<p>Yes. My husband and I both attended UCLA (where we met), and although it was only $630/annum (always considered “fees” rather than “tuition” – same thing, you pay!) in '77 when we graduated, it’s still a deal at $8,000 and change in 2010. Son goes to Berkeley, so the “fees” are the same as at UCLA, only increased by everything else – books, accommodation, meals, tickets home, so brings the total up to about $26k from soup to nuts.</p>
<p>On the other hand, had he applied to USC, where my father went, then no. I wasn’t able to afford SC back in the '70’s, and we still can’t afford it now.</p>
<p>And yes, we continue to give to the school through the Alumni association, both in time, sweat and monetary donations. The current students who really need financial assistance and those who need alumni mentors make it worth us forgoing fancy cars and expensive meals every day.</p>
<p>I have to agree with you on that NJSue, I think the inflation is greater than the actual need. None of my kids was remotely interested in either my college (private) nor my Hs (public) but I would have a very difficult time paying $50,000 knowing what cap ex has been over 30 years (minimal).</p>
<p>For us, Stanford (my husband’s alma mater) would have been the *least *expensive school for my daughter to attend. It would have been approximately $12,000 a year (the cost of room and board.) With their generous need-based no-loan aid, we would have fit into the “under $100,000 annual salary” criteria and not had to pay tuition.</p>
<p>My kids didn’t apply to my alma mater, Syracuse, but friends did and they couldn’t afford it even with merit and need based aid and FA appeals. I think they offer a legacy scholarship of some sort, but it probably wouldn’t be enough to make a difference. I heard they offer a really good deal to kids who graduate from HS in Syracuse, which I think is great. If S ends up being recruited it may be enough, but it doesn’t really matter to me as I just want my kids to choose their own schools based on their own interests, likes, and dislikes (and my measly contributions aren’t going to make or break them anyway).</p>
<p>She *did *get into USC, her grandfather’s alma mater, but it would have been a stretch. She would have loans coming out of undergrad. UC Davis was do-able, but she chose Cal Poly SLO. Thank goodness we have a college savings that will *just *cover it!</p>
<p>I’ve given money to my alma mater for 35 years because I am grateful for all that I got from it, as do most/all of my friends from college. I could afford to send my kids there.</p>
<p>However, my son, who is tremendously bright but for whom it would not have been a good fit due to his dyslexia, was rejected there. I have not donated this year and even though I didn’t think it was a good fit, I’m annoyed that he didn’t get in as he was stronger than lots of kids I know who did get in. Not sure where to go with this, but that’s where I am. I was still touched being back at my reunion last month and impressed with the quality of the institution.</p>
<p>Both my husband and I went to a state school. Our kids would have been accepted, had they chosen to apply, and we could have afforded it, but it wouldn’t have made sense to pay out of state when our own state has a couple of better options. Our youngest did do a tour at our Alma Mater, as a kind of “dry run” before any of her real choices, just because we were in the area. She was impressed, and said that she would eagerly apply if we lived there. It attracts few out-of-state students so not a good fit for her. Irony came the year after she started college (a couple of counties away from our alma mater at a pricy private) - our alma mater started giving large tuition waivers for NMS. Nah, it still wouldn’t have been a good match.
We do give to our school.</p>
<p>Like dragonmom, I can’t afford it because it’s an out-of-state tuition problem. However, I attended my alma mater as an out-of-state student (many years ago), and it wasn’t that great a hardship. I graduated with about $2700 in loans.</p>
<p>My D applied to her mother’s alma mater (private school), was admitted, and it was barely affordable. Fortunately she had some more affordable options.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that AdComm do not try to identify the smartest students, they want to build a diverse class that is balanced in a way that reflects there preferences. If they choose to accept some kids who have lower grades and scores, less money, but have life experiences that the AdComm values more than the experiences you have created for your child - then you should think long and hard about helping to pay for the education of someone elses child at your alma mater.</p>
<p>For our alma mater, we think of it from a different slant. We give just to certain departments or endowments to bolster their research money and/or fund graduate students. We never give to the “general fund”. We figure that it boosts the standing of the school to attract the best grad students (which enhances the value of our degree). After all, we went to grad school there with generous funding, and look how great we turned out. (tongue planted firmly in cheek for that last part…) And, it’s kind of a payback to the taxpayers of a state we no longer live in. We got a great education for less than the actual cost. Maybe that’s “paying for someone else’s child” but it doesn’t feel like that.
Now, giving to a private U that we couldn’t afford to send our kid to - No Way!</p>
<p>My S applied to my alma mater and was accepted with the top merit scholarship they give. Regrettably, however, it was not enough and the package was less than the financial aid offers from higher-ranked schools. When it was D’s turn, she was recruited by the same school, a NCAA Division One college. I figured that maybe with an athletic scholarship instead of financial aid it might be affordable for us. Not so. It turned out that while they do give athletic scholarships, they don’t give them for her sport. She too went to a higher-ranked school which offered better financial aid. I was happy that right after that experience I received a questionnaire from the alumni organization. It gave me an opportunity to express that I’d like to see the school become more competitive in their FA as compared to peer institutions.</p>
<p>Also, as pointed out by another poster, the school now costs a greater percentage of our income than it did of my father’s.</p>
<p>My H and I could not really afford to send our son to our (lesser Ivy) alma mater. I suppose we could have done so if we had eaten lentils for the next decade. He applied anyhow. Did not get in, which saved us some agonizing. He is, I think, going to get just as fine an education at the excellent state flagship he will be happily attending. There is quite a lot of overlap in the two schools’ admits.</p>
<p>H and I only went to the school where we met because scholarships made it financially feasible for us back in the day, so we do not take all this very personally. I haven’t yet decided whether to continue our annual contribution to our school; it’s not a trivial amount (at least to us) but it’s not enough to make a difference to this large, wealthy institution. I see our donations. such as they are, as reflecting our fond memories of our own experience there, not as a reward for our school’s treatment of our child.</p>
<p>On the one hand, financial aid policies mean that upper-middle-class families like us flock to the state flagships for lack of an affordable alternative. On the other hand, the fact that we are all flocking to the state flagships at the same time means that the quality of education at those institutions has become steadily more rigorous. Since I teach at the same school my son will be attending, I have seen the change in the course of the past 15 years or so.</p>
<p>As my mother used to say, “it all comes out in the wash.”</p>
<p>Nope, no way I can afford my private alma mater. It was expensive 30 years ago but I had good grades and got a lot of scholarship money. Today, admissions are clearly much more competitive everywhere, so acceptance to my school and others is no cinch. The good news is, our public university is one of the tops in the nation. Yes, competitive admissions but at least Jr. has a good chance of getting in, and with a bargain price tag to boot.</p>
<p>Yes, we could afford it. But we asked Son not to apply there because our college experience left us quite underwhelmed. </p>
<p>We also stopped donating to the school about 10 years ago. Some genius there made the bonehead decision to change the name of the stadium. It WAS named after a dedicated and beloved professor. NOW it’s named after a local celebrity athlete who never attended the school and never played on the field here. And, to add insult to injury, the name change occurred while the prof was still alive. Tacky tacky tacky.</p>
<p>We could afford to send our kids to my alma mater, but I doubt we will. When I attended, the school was a relative bargain; today I don’t think it’s worth the cost. It’s a good school, and it launched me into a top 10 law school, but our state flagship is much more highly rated. I don’t give to the school and never have. We give to my husband’s alma mater, which helped him greatly with scholarships. My school provided no assistance to me, and I needed it at the time.</p>