When will 2015-2016 costs be published? How are we to evaluate our offers without this information? Are in-state tuitions typically frozen for 4 years and not OOS? Or is at a case by case basis? Trying to figure out realistic numbers to plug into our spreadsheet for the 4 years of expenses.
Our kids’ schools set their costs in the summer. And yes…that meant we had to make decisions before we knew the actual costs.
We just added 4% onto the current cost.
Yes, costs are usually finalized in the summer. And publics (instate or OOS) and privates can change…each school may have their own policies, but many publics change rates for EVERYONE.
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How are we to evaluate our offers without this information?
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Yes…4% increases each year can be a reasonable expectation for tuition and R&B.
So any prices that you are currently seeing are for the 2014-15 school year. So, by the time your child is a senior, there will likely be 4 increases…so maybe a 20% total increase from what you’re seeing now??? . If a budget is tight going into frosh year, it may become impossible by years 3 or 4.
TIP!!! If a merit award is for a SET amount…like $15k per year, then that becomes less meaningful as rates increase. Some schools will increase merit if the award is for “full tuition” (but check on that…some won’t adjust beyond the first year amount).
It all depends on the school. Many private schools will announce their 2015-2016 numbers within the next three months. Public schools that rely on state funding - who knows; a lot is based on the vagaries of the state legislature. For privates, if you assume 5% cost inflation per year, you should be pretty safe with a four year prediction of expenses.
You can search with google and find COA for past years to get a feel for what future increases will be. Not very accurate but better than nothing.
Our in-state school sets rates in the summer when the funding from the state is finalized. The cost for in-state is not frozen for our schools.
Unfortunately, schools have to wait until their Boards of Governors approve tuition/fees … which very often is in the summer. You just have to guess based on recent hikes. Not what you want to hear, I’m sure, but it’s the way it is.
Last year, I found out what the tuition and r&b was raised to on July 2; the tuition was due July 11! For the other child, I found out in mid Aug but the tuition wasn’t due until mid Sept.