<p>Several of the schools that dd applied to were within reasonable affordability based on tuition for the current year and scholarships received. Well now several of the schools have raised costs 10% or more and of course the merit money did not go up. This 10% increase is more then we can reasonably do out of pocket- especially if it goes up 10% more each year over the next four years.</p>
<p>When you sit down to talk to your kids about the finances do you plan for all 4 years or just the current?</p>
<p>Of course, you need to plan for all 4 years or better yet, 5 years in case it takes longer for them to graduate due to changing majors, etc. There’s no point in considering just the first year.</p>
<p>A margin of 10% isn’t much either. If a 10% increase is enough to break the bank then it was probably too costly in the first place. And it’s smart to assume some increase in tuition, housing, and fees over the course of the 4 years unless it happens to be a college that guarantees all 4 years will be at a single rate.</p>
<p>This year’s cost with her merit scholarship made it only $2k more then our state flagship which was doable. A 10% increase makes it almost $6k more then our state flagship for next year. Our state flagship is only increasing about 3% per year so yes it is significant for us. This is our first kid going to college so we are learning as we go. We assumed that there would be an increase but we weren’t planning on 10%. Lesson learned for the next one I guess.</p>
<p>I would look at all four years plus consider what happens if another year is needed.</p>
<p>If you have not found the college navigator web site at nces.ed.gov it is worth checking out. It has data for what the cost of the last four years were at each college as well as other data.</p>
<p>Make sure you look at more than tuition as well since housing can go up and ‘fees’ increased and new ‘fees’ created. Books are ridiculously expensive as well even when buying used books.</p>
<p>I’ve heard there are some colleges that guarantee the rate for all 4 years but I don’t know what conditions they have. This can help with and likely created due to the concern you have of increasing rates. Some other posters may have some info on these.</p>
<p>Another consideration - if it’s a college where the on-campus housing is increasing, your kid may decide ot move off-campus after the first year or two into a nearby apartment (usually filled with other students doing the same thing) and may be able to save money that way. It all depends on the particular college and area.</p>
<p>OP, since she has a Merit scholarship[ which may have meant they really wanted her?], I’d take the chance and contact the FA office and plead your case. Private schools have some flexibility, and if they want to, can find $$ to keep a student at their college. 10% is really high, and certainly in this day and age of 0.1% interest rates, is out of line, especially in comparison to other private colleges.</p>
<p>We built a spreadsheet showing all four years of cost. I got last year’s costs and this year’s costs into the spreadsheet (started it last year when it was easy to get the previous year), and calculated the difference. Then assumed each school would go up by that same amount every year. Must say, none of D’s schools went up 10% in a year between 2012-13 and 2013-14. Increases for the 10 schools we did this for ranged from 3.3% to 5.4% increase per year. One school held steady with no increase, but we built in a 3.5% increase to the spreadsheet going forward because they may not stick to that going forward.</p>
<p>The schools we have looked at have not raised costs all that much. 10%/year is a LOT. The schools we looked at did, however, increase merit offerings as well. There are also more opportunities to get scholarships for sophomores and above from the individual departments.</p>
<p>Some, if not all, schools will reevaluate the FA package every year as Tuition/R&B is not the only thing that can change financially. The amount of merit money awarded to an individual will usually not change from year to year unless the award was for full tuition. Out of curiosity we asked at S1’s school if there was discount for paying for all 4 years up front. They said it could only be done for the tuition and there was no discount just that you would pay that year’s price for all 4 years (a 3-4% saving).</p>
<p>Is the 10% increase an overall increase or an increase of just one component - like tuition? If it’s just tuition then if housing/fees stayed unchanged the overall net increase would be less than 10% (assuming your kid will stay in campus housing).</p>
<p>Have you checked to see if this is a relatively ‘one off’ large increase or if it’s somewhat of a typical increase?</p>
<p>I would have to consider all 4 years, and I would want to have a cushion. At the school my D attends, tuition has gone up each and every year over the last 4 by between 6.5% and 9%. There were increases in prior years that were even larger. Room and board costs have gone up every year by even greater percentages. I don’t think this is unusual, and I think you need to plan for it. Fortunately my D has a merit scholarship that increases with tuition, but I don’t think that’s the norm.</p>
<p>To further complicate matters I got a windfall this year which massively increased our EFC which will not be there next year. However, I don’t anticipate it changing enough for dd to get huge increases in aid.</p>
<p>Our flagship U increased instate UG tuition by 100% this year. I believe they are planning future increases as well. Prudently, all families have to plan for s
At least 4-5 years of college per student with some cushion since none of us can control increases and most of want our kids to get degrees from the U they attend as freshman. </p>
<p>Agree it would be worthwhile talking to FAid and merit aid folks to see if your D’s award could also increase 10% to help lessen the tuition increase. Our S’s merit award was 50% of tuition so it helped us by automatically adjusting to increases. Good that you’re considering all of this now while there are many options for your child.</p>