“Ironic that one of the proposals is putting PASSHE schools under the control of “a large state-related university” (presumably Penn State). One of the causes of the current challenges was the expansion of PSU’s branch campuses in the 1990s, turning what had been two-year feeder schools for the main campus into four-year degree granting schools with residence halls, athletics, etc. This excess capacity, supported by state funding and aimed at the same pool of students throughout the state, contributed to the enrollment problems facing PASSHE.”
@kidzncatz yes, you were right about the chart we looked at. My original post, which got flagged, did show up but on the previous page. Weird.
Anyway, having the full credits under one price is a huge relief, as she is looking into minoring or even double majoring. Something we have to look into further.
@mommdc, Yes, I remember now you posting about IUP; those costs can add up with those credit hours. Such a shame that you need those added expenses in order to get him the best program in his major/concentration with what we have to work with here in PA.
From the links @bester1 provided, it looks like it is only going to get worse. I have to say I am glad DD18 is the last one heading to college. It has been a lot of work trying to get them into affordable schools that will serve them well. So far, all 3 of them have chosen majors that “should” pay well and be in demand. They are also very portable degrees.
I agree with you @Gatormama. My nephew just moved to CO to find work, as he was underemployed here. His mom and Grandmother are very sad and want him to move back. I tell them all the time not to put that pressure on him. He needs to go where he can find steady employment, which he will never get here.
I have also told DS at Bama that I hope he graduates and has a job lined up, other than PA.
However, it is interesting to note when looking at internships, PA actually is one of the states w/ quite a few openings in EE. Many states have very few if any.
The good thing is that S was able to get two scholarships from IUP, and he also applied to music and education specific local scholarships, so far he has received one of them.
With the scholarships, state grant, and his loan, he has tuition/fees almost covered.
After the first year he can move off campus, which is much more affordable than the suites.
I wish I had known about CLEP exams earlier. My older D took several AP classes/exams and received credit for them.
My S did not take AP, but he could have taken CLEP exams for history, Spanish, math, and science and possibly have gotten quite a few college credits at IUP for them.
@mommdc DD has decided not to take the AP exams. They costs were partially covered by the school and now they are full pay. It does add up & DD looked at the WCU site and she would need to score a 4 in them. She isn’t confident that she will do that w/ her current classes so didn’t think we should waste the money. Actually no one in her AP classes is taking the exams this week.
DS Clepped out of language at Bama, which is very generous with their credit criteria, but just barely made it by a few points. Also, had a lot of AP credits that pushed him into upper level courses
DD looked at the CLEP exams at WCU and didn’t feel there were any there she wanted to take. I think she is experiencing senioritis and just doesn’t want to be bothered w/ any more exams. She actually asked me the other day, since she has been accepted to WCU and nothing really counts anymore, could she just fail this semester and be OK? NO!!!
Good article on where most state funding for higher ed has gone. Mostly Medicare (which I thought was a federal program?). I am guessing with an aging population, PA is in this bucket:
For the life of me I can’t understand why the students/staff/administrators at these PASSHE school are not outraged about the lack of inclusion of the “state-related” schools and their branches(6 Pitt, 24 PSU, 7 Temple), in their study. It’s a joke. Only reviewing the PASSHE system is a direct attack on the middle class and students that in many cases have less of an advantage (Many are 1st generation college students). This is more of an issue than PASSHE’s enrollment drop that pretty much matches the enrollment from a decade ago and nobody was complaining about the enrollment drop.
@bester1 So, Pitt tuition is $30.6K + room and board of $13.4K ($44K total), and they don’t give a lot of merit? I didn’t realize it was quite that high.
I thought it was more like $35K. That 44K may be for out of state?
Pitt instate A&S tuition and fees was about $19,000 last year and room and board freshman year ran about $11,000 for my D. So about $30,000 total.
Sophomore and junior year room and board ran about $10,000 and senior year she will be off campus and paying about $9,000.
IUP tuition and fees for 16 credits will run about $13,000 and room and board will be over $12,000. I am expecting total billed costs to be close to $26,000 for the year.
As far as I know Pitt only has 4 branches, Titusville, Bradford, Johnstown and Greensburg. I thought Titusville was possiblity closing.
The costs at Pitt branches are somewhat lower for tuition. $14,000 versus $18,000 at main.
The same is true of PSU branches.
If they are in commuting distance of some students, or they can get merit there more easily than at the main campus, costs could come down to $15,000-$20,000 for some students, making it less expensive than main campus or dorming at PASSHE, if none are close enough to commute.
Cost to attend Pitt(main), IUP and Bloom per their own websites. I did realize that Bloom COA comes in under $20,000 and that includes up to 18 credits.
@mommdc I believe in another thread on CC the kid did get merit money from Pitt branch campus. Is it the same for the PSU campuses?
When DD went to PSU branch, I think she was only awarded a $500 scholarship, she was offered the Perkins loan however, but that is just a greater amount to be repaid. Also, if the branch doesn’t have the 4 year degree available, a transfer to main would be required, so additional money.
I haven’t looked at it since for my younger kids, nor did any friends consider it for their kids either.
Well from my experience it is a bit harder to get merit from PSU, but some of the branches have endowed scholarships you can apply for, and maybe a high stats student can get $1,000 or so, but nothing like the one student at Pitt Johnstown who got $5,000 and the one at Bradford getting $7,500.
