@2016collegbound I think you missed the points. This thread was started by someone who was concerned that going to Alabama would not be prestigious enough. Many of the responsive posts (including mine) discussed the irrelevance of “prestige” for those students intending to go on to professional school or for those interested in engineering or accounting, for example, where name brands are not especially important. Others, like me, acknowledge the value of prestige, but question what that comes down to in dollars and cents. If I were a multimillionaire I would likely point my kids toward Stanford, MIT, or one of the Ivies. If I only had one kid, my decision might also be different. But I am not a multimillionaire and I have three college-age sons. It would be foolish IMHO to use up my college fund and retirement accounts and then go into debt for my second and third kids. My cardiologist friend and his doctor wife can pay for three kids simultaneously at Brown, but even they are dismayed by the current cost of an Ivy league education.
Each year, there are more and more parents falling through the affordability gap. Poorer families can qualify for full financial aid to the top private colleges. But those same colleges typically offer no merit aid at all. Very wealthy parents can afford the full price of an Ivy-League education. So, two working professional parents will make too much money for financial aid, but still may struggle to pay the full Ivy-League ticket for even one child, let alone for multiple college-age children.
Since the 1970s, college tuition rises have far exceeded the inflation rate, and they show no signs of slowing down. If trends continue, then by the time you are old enough to send kids to college, private schools may pretty much be unaffordable for all but the poor and very rich. Brown’s tuition was less than $29,000 in 2003, it is just under $50,000 this year and will likely bust over $50,000 by the time you start college. The rise has been about 50% every ten years. At that rate, Brown will be charging almost $170,000 per year in thirty years when the my friend’s triplets start sending their kids to college. Even two doctors would find that very hard to handle, especially if there are decent no or low-tuition options for their high-achieving kids.
So how much is prestige worth? That is of course a personal question. But many parents are already voting with their wallets and deciding that a $200,000 premium is too much today to pay for prestige. When you are sending your kids to school in 30 years, you may have to decide if a $580,000 premium is worth it to you.