Limiting College Choices to Free In-State Publics?

Parents Forum
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You should never test drive a car or go to an open house if you know that you will not pay that much. The same goes for colleges. I think this disappointment comes more from lack of admission than from lack of affordability.

I am one that thinks the pre acceptance college visit is way overrated. You don’t have to visit the actual school. Of the 8 schools my DS applied, we only had done a visit to 2. One was because he did a summer program and the other was where we did a family vacation. If you want to visit schools, concentrate on preference for big/medium/small and urban/suburban/rural.

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We are in FL. S would have received Bright Futures if he had stayed in FL. We also purchased FL prepaid for $12k (which pays for 4 years of tuition! So really was only like $3k a year!!!) when he was a baby that could have been applied to four years at UF or FSU (he applied and was accepted to both, and received additional merit from the latter).
So…if had had chosen to stay in state then he would have minimal expenses.

However, he was an outstanding student and kid and had always wanted to attend an OOS. We always told him that if he could attend a school as good or better than UF (in the Major he wanted) then we’d pay for it.

He did, and we are paying lots, but we have no regrets.

But I won’t say that seeing the fall tuition bill (that we received today) doesn’t make me wince a bit when I look at the number and it’s more than likely 3 years would have been at UF. (He would have graduated from UF in 3 years due to HS credits being accepted at UF.) :joy:

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We did the same for our kids and they knew that very early in the process. If they wanted to attend a private school, they would have to receive merit scholarships to bring it down to the price of a UC.

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It made things very clear as offers came in. She had the stack that gave enough merit, or close, then the ones who clearly didn’t.

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Even if our top publics(UVA and William &Mary) were free tomorrow for the top whatever students, and mine was in the group that qualified, it would not change our plans unless our finances had a large change. We have made plans for years to figure out how to pay for college for both of ours , and for us that means full pay anywhere. Our only restrictions have been if the quality of the school was not deemed worth its sticker price then that discussion happened before applications.

I grew up in a low income family and was eligible for a full pell grant when I was applying. Today I would definitely have had EFC 0, but back then the EFC widely varied by school. My mom knew she could only pay a certain amount, somewhat less than in-state tuition at UNC, and I knew I had to go to a school that came in at that budget. Johns Hopkins and NW offered essentially no financial aid in their acceptance package, so it would have been 4x more than we could afford. UNc was free because I got a full ride for everything. Duke came in almost exactly what the budget was, and Duke had loan-replacement grants for any NC resident, so they let me go since they planned on and were hoping for a number that low all along. It was a sstretch but a planned one. My sibling the next year and the ones that followed all had the same rules. My husband had a similar experience but his parents did have loans, that they planned on. So, that has led us to make the same decision: we can afford full pay and have planned it for both so we would never push them or even hint to go to the cheaper option for cost reasons. I am completely aware most do not have this privilege and I am truly grateful for my family and Duke’s education for getting us where we are.

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We don’t live in one of those states but my initial reaction to what we would do in that situation was to say of course we would choose “free”, especially if we were talking about GT for engineering.

That said, we were also a full pay family and had college saving account budgeted to pay for 4 years x $80K. D had everything from full tuition scholarships to $80K/year and everything in between. We encouraged her to go with fit/first choice. (Bonus for us that was Purdue). So, on deeper consideration, we probably would have been fine looking for the right fit over cost, even with a super instate option.

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We are in GA, lucky to have Zell Miller/HOPE scholarship available to students in state. S15 applied to undergraduate CS programs in 2015; his college list was heavy on reach schools - we did not know better at the time, he was our first kid to go through US college applications process. He got into UGA and GaTech in-state, his applications denied in most of his out-of-state reach schools, he was waitlisted in some, but decided not to stay on those waitlists, since they meant a lot of uncertainty after rejection and OOS price tags as the best outcome, so GaTech was a very obvious choice for the CS school. Zell Miller and HOPE only cover tuition. Our son was very happy to graduate without a debt and our D23 has in-state schools on her list and is seriously considering all of her options in GA.

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it is not a large percentage of recent high school grads in Florida, just 23% and that’s for all the levels of Bright Futures (only the top award is 100% of tuition and fees, the next level is 75% and then there are lower levels for community college and vocational schools). It’s a great deal, but you still have to get into UF or another top school and that’s not automatic (at all!).

My kids had a $15k budget because at the time they could have gone to a Florida school for about that. One picked an Florida private school; she could use her BF, but at the time it was only about $2500 and she got a few other Florida grants. Her sister took her $15k budget and went out of state for less than that. She didn’t qualify for BF (good grades, not such a high test score).

Many kids in Florida have Florida Prepaid and although they can cash it in and go out of state, the cost of Florida tuition is low and therefore it doesn’t go as far out of state as instate. Most of my kids’ classmates stayed in Florida either because of the costs or because they wanted to be near home. The biggest group that went out of state were the athletes and even those stayed mostly in the south.

My friends’ kids all went out of state (Tenn, Ol’ Miss, U South Carolina) from Georgia because they couldn’t get in to UGA or GaTech.

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@bjscheel i agree on another public in Iowa, but many of the LAC’s there offer scholarships that can bring the price down to a public price, right? I wonder why IA isn’t a part of the reciprocity like MN/WI.

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There are quite a few different reciprocity agreements. Minn is in one with Wisconsin, but also in one with North Dakota, and I think another one with states to the south (Kansas?) Not all of them are full tuition at in state rates. The Western University Exchange (WUE in the west) has different states involved at different levels (California only has some schools in it), different majors.

It’s just the groups the schools/states join and the alliances they make.

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Reduced Out-of-State Tuition Options describes Minnesota’s reciprocity agreements.

In the WUE states, the 1.5 times in-state tuition is mostly available at less selective campuses (and sometimes specific majors) that are not “full”. For example:

  • In California, the only UC with WUE is Merced, and the CSUs with WUE are generally less selective ones.
  • In Arizona, ASU’s main campus does not offer WUE, but the other campuses that mostly cater to non-traditional students do for some majors, while UA offers WUE for only two majors.
  • University of Oregon, University of Washington, and University of Colorado - Boulder do not offer WUE.
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We’re in So Cal and many students choose to take advantage of WUE at Oregon State, UH Manoa, Boise State, NAU and several CO colleges.

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The privates here are pretty reasonable compared to other parts of the country. DD’19 with 27 ACT and 4.013 could get auto merit at most privates to bring the price to $25K. At UNI it would have been under $18K.

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I am not a believer of limiting or pushing my kids on their decisions, but rather than presenting the facts and providing guidance.

For instance, in my D19’s case we had a specific amount of funds that she could use for college if she went over there would be loans. But if she went under we would be more likely to help out with day to day expenses. The same math might work for a full pay family that has the funds set aside and are willing to give their child some or all of those funds after graduation.

In either case you provide the facts and help them with the decision.

Of course money is never the only factor in choosing a college. A lot depends on what the student is planning on doing after college. Certain majors and certain career paths lend themselves to certain colleges.

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Florida resident, we are full pay, and with S21 we applied instate and chased merit OOS. and when it came down to it we stayed instate at FSU. Iowa, Seton Hall, Loyola, and ASU were considerations real nice merit and he really liked Penn State but no merit and couldn’t justify the expense vs FSU
We are getting ready to start again with D23. She has better stats but things are even more competitive now than 2 years ago

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Our state doesn’t have one of these programs, although we do know many students who did not apply to any out of state schools as their parents would not pay more than instate tuition. The only question I had was whether they would pay the same amount to another institution if the student qualified for merit or they also did not want the student to travel out of state.

My daughter had several options that were cheaper than in state tuition and was in the running for a few full tuition/full rides when she pulled apps after getting into her ED school. I know many families have budgetary considerations and setting a number is certainly their prerogative. Personally, once doing that, I’d let the student find a school that meets the number - even if it’s out of state.

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our midwest state offers free tuition to kids with certain GPAs and/or test scores.

and, the State itself is getting aggressive now, and offering its own lucrative scholarships for kids to stay here, and study certain STEM majors. so most of R&B is covered through that.

We will be having our D23 look at this seriously. the kids here want to get to somewhere new with more topography. . . but with money flying at them, it’ll be interesting. ** Im thinking of abroad opps for our D with this opportunity.

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NJ previously had a program that gave free tuition at community colleges to students under a certain income level, which had a rather low cut off. The income limits have risen and currently community college is free tuition with an adjusted gross income of $65K and reduced tuition between $65K-$80K.

Last year NJ announced the community college program would be expanded to include a free or reduced price tuition
for the third and fourth year at any NJ public college. It’s called the Garden State Guarantee and it still looks at adjusted gross income solely and disregards assets and EFC’s. Even at the upper limit of $80K tuition should not exceed $7,500 annually.

Meanwhile earlier this year, Rutgers New Brunswick announced a program that would be even more generous, with the adjusted gross income limit up to $100K and tuition no more that $5,000.

Rowan just announced a similar program, but not quite a generous as Rutgers’. It will provide a first and second year of free or reduced tuition, according to the same criteria that the state uses for the free or reduced tuition for the third and fourth year.

Stockton also has a similar program but unlike Rutgers and Rowan, it uses other criteria besides adjusted gross income, maybe the fafsa EFC. I think another state university, perhaps Kean, offers something like that, too.

I have a D20 at Rutgers Camden who has benefited from such a program. We pay a greatly reduced tuition. She wants to be close to home so it works for her.

However, D23 should not go to Rutgers Camden. She is an active kid who runs, rides her bike, and skateboards, and while the campus is safe, it is very small in a rough surrounding area. Not being able to walk or ride freely wouldn’t be good for her mental health; she might very well venture out anyway not appreciating the safety issues.

Rutgers New Brunswick is also not a good fit because of the multiple campuses, the bus system, and the big classes. I went to Rutgers New Brunswick so I understand the challenges of all of that. I’m not completely writing it off but I have serious reservations.

The Rowan deal would be harder to pass on. I love Rowan and I have a D18 who graduated from there and had great opportunities. Rowan still manages to offer the best of a both smaller college and a bigger university with a walkable campus and small classes. Unfortunately, like a lot of local kids, Rowan is too close and too familiar for D23. But she will apply.

In terms of the lure of a free or reduced cost third and forth at another NJ public, it’s even more complicated. It might only be a $15,000 difference over four years because many less selective private schools wind up with a net cost not much more than full price at a NJ public. I feel more comfortable in being flexible with her because she is our last kid and we could make it work.

One way that a free or reduced price in state public college is appealing over a private or OOS public is if a fifth year became necessary. Another is that we wouldn’t have to be concerned about the requirements to keep a merit scholarship.

Like a lot of kids, D23 has had a rocky high school career with the pandemic. She is not high stats. She is a little quirky. Right now, I feel like so would make any sacrifice for her to be in an environment where she can thrive socially and academically. The NJ free college programs are amazing but I’m not convinced any would be great for her.

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Wouldn’t New Brunswick give the runner / cyclist / skateboarder plenty of opportunities to run, bicycle, and/or skateboard between the sub-campuses?