<p>@Demeron2
Like you said yourself, rising costs of attendance are driving us to seek the best return on investment. We do not want to, say, waste $240k on a sociology degree from fancy U because that’s just going to net us a really bad ROI. The <$40k STEM degree from the local school or the $100k STEM degree from state flagship are likely better investments than the fancy U deal.</p>
<p>Obviously a lot of these reports hardly take financial aid into account… in some cases, the fancy U degree is even cheaper than the state flagship degree</p>
<p>Maybe its always been a dollars and cents decision to a significant degree. But it does seem that there is a syndrome operating that colleges don’t want to “devalue” or “overtly discount” their posted price, and yet are having trouble dealing with the visceral reaction of parents to the price. Some are beginning to get religion and just lower the tuition. Others lay on a bunch of extra charges to boost revenue without increasing posted tuition. Its a tricky balancing act. </p>
<p>I do think there must be some private colleges with high tuition where virtually no one pays the sticker price. And in some of those cases, the instances where they are paying full price must be for academically or behaviourly marginal admits, whose applications don’t engender a full range of choices. </p>
<p>^^^I think that’s true of almost all the schools that offer merit scholarships. I’m familiar with many of the colleges around me. It’s my understanding that nearly everyone has 10 grand taken off the top at St. Joe’s. In fact, I’ve never heard of anyone who didn’t. Interestingly, SJU gives money for being a legacy and also if you’ve come from a Jesuit high school. It’s my understanding that all the scholarship money washes out the same in the end - i.e. if you qualify for the legacy or Jesuit money, it’ll be subtracted off your merit. I suspect pretty much only the internationals are paying full freight. Most of the kids I know who go to SJU have their tuition reduced by 20 grand or more in merit scholarships. Same holds true for LaSalle, though I know far less kids who apply there. The kids I know who attend Drexel are generally higher caliber students and again there, everyone I know who’s accepted is offered at least a 12k tuition reduction via merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Villanova has the reputation of bringing their cost down the least. It does seem everybody gets a little something, but that’s about it. And this is just my suspicion, but it wouldn’t shock me if the kids who qualify for aid don’t see quite as many merit scholarships on their bills, although some FA kids may be better students than the full pays. </p>
<p>Sell (doesn’t mean you can’t get a great education there today): Georgetown, Tufts, URochester, URichmond, Brown, Cornell, Duke, all SUNY, LIU, FSU, USF, most LACs regardless of endowment, Emory, Rutgers</p>
<p>If you come from a family that can afford an Andover and/or has even heard of it you probably don’t have to worry much about money or future employment. The path is clear and well worn.</p>
<p>Back then, college was much less expensive*, and job prospects at the bachelor’s degree level were not seen as being as uncertain as they are seen now. So financial return on investment considerations were likely much less of a concern to college-bound students (although those from poorer families probably considered them more then, as they likely do now).</p>
<p>*Back then, a high school graduate could probably earn enough to live on his/her own and pay the trivial tuition costs at a nearby state university. That is considered significantly more difficult now, and it is assumed that some parental help is needed (parentally subsidized living at the parents’ house is parental help, although it results in restricting the possible colleges to those within commuting distance of the parents’ house).</p>