<p>Hmmm...interesting:</p>
<p>
[quote]
However, the percentage of college-goers who pay such large sums is fairly small. Fewer than 10 percent even attend colleges with tuition and fees higher than $30,000, according to the College Board, and many of those students receive financial aid. About 56 percent of students at four-year colleges attend schools listing a price under $10,000, and about one-third attend schools charging under $6,000.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That increase in private school tuition isn't affecting very many people. No wonder it just keeps going and going up.</p>
<p>CC gives a very skewed viewpoint of the college world.</p>
<p>^ "CC gives a very skewed viewpoint of the college world." Indeed.</p>
<p>So my D is one of the 'fewer than 10%' attending a college costing more than $30k, and evidently we are one of the even fewer yet paying list price? (No merit aid at her school). Yay. :-/</p>
<p>6% annual increases double the cost of a college education in 12 years. In 24 years, about the number of years between the time mom & dad went to college, the cost will have double twice, meaning 1 year for jr. will cost as much as all 4 years for mom or dad.</p>
<p>Somehow, knowing that I'm one of the "very few" doesn't help at all.</p>
<p>So I'm one of the very few paying 50k a year...?</p>
<p>Wow I'm going to apply for FA now...</p>
<p>My oldest had a full tuition merit scholarship, but the two I have in college now pay full tuition well above those numbers (unfortunately no merit scholarships in those schools). I feel there are too many "10%" paying parents around there. and they forgot to count them.</p>
<p>What's the matter folks? Do you mind paying full tuition knowing that you are subsidizing 90% of the other students? (Sarcasm). It doesn't make you warm and fuzzy?</p>
<p>"I feel there are too many "10%" paying parents around there."</p>
<p>I think there's just a lot of 10% paying parents on CC. (Maybe all 10% of them are on here!)</p>
<p>Well I must have just called your kid's school's FA department newhere (just kidding). I did call a LAC that meets 85% of need on average (according to how I am reading it on USnews). I called them to see how they deal with home equity. I found out that they don't use home equity in their calculations, but the FA officer was honest with me and said that she does not know where the 85% of need met comes from (they gap much more, but she could not give me a % of need met)! The school is off my list. Listprice of this LAC is 42k+ for COA. Just to add, I was told that with an AGI of anywhere from 80-100k (she mentioned these figures to give an idea) I could only expect a Stafford Loan in terms of financial aid, and that is without merit aid awarded. Wow.
The more I think about it, the more unbelievable it is to me, just wow!</p>
<p>A little perspective perhaps? In the last year, folks in my neighborhood have gone into debt to buy a 17 year old kid a brand new jeep; have taken second mortgages to put in a fancy kitchen; regularly load up their credit cards to buy big screen tv's or to take the kids to Disney. None of these people would consider a private U "we can't afford it"; their kids live at home and commute to the local branch of State U (not the flagship; limited majors in a couple of programs) or they go to the flagship and the parents %^&* about someone else getting better aid than they're getting.</p>
<p>So-- some people don't mind taking on debt for all sorts of consumer goods but wouldn't pay for a private U. Others.... and many on CC, take on debt for a private U and don't mind living without Tivo.</p>
<p>Nice to live in America where you have choices.</p>
<p>Well, blossom, I know a family who live like this, and then needed to sell their home when they were mortgaged to the max, credit cards were charged to the max, and they could no longer make payments on time. There were no children in college. They have younger children. This is just their lifestyle. They have made fun my H and my clothes (sorry, we don't pay over a thousand dollars for a handbag, and we don't spend $80 for one tie). You know what, they are back to spending as usual. None of this has to do without of control rising college costs though.</p>
<p>Jeeps, tvs, trips to Disney are cheaper than private school costs. :)</p>
<p>We know that we cannot pay full tuition, so my kids have chosen/are choosing the colleges they apply to very carefully. The college application process would be less stressful around here if merit aid were not a big deal, but it is. </p>
<p>Even after receiving generous (>50% of tuition) scholarships, dd couldn't afford to go to some colleges! We won't touch our home equity and we won't do loans.....Everything worked out okay though -- Dd was lucky and received a great scholarship to a great school.</p>
<p>College tuition is really shocking. My father, an retired college admin person, has a theory on why Antioch went under -- it's tuition was too high! I have tried to explain to him that that its tuition is pretty standard for private colleges, and he doesn't believe me! He still talks about working your way through!</p>
<p>If you look at the statistics from the top 30 lac's approx 46 to 55% of the entering class of 2010 and 2011 get some financial aid. That leaves approximately 50% of us paying $50,000 in room,board,tuition,books, travel, computers and other incidentals. Only 10% paying full coverage my patoooty.</p>
<p>Then there are the top seventy to one hundred private universities that cost about the same with the same financial aid statistics. Where is College Board arriving at their findings?</p>
<p>Dana's Dad</p>
<p>In today's Hatchet (GW student newspaper) they have an article where President Knapp of George Washington University speaks out on high tuition costs and vows to change things up a little. Interesting stuff.</p>
<p>Here are some quotes:
[quote]
"I am personally not happy with seeing this institution at the top of the list of price," Knapp said at the meeting of the University's highest governing body.</p>
<p>"The debt burden on our students needs to go down," he said.</p>
<p>Lydia Thomas, chair of the academic affairs committee of the Board of Trustees, said GW's high cost impacts the retention rate of students.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>And that is one of the reasons I decided to go to community college for a full two years before transferring into an expensive 4-year university. But I'm loving GW :)</p>
<p>danalynne, there are over 3,000 colleges and universities in the US. 30 lacs is a pretty small number.</p>
<p>Dana's dad, if a school offers you a subsidized Stafford lan, with work study (which is called self help aid), even though it is not really aid, perhaps you are no longer in the paying "the full freight" column. Perhaps a good chunk of students are given 5-12k (in aid of some type)at a school costing over 45k/ year, so the aid kind of becomes meaningless if it is not enough to allow a student to graduate.</p>