out as much money as the private schools. A colleague of mine whose son just graduated applied to the University of Vermont and a private school in VT where the tutition was higher than UVM. In the end the private school ponied up way more as far as grants and scholarships so kid despite UVM being his #1 choice is going to the private school.

I am in Maine and I know a lot of folks whose kids are going to the UMaine system state school and they barely gave any money unless the family was uber poor or a sports scholarship. These were kids whose folks thought state university was cheaper but here in Maine tuition with room and board is 18K, in most cases none applied to private schools but those that did and got in are paying less than most state university folks.

That bit of information has lead me to have my son come up with a mix of state and private schools, he now has 6 on his list.

Shay

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me given the current economy. Cheaper schools don't need to encourage anyone to come to them, the attendance is up. Anyway, yeah, it makes sense to follow the scholarships, even if the school itself is more expensive. It's very important though that the kid really works hard to retain the scholarship though, otherwise you end up with no scholarship at a more expensive school. (I don't mean to imply your child would be like this)

I had a friend at school who chose to go to my private (but not ivy league) university rather than MIT because they gave him a full-boat scholarship and he couldn't afford MIT. He constantly put our school down, and compared it negatively to MIT, but didn't go to class, got poor grades and lost his scholarship. He continued this way for another couple years and eventually left school for a lucrative job (software development during the tech boom). He is a very bright guy (obviously, to have been accepted to MIT), but he basically paid big bucks and came out of it with no degree. I can't remember if his parents paid or he got loans, but what a waste in the end. He's not the only one I know who went nearly all the way through school and ditched in the end.

Because of my friend, I always am considering how to avoid having similar issues with my kids. I like the idea that I heard somewhere of getting student loans for the tuition with the understanding that I would pay the loans off when they graduate. I don't know if that would necessarily affect some kids judgment though.

[kluella]

I went to Bryn Mawr for my first year of college. In the 2003-2004 school year, tution room, board and fees was $37K. This year, it's $50K. Holy cow!

That said, I only paid $700 out of pocket for that year. I took out $2650 in student loans, and the rest was covered by grants and scholarships. That is the benefit of a well-endowed private school.

Now, going to a State University, it's $7K a year just for tuition. I have had to take out $4500-5500 in loans each year and the rest is paid by grants. There are more people who NEED the fin. aid at a state school, so there's less to give out.

Don't discount a school simply due to cost, you'd be surprised how generous private schools can be.

[choli]

Originally Posted by mightymoo

Yeah, that doesn't surprise me given the current economy. Cheaper schools don't need to encourage anyone to come to them, the attendance is up. Anyway, yeah, it makes sense to follow the scholarships, even if the school itself is more expensive. It's very important though that the kid really works hard to retain the scholarship though, otherwise you end up with no scholarship at a more expensive school. (I don't mean to imply your child would be like this)

I had a friend at school who chose to go to my private (but not ivy league) university rather than MIT because they gave him a full-boat scholarship and he couldn't afford MIT. He constantly put our school down, and compared it negatively to MIT, but didn't go to class, got poor grades and lost his scholarship. He continued this way for another couple years and eventually left school for a lucrative job (software development during the tech boom). He is a very bright guy (obviously, to have been accepted to MIT), but he basically paid big bucks and came out of it with no degree. I can't remember if his parents paid or he got loans, but what a waste in the end. He's not the only one I know who went nearly all the way through school and ditched in the end.

Because of my friend, I always am considering how to avoid having similar issues with my kids. I like the idea that I heard somewhere of getting student loans for the tuition with the understanding that I would pay the loans off when they graduate. I don't know if that would necessarily affect some kids judgment though.

Sometimes leaving school for a lucrative job makes more sense than staying on in school if you are unhappy. He can always finish at night, probably funded by his employer. IMO, a piece of paper saying you got a degree is not much use if you still can't get a job at the end of it.

[zinemama]

If the tile guy makes enough money to afford that kind of tuition then why not? Better spent on educating someone than on fancy cars and such. I'm sure he looks on it as a good investment.

[SiValleySteph]

My DH & I talk about this a fair amount as we are the products of inexpensive colleges. We both went to in-state colleges and had scholarships. We then both ended up at a top 3 grad school in our field for free (thank you research assistanships and fellowships).

In some ways, I think it was easier to stand out and be the top students at our state colleges. In fairness, both our state colleges where top 10/top 15 in our field.

DH actually went to an brand name college (Cornell) for his first year of undergrad and ended up transferring back due to being homesick, not liking it, and his state college actually being just as good in his field. The only student loan he had when he graduated was from that one year.

His sister (also in our same field) went to a pricey undergrad. She then went to our same grad school, so we all ended up at the same place. It may have helped her post grad school as she does have connections. We have some of those same connections from grad school, though, as well.

When my kids are ready to go to college, we will be factoring price per performance ratio.

[riverscout]

Originally Posted by zinemama

If the tile guy makes enough money to afford that kind of tuition then why not? Better spent on educating someone than on fancy cars and such. I'm sure he looks on it as a good investment.

He may choose to look at that way, but I really can't imagine how anyone could think spending $320,000 on a psych degree is a good investment. I have one, and I can guarantee it is not worth it . I got mine for a fraction of the price though from one of the top-ranked public universities in the country.