For child #1, I liked the safety of the in state public…he had a small $300/yr?) scholarship going in. He has 2 invisible disabilities and historically not the best student. I wanted him close (3hours away) to home for health and when he lost his scholarship first semester, it was not a big financial difference. Even if he had a larger scholarship, the in-state rate was reasonable. He also did not show an interest in colleges that were not in state (or reciprocity). Child #2 is a serious student who really wanted to be in warm weather. She received a scholarship that brought the yearly rate down to our in state rates (however, she could have gone slightly cheaper in state with the scholarship she received here—but not as dramatic a difference as op amounts). I was willing to take a risk with her being able to keep the scholarship. If she loses it, it will be an extra $10,000/year in tuition. She made it through the first year and hoping to graduate in 2 more years. That is something to consider if going out of state on scholarship. If student is not able to maintain the scholarship, will it still be financially feasible and what would be the backup plan? Transfer to in state? Just budget in the non scholarship, full pay price?
My 2nd kid did not follow our guidance and only applied to 1 state school (GT as a Computer Engineering major which is a reach for everyone), but we did not push him to add other options after he received a couple of full COA offers by mid-December of his senior year.
We’ve already had this discussion w/ our 14 yo. His brother will graduate this year from a highly ranked LAC debt free b/c he used his dad’s GI Bill. Since you only get one of those, little brother will be chasing merit.
I began the convo w/ him saying it would be a tough conversation if 4 years from now he gets into one of the private schools he loves, or one of our state schools. We have 2 very well regarded schools w/in easy commute of our house. He stopped me right there, saying “Dad said he’s got my in state, plus more, right now and we still have four more years. Law School is the priority. If I can leave money leftover to help w/ that, I’d be a moron to not do it!!”
He’s such a joker, I forget he actually has a fairly level head for 14. LOL
So yeah, he’s looking at all of his options but he already knows there will be way more perks going in state.
I can’t ever imagine paying for one child and leaving the other kid looking for merit. I have a friend with two kids and a GI bill. She split it, one kid got two years and the other did too.
We’ve always treated kids our equally in terms of educational access. Nothing worse in a family than one kid who got the goods and the other kid who went without. Builds real animosity, I’ve seen it fester in families for decades. My spouse was college educated but his sisters who weren’t very academic were not. They are still angry about it, for good reason.
We’re not choosing one over the other. Child #2 will have his undergrad paid in full just like his brother. Our finances are in a much different situation than 4 years ago.
If we lived in a state where we had access to free public university tuition you can bet my kids would be going! As it is we live in a state with one of, if not the highest public college tuitions in the country. Both of my kids are high stats so will be pursuing merit. My husband also works for a small LAC with access to tuition exchange scholarships. We have an income that would put some Ivy’s much cheaper than in-state, so D23 is applying to a couple of reaches on that level, she is applying to a few with great merit scholarships, a few with tuition exchange scholarships, and U of A as a total financial and academic safety. S25 wants to go to an Academy or backup ROTC. We have 529’s but not enough saved as my husband spent 7 years doing his PHD and post-doc and only now do we have any disposable income. IF we were insanely wealthy maybe my answer would be different but I refuse to go into debt or let my kids go into debt for a college bachelors degree. If they later choose to pursue an advanced degree, hopefully there will be something left in their 529 to help. My husband was able to get free tuition and a stipend to get both his master’s and phd in the sciences.
Be aware that doing ROTC does not necessarily mean that one will get an ROTC scholarship.
Totally aware, and also confident he will be competitive for academies or rotc scholarship.