<p>My daughter is applying to George Washington University. GWU has the highest tuition of any four year college or university in the country. They justify this by saying that the tuition remains the same for the four years. I compared the tuition of GWU with the tuition at the University of Pennsylvania where my older daughter goes to school. I assumed that the the Penn tuition would increase at a rate of 5% per year which is approximately the average annual increase in college tuition. One would still end up paying over $4,000 more at GWU than at Penn over the four years. How can this be justified?</p>
<p>I don't see any justification!</p>
<p>To keep out the riff-raff.</p>
<p>The idea of fixed tuition does not equalize GW and any other school. I think its a nice thing to have, but when looking at GW it becomes pretty clear that its very expensive. To me the real justification of this is that GW is always buying/building new facilities to make GW better. I look at it as paying for the security that in the future your diplomma from GW will be worth more than it was when you graduated.</p>
<p>My son is a freshman at GW. I figure the high cost of tuition is due to the cost of DC Real Estate. It's just an expensive city. No way to get around that. Hotels are more expensive parking is more expensive.... what can you do?</p>
<p>GW gives out many half tuition scholarships. Don't know what the deal is to keep them though. I also think if you keep something like a 3.8 (yeah...I know...impossible) you automatically earn a scholarship.</p>
<p>I have a half tuition scholarship and you have to keep a 3.0 to keep your scholarship. If you do not get admitted on scholarship then you should get a 3.7 if you want to apply for presidential scholarship after attending. A 3.7 is an A- average and is not incredibly hard to achieve but takes some dedication.</p>
<p>sethlyon-did you apply for the scholarship you have? or were you just automatically evaluated for it?</p>
<p>I was automatically evaluated for it when I applied RD</p>
<p>My S applied RD, and did not apply to the Honors program. He planned on going to a state school since that was the most affordable school for us. </p>
<p>Without him doing any of the add'l applications, GW put him into the Honors program, and gave him a half-tuition scholarship, so GW turned out to be the cheapest school he got accepted to. He's now a senior there, and has loved every minute of GW. He says the professors have been great - even better than he was hoping for, and the campus, while not Bucknell by any means, is very nice, in his opinion. </p>
<p>And you know those classes that so many colleges picture on their brochures - students sitting in a ring outside on a lawn? Well, you'll never see that picture on GW's brochures, but that's exactly what he did have: several classes, outside, under the cherry blossoms in full bloom. GDub was a great fit for him.</p>
<p>i guess a probable (but really bad) reason would be dorms? i stayed at gw-mv campus for a summer program and also toured foggy bottom and the dorms were pretty nice, esp for in the city as for foggy bottom. </p>
<p>My question would be if gw's location is the reason for it being more expensive, shouldnt georgetown's/americans price tag also be as high/higher? gw's total cost, according to the good people at collegeboard, is about 51k/yr, but gtowns about 47K/yr and au's is abour 42k/yr and all three are located in northwest dc. </p>
<p>but then again, i dont know if 4k is considered "a lot", and this is just one person randoming ranting at 11 oclock on Christmas night.</p>
<p>The reason for the difference between Georgetown, Au, and GW or two fold. One, although all are Northwest DC. GW is in the heart of DC. Being a few blocks from the whitehouse and being literally nextdoor to the IMF, World Bank, Red Cross, and State Department, GW is in a very unique position that is noticeably different than GU or AU. </p>
<p>Another reason, which really only applies to the GW/GU difference, is endowment. GW has a very small endowment when compared to GU though the hope is that the new president will help to change this.</p>
<p>as sethlyon says, it just comes down to prime real estate=higher price tag. I also hear gw is amazing when it comes to internships in DC too. </p>
<p>im almost 100 percent sure that gwu actually has a higher endowment than gu though, so endowment cant be a key reason</p>
<p>BigFanOfPie:</p>
<p>You are correct. Per the IPEDS database endowments at the end of fiscal
FY05 (6/30/05) are:</p>
<p>GU $776,183,000
GWU $,1,016,788,000</p>
<p>anybody gotten any financial aid packages yet?</p>
<p>I haven't... On the phone they said they should be out by the end of the year hopefully. In the email they sent me when I asked them they said before matriculation. Which would be in april?! ***?</p>
<p>Re: Endowment. You must look at endowment per student. GW has more students than GU, therefore lower endowment per student.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Being a few blocks from the whitehouse and being literally nextdoor to the IMF, World Bank...
[/quote]
Haha, sethlyon, it's funny that you mention that. My sister lived in Lafayette her freshman year, just a few blocks from the White House. Then last year she lived in another dorm that was right next to the IMF and World Bank. Literally, RIGHT next to them! I was really surprised, haha.</p>
<p>But yes, GW housing is most excellent (they converted an old hotel - Bulova, I think? - into a dorm) and truly in the heart of the city. AU and GU are more on the outskirts.</p>
<p>As for comparing GW and GU, GW grants merit scholarships, while GU doesn't, so GW would need to raise its tuition to compensate.</p>