<p>I guess I just have sticker shock… Paying this much for college just seems out of proportion. With scholarships, I paid about 2,000 a year to go to a private university. I knew prices had gone up…but even if he gets merit aid, we are talking about 25,000 a year… WOW… ( True cost then 7,000 now 42,000 a year) Even state schools seem outrageous to me. I guess I was thinking we would get it down to 10,000 a year. Then again, he hasn’t applied so who knows what we will actually get.</p>
<p>Our daughter received a merit award at one school that would have brought her cost of attending down to $10,000 a year. There ARE schools like that out there. If your child has the ACT/SAT and GPA scores to qualify for these merit awards, they can be very beneficial. BUT they might not be to your kiddo’s top choice school.</p>
<p>My D had to turn down her first choice school, because it would have cost three times our EFC, after the merit and need aid, and we only make about 67,000 AGI. (We don’t ever take vacations, we drive 12 year old cars, and we don’t live beyond our means.) You don’t know how that killed us. I WISH we had the problem of having money but not wanting to spend it. She ended up getting excellent merit and need-based aid to a school she is very happy about, but I would have loved to have seen her go to her top choice. College is an investment in your S’s future. Much more important than buying clothing or even a home. I would look to be sure the college or U can offer what your S is looking for academically as the determining factor for deciding whether you want to pay or not. Plenty of kids HAVE to settle for the second-tier or lower school, but you have been blessed with a CHOICE.</p>