<p>My daughter would like to attend a smaller liberal arts school with a major in Writing, and hopefully be able to minor in Women's Studies and/or Religion. We've looked over the obvious choices like Oberlin (my alma mater), Bard, Hampshire, Swarthmore, etc., and they are not affordable to us. We would like for my daughter not to be saddled with a ridiculous amount of debt, especially since she is likely to follow the example of her family and go into a low-paying career like education, the arts, or community service. </p>
<p>Does anyone know of a school that has the right vibe without the top end price tag of those schools? All of the schools I mentioned are retailing at 55K+. If we could find places that STARTED 10-15K less before grants, we might be able to swing them.</p>
<p>I don’t know about the “lefty” part, but here are some private schools with total price tags in the $40s and $30s (k)… from Kiplinger’s list of “best value private schools”:</p>
<p>Trinity U (Texas)
Clark U
Emerson College
Marist College
Elon U
Lebanon Valley College
Hood College</p>
<p>Most families will pay nowhere near the $50+k total price tag for an elite private school. Definitely worth it to try the Net Price Calculator (Google it for each school) to estimate actual cost.</p>
<p>“About 42% of Amherst students pay the full sticker price. About 65% of Colgate students do.”</p>
<p>…this just means that most people who get into those schools are from families with fairly priveleged financial situations.</p>
<p>That need not be the case.</p>
<p>Rephrase:</p>
<p>If you get in, the school will give you an aid package you will likely be able to handle financially, if your tax/property/investment stats actually represent your financial situation.</p>
<p>(try the Net Price Calculator for some idea if that will be the case)</p>
<p>College of the Atlantic does not offer the majors she seems to want. Though it is an awesome little school with a great location.
Clark is a good fit, though the neighborhood is a bit iffy. Definitely worth investigation though.
What kind of stats are we talking about? Are GPA and test scores good enough for significant merit aid? And you’ve done the calculators to see what your EFC is?</p>
<p>SUNY New Paltz is supposed to have a vaguely lefty vibe and is supposed to have a good writing program.</p>
<p>And, as recommended by tk21769, Beloit would fit the academic criteria. Although the costs are closer to $48,000 a year, it offers a number of merit scholarship possibilities that the OP’s daughter might qualify for.</p>
<p>She has a 3.8 at the start of her junior year. She took 2 AP classes last year and is taking 2 more this year. She’s a great student with some quality activities. </p>
<p>I’m a professor at big city R1, and she could go there for free, but no Writing, no Women’s Studies, and no Religion. Basically an engineering school, although I’m in the arts college. </p>
<p>Knox looks good. They have a quality Writing program, and list at 44K. Their Net Price Calculator gave me an end result I think we could afford. We’re just starting this process, and I’m beginning to see that it really varies from school to school. Wesleyan’s Net Price Calculator gave me a 7K discount. Knox gave me 18K, and they cost 16K less in the first place. Big big difference!</p>
<p>Yes, it’s the variability that makes the whole process so crazy! Amount of aid offered, % of aid that is not loan-based etc. Predicting merit aid is even more difficult.
Best to cast a wide net if at all possible and see what comes up!</p>
<p>Earlham College in Indiana doesn’t have a writing program per se, but I happen to know that an English major is going to live and breathe writing.</p>
<p>Cost of Attendance is $47K, but your D would be a candidate for the Presidential Scholarship, which would bring it into your desired price range.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the replies. We’ve looked at all of the sites of the schools mentioned. Net price varies WILDLY with identical information put in. It looks like Earlham is not going to work unless she were to win a HUGE scholarship. Total cost was 50K, and after I did the calculator, it came all the way down to 48K.</p>
<p>If your daughter would qualify, you could consider honors colleges within big(ger) schools. Many of the programs are school-within-a-school and in that way resemble LACs somewhat: many have their own dorms, classes, support services, etc.</p>
<p>Re: #11 …
Wesleyan has one of the highest sticker prices of the high-end (most selective) LACs.</p>
<p>Among schools more selective than Knox, but probably netting out at a lower cost than Wesleyan, consider Colorado College. Their sticker price is about $7K lower than Wesleyan’s and your D’s chances for merit aid would be higher (more merit money available for somewhat lower competition). </p>
<p>Others to consider (for cost and quality if not “vibe”):
Centre College
Rhodes
Kalamazoo
College of Wooster
Agnes Scott (women)
Juniata</p>
<p>Eckerd College. Last yr’s merit award for a 3.7GPA and 1250/29 SAT/ACT was $16,000. They have a writers in Paradise series in January each year.</p>
<p>At need-aware colleges, or at schools with significant merit aid, affordability may indeed vary depending on qualifications. However, affordability is not relative to academic capability at need-blind, full-need schools that do not offer merit aid (which includes most of the most selective schools). </p>
<p>Reed has been need-aware in cases of borderline applications in recent years. I believe that for a strong applicant, need would not influence the admission decision, nor would qualifications influence the amount of aid. Reed claims to cover 100% of determined need for those who get need-based aid. Reed does not grant merit aid. Its full sticker costs are almost as high as Wesleyan’s. So although it is an excellent school with a lefty vibe, it may not be affordable for the OP. </p>
<p>Now, some schools may be relatively generous in how they determine and cover need for middle-class students. Unfortunately, the Common Data Set and other available information doesn’t make it easy to discover such schools. I suppose your best bet is to use the NPCs school by school.</p>