<p>"Rutgers University tuition is WAY TOO HIGH".</p>
<p>Agreed.</p>
<p>I thought it was high when I went there 1960-65. It was $400.00 a smester.</p>
<p>I am growing increasingly tired about many families complaining that they cannot affford to send their little Jane or Johnny to college. They have had 18 years to prepare and save for this momentus day! A vast majority of middle class families are able to set aside some money each week for their children's college education.</p>
<p>This years hs graduates would each have about $50k set aside for college if their parents had saved only $25/week. Most families eat out regularly, take vacations, drive late model cars, view coupon clipping as demeaning, make purchases on impulse rather than waiting for sales, choose to treat themselves when that tax refund arrives in the mail, find a way to send their kid(s) to a summer sports camp, spend extravently during the holidays, renovate the bath/kitchen and any number of other non-essential purchases each month.</p>
<p>Yet these families do not CHOOSE to make a few small sacrifices to save for their child's education and then wonder how they will manage to pay for it come D-Day! I totally sympathize with families who struggle to make ends meet each month or who have been financially overwhelmed by a medical or some other financial disaster. However these are the exception. Most American families are uber-consumers who do not have the foresight to plan ahead for their children's education or their retirement.</p>
<p>We purchased a house a few months before our son was born and invested $7500 of the $34,000 capital gain from our first house into a college fund. We also put $100/month into this fund every month without fail. It was painless and he had college savings in excess of $76,000 come time to make his college choice. What great freedom that gave him and what joy it gave us.</p>
<p>Because time is big money in investing, this approach will not work for most parents here. But for you students, I urge you to heed my advice for both your newborns and your retirement. Small sacrifices today will yeild hugh benefits down the road.</p>
<p>Just b/c you saved money does not mean that the amount for instate tuition is reasonable.</p>
<p>cathymee..same here, S received notice of his scholarship after he sent in his acceptance. It was actually in June after his h.s. graduaution. Also the other merit scholarship he received came in early June. He had gotten a letter in April saying he would not get it but another in June saying he would. When I called Finan. Aid they told me that apparantly the student it had been offered to originally had decided not to attend so S was next on the list! </p>
<p>Jlauer is right about Alabama schools. S did not apply there but received a postcard in the mail saying that if he did apply he would automatically be eligible for in-state tuition rate due to his SAT score (1400).</p>
<p>families may be remiss putting more towards college, but when 46 million Americans don't even have health coverage, its obvious that not everyone has a big chunk of money to pay for future college expenses.
I think it is probably stretching it abit to say that * most* families drive late model cars etc. Not when the national average income is in the range of $45,000 to $60,000 depending on what stat you are looking at.
I agree that state tuition is high- and room and board for a 3 person dorm room is comparable to what my daughter paid for a single at her private college.
They say they want to increase the cost for those who can afford it, and subsidize the rest, but we found it was a better deal to go out of state private, than instate public.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>Because time is big money in investing...<<</p> </blockquote>
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<p>So true, originaloog--when you are a young parent, there are so many other goals foremost on the financial plate--paying for little bundle of joy's immediate needs, saving for a downpayment on a house, paying for the van/bigger car, day care (if needed), etc.--it is hard to look ahead to and save for an event that is 17 years in the offing. I commend you for starting early.</p>
<p>We didn't think about college saving until 1st kid was 5 years old. Still managed to save up for her college (with a little luck from investing cycles). If we hadn't starting thinking about college $$ until she was in high school, she still would have gone to college--we would have started saving like crazy, we and she would have taken out loans, and her college options would have been different. But she would have gone to college.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, by the time parents migrate over to CC, it is too late to make use of time...what parent would be surfing CC when their little tykes are babies.</p>
<p>Don't get me started on the property taxes in NJ and the inverse relationship to quality of schools. Our state university system, when compared to most other states, is abysmal. Yes, we have Rutgers and TCNJ, but we also have Rowan, Montclair, and Kean. For this we're paying five times more in taxes than residents of NC?</p>
<p>TSDAD: If it were only true that you get what you pay for! I don't think that's the case with college anymore. Is a Bachelor's Degree from one of NJ state schools really worth over $80,000? Is a Bachelor's Degree from Harvard worth $160,000?</p>
<p>I don't know the answer but I suspect not. But then again, I don't think a 900 square foot ranch house built in 1960 is worth half a million dollars either. But that's what ya get.</p>
<p>homeskulmom, From one NJ resident to another, I agree with both of your last 2 posts (#48, and 49). </p>
<p>I am not happy with our public university selection. Oh, don't forget Jersey City State, William Paterson, and Stockton. My son is leaving our state for a state school in Va. BTW, it will cost 2500-3000 more than the instate cost of Rutgers to go to Va.</p>
<p>All you Jersey parents, I had posted last week about the likelihood of the Outstanding Scholars merit scholarship program getting slashed by Corzine. When we visited TCNJ, the tour guide tried to rally us to oppose this move. Please visit Corzine's website and voice your outrage. Surely this will only exacerbate the number of our top students who attend school out of state.</p>
<p>worrywart: I will go to Corzine's website right now. Thank you for the headsup. I keep telling my DH it's time to move out of NJ. But the problem is we really like it here.</p>
<p>northeastmom: good luck to your son in VA. I'm sure it will be a great experience for him. Interesting cost differential.</p>
<p>homeskulmom, Thanks. It is an interesting differential, isn't it.</p>
<p>My D will be going OOS and we will be paying much less than our flagship in-state school - Penn State. I am sure with 35,000+ students they won't miss her.
BTW - When we moved 10 years ago we looked at NJ, but were appalled at the high property taxes. Housing was much less expensive than in PA but the taxes were a lot higher. We figured we'd recoup the higher cost of PA home when we sold, but those NJ taxes would be gone forever.</p>
<p>Contrary to popular opinion, Penn State is a public school but not a State School. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools are cheaper than PennState. The list of these schools is here <a href="http://www.passhe.edu%5B/url%5D">http://www.passhe.edu</a></p>
<p>At some of the PASSHE schools, the OOS students that maintain a 3.0 average after the first year pay a discounted rate.</p>
<p>True - but most people do think of Penn State as the flag ship state school. Unfortunately the "real" state schools have not gained as much recognition because of the dominance of Penn State. Also, if your student is looking for a large school experience ( say over 12000) you cannot find that in any of the PASSHE schools. But you are right - we do have other options in PA that others may not have in their state. </p>
<p>I am just shocked in general at the cost of higher education these days. I pulled out some old college papers of mine and was shocked to see how little I paid comparitively!</p>
<p>Oh, I know about the costs! Way back when (dark ages) I paid $65 a credit at Marywood College. </p>
<p>My son did decide on a PASSHE school since he would be spending at least one year in their study abroad program (that uses the same schools in Japan as many higher tier private schools), graduate debt free, go on for a masters and then hopefully a doctorate.</p>
<p>He is very very happy with his choice and for him, was the best decision. In fact, I just now checked his tuition rate for the 2006-2007 year and it actually went DOWN! (about $800)</p>
<p>Thanks for the post rotarymom. This illustrates what I am getting at. For the PSSHE colleges the tuition is $4905/year. A student working full time summer/part time(10hrs) during the school year would make $6020 with jobs netting $7/hr.</p>
<p>Pa schools- There are many in my son's school who see a Pa. school like Kutztown, a big bargain.</p>