<p>We fall into the “no way are we going to get any financial aid” category - but I would not consider us “wealthy” by any means and we certainly aren’t HAPPY about having to pay the full tuition costs - and it won’t be easy. That’s just the way it is and we’re going to have to deal with it. But we will be very thankful for any kind of merit-based scholarship or aid that comes our way. :)</p>
<p>“W&M is operating with 13% of its budget from the state, and UVA is at 8%”</p>
<p>If you look closer at UVa’s budget and remove the self-supporting areas like the hospitals, most research(fed paid), dorms, sports, etc, the state still provides about 20% of the direct educational related funding for UVa. Any changes to that funding have a significant direct impact on education.</p>
<p>blue, for family that does not qualify for FA, if their instate COA is 23,000, and their OOS public COA is 24,000, all things are fairly equal (other than transportion costs, and hotel stays for parents). Even if the OOS public school costs 10,000 per year more than the instate school, for a family earning 175,000/year, they might be okay with that, over paying 50,000 per year, or even 40,000 per year if the school offered a bit of tuition discounting through merit aid. In other words, it might be splitting the difference in cost between nearly full freight at a private school, and an instate public. If you have a family earning around 175k with job security, or financial security (lots in savings for example) this works. If you wonder which jobs offer job security with a family income of 175k, well, perhaps 2 tenured teachers married to each other who work in public schools that pay fairly well.</p>
<p>“In other words, it might be splitting the difference in cost between nearly full freight at a private school, and an instate public.”</p>
<p>This is exactly what goes on with upper-middle-class families in Chicago. City kids view UW Madison or UM Ann Arbor as far more desirable than Urbana-Champaign, and they’re still much cheaper than the full cost of equivalent private schools. So for this group, Wisconsin, not Illinois, is the most popular destination.</p>
<p>Huh? I get the desire of Madison at $30k OOS, but Michigan is ~$50k/year for OOS, nearly 2x that of UICC. </p>
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<p>Few are “happy” but the simple fact is that you have the cash, i.e., “wealth”. </p>
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<p>Absolutely, no difference. I was unaware that some OOS publics were that inexpensive. But then again, the economic “crunch” is of no importance to them and this thread does not apply.</p>
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<p>By definition, top few % of income earners in the country (and world). Perhaps not a NE definition of “wealthy” but in contrast to the ROW…</p>
<p>blue, if you have 2 nurses who are married and living in the NE (ie: Boston or NYC and working as surgical nurses full time in these cities), they won’t be “wealthy” but for FA purposes their family income can be over 175,000 (that is under 90,000 each). You might have the same income with a school teacher and a nurse, or 2 teachers/school administators who married and working in wealthier school districts (public schools). I think that many of these families would prefer to send to a public and pay 30-35,000 if they had to pay full freight at a private.</p>
<p>Yes, some OOS publics are 24,000/year. Look at the UNC system (I am not talking about Chapel Hill since I have not checked their costs, and it is very difficult for OOS students to gain admission). Also, I am fairly sure that U of Minnesota costs quite a bit less than that.</p>
<p>yeah I get the math: two late-career, married teachers could easily be making ~$200k in SoCal, but the simple fact is that the median income in the US is ~$50k. Thus, in your and my examples, the hypothetical couple are making ~4 median family income in the US…</p>
<p>OK, they’re making 4x the median, but how does it follow that the economic crunch is “of no importance to them”? If they just lost half their retirement savings, that totally changes their financial picture and the affordability of some colleges.</p>
<p>Right, we are on the same page. I am just saying that for these kinds of families, OOS publics can be more desirable than a private school without serious discounting. For many in this income group, the OOS publics have even outpriced themselves. If a family has an income of 50k, OOS public schools running 30-35k per year are obviously not going to be affordable without grandparents, wealthy aunt/uncle paying the bill, or some inheritance, etc. My guess is that the OOS public school kids are top heavy with family incomes that are over six figures.</p>
<p>BINGO!!! And the small stock shares that my MIL bought for $1000 when each kid was born - and which 2 years ago were each worth about $13,000…are now worth less than $200 each. Would $13000 buy a year’s tuition? No. Would it have helped? You bet. And we won’t even discuss their 529 accounts.</p>
<p>For many years we told our kids that (knowing we would get NO financial aid) we would be able to pay for whatever college they wanted to go to. That isn’t the case anymore. DH went to 2 big private schools (GW and Duke). We aren’t even LOOKING at those schools because we can’t afford them. Every school my son is applying to (OOS) is a state school.</p>
<p>Keep hoping that my MIL will help fund Penn State since it is just 90 minutes away!!! ;)</p>
<p>Freshman class PSU at 44% OOS. Wow. If that’s accurate, it’s a BIG change. I believe it was about 25% when my son entered (he is now a senior). And yes, our experience was that it was less for Schreyer (where scholarships were even lower than they are now). </p>
<p>I do believe this is temporary…but in the meantime, I’m starting to feel like we got a bargain (son was rejected from UVA…maybe a good thing…we’d be out a LOT more dollars right now). </p>
<p>I disagree that this is temporary. I think we’ve started down the slippery slope of increased tuiton and decreased savings/income value that will take many years to overcome. For many families who were counting on home equity to fund college, they are out of luck also. With unemployment steady at 10% and no end in sight, I think families are being much more fiscally careful. Unfortunately OOS full pay students are becoming a hot commodity for large state schools, and though it will help some, it will hurt many others who won’t be able to attend as in state because of higher requirements and competition.</p>
<p>We are seeing this clearly in California, and I’m sure many other states are seeing the same thing.</p>
<p>We’re in an affluent area with a national top 100 public non-magnet high school. In earlier years, about 20% of each graduating class went onto the flagship state college. In the class of 2009, it was 30% – a 50% increase. </p>
<p>I know that this has to mean that other kids in the state from less affluent areas and less rigorous high schools are being denied spots at the flagship. </p>
<p>I think the whole OOS is a vicious cycle – the more state taxpayers see their sons and daughters being denied spots in the flagship college, the less likely they are to support paying taxes for that college.</p>
<p>That’s part of the problem here in Texas where it is incredibly difficult for kids NOT in the top 10% of their HS to get into UT-Austin. A slighter larger % can get into TX A&M, and an even larger % can get into Texas Tech. But, those schools aren’t for everyone. </p>
<p>That is why so many of my son’s friends (who, like him, are in the top 20%) are choosing to go out of state. </p>
<p>We aren’t “from” Texas and so my kids have no ties to the state. So going OOS is no biggie and is actually preferable.</p>
<p>Well, in the case of PSU, only 10% comes from the state…so I think they should do what they need to do. There are plenty of schools within PA that receive decent state funding and are cheaper than PSU (Westchester, Bloomsburg, etc). So, there are choices.<br>
Anyway, here in PA, we are seeing more students go to the satellite PSU campuses. They’re easier to get into, cheaper and allow many kids to stay home and save on room/board for the first two years and then transfer in to the main campus. That may be one reason why there are more spots available for OOS kids. Certainly, it’s tougher to get into PSU than a few years ago, but it’s nowhere near as selective as UVA or UNC (other than the honors colleges which is uber-selective these days). The main problem for many families is that it’s expensive…even for in-state kids. And the financial aid is generally not that good. But the school does appeal to oos students and that’s a good thing…they need the money to continue to attract top professors and offer quality programs.<br>
Grcxx…one of my son’s buddies is from Texas!</p>
<p>Start at the operating budget summaries. Lots of interesting info there. About mid-way through, there are charts that compare general fund dollars allotted per in-state student at many major publics. It’s pretty interesting.</p>