NPR: College Costs Are Daunting, Even For The 'Comfortable'

Parent Cafe
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<p>I wonder if Lynn Neary is on CC ...</p>

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For me, the first shock came at the beginning of my daughter's junior year, when I Googled a couple of schools I thought she might be interested in. They were small, private colleges with good reputations.</p>

<p>I knew college would be expensive. I just hadn't realized how expensive. The combined cost of tuition and room and board at these schools is between $55,000 and $60,000 a year. I was horrified to learn that this was pretty much the norm for private colleges and universities. Out-of-state tuition at public universities is better, but not always that much better.</p>

<p>When I began talking about this, I was often told, "Don't worry, you won't have to pay the full ticket. The schools will give your daughter money."</p>

<p>"They will?" I asked.</p>

<p>"Yes. Once your kid gets in, they tell you how much you get."</p>

<p>Oh, I thought, so it's like buying an airplane ticket. One person pays $800 for the same flight that someone else gets for $150, and everyone in the middle pays $300. And obviously those who know how to play the game best will get it at the lowest cost.</p>

<p>I don't know about you, but I really hate that. Besides, I kept thinking, if my kid goes to a school that costs $60,000, someone is going to have to give her an awful lot of money.

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<p>College</a> Costs Are Daunting, Even For The 'Comfortable' : NPR</p>

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<p>Our son was a very good student in hs but applied to colleges where he would be in the upper rank of applicants(RPI, CWR, Rutgers, Oberlin, Allegheny and College of Wooster). He was accepted to each one and was offered more than $300,000 in merit scholarships total over 4 years. He chose to enroll at RPI with $25k/yr in scholarships. At the time that covered most tuition costs which we paid for, leaving him to pay for room, board, books and miscellaneous costs. He had a $56k college fund to draw from and graduated with $30k remaining.</p>

<p>Point being, if you are strategic in you college “quest” the cost may not be that daunting.</p>

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<p>^^^Agree, and that’s the approach we’re taking too, but at times the whole process does feel a bit sordid, which I think was the point Neary was making in her piece if you listened to it (as opposed to just reading it). </p>

<p>I’m guessing, too, that she lives in either VA or MD, since I think she’s based at NPR’s DC bureau, which means she has some outstanding in-state options for her daughter, like St. Mary’s College or William & Mary. I wish we had such affordable public options of similar caliber in state!</p>

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<p>I’ve always hated the process of haggling to buy a car. I see this as a similar process. We also took the approach of applying to schools where D was in the top 10-15%, and she ended up getting great offers and is somewhere where she is happy and cost is within our means. However, it was nerve-wracking - while we were sure she would be accepted, we had no guarantees of what the $$ would be, and some awards took quite a long time - we didn’t know until April. I had many moments of panic about whether she applied to enough schools, the right schools, and so on. Yes, we had a safety - but it was still a painful process. At least when you go to buy an airline ticket, you know the price you’ll pay right away. Spending the money to apply to schools with no real great idea what the final cost will be is horrible.</p>

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<p>What’s wrong with Penn State (and no, my kids didn’t go there)?</p>

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<p>^^^in-state tuition is fairly high in Pennsylvania; its about $16,444 a year at Penn State. (Compare to say, Florida, where it’s about $6,100 a year at the state U’s).</p>

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<p>There was really no “there” there with the NPR segment, was there? She doesn’t do anything to evoke sympathy for the plight of the “comfortable” when their kids are applying to college.</p>

<p>I think the key is to have more safeties (financial and other) than reaches, and be willing to have your child attend them.</p>

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<p>When we ran the net price calculator for Penn State the total cost was $34,000 in state. It’s one of the most expensive state flagships in the nation for its residents. And it’s HUGE. Not the ideal setting for a kid looking for a smaller school, but it’s the best in the state, which is why my kid has applied (and been accepted). They’re not offering many merit awards this year either from what I can tell. And even Schreyer, their very selective honors college, only awards kids ~$5,000 a year. </p>

<p>sally, I thought there was some “there” there or else I wouldn’t have posted it. When she started the piece, I thought she was going to complain about the sticker prices of colleges, as so many people do, without pointing out that very few folks actually pay that price. But she took it one step further, which I thought was pretty enlightened. Very few families I’ve come across are as savvy as the folks here on CC.</p>

<p>I don’t think she was looking for any sympathy either. I think she just was sounding off about a frustrating process in much the same way many people here do.</p>

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<p>I’m surprised she didn’t know “how expensive college would be” until her kid’s junior year of high school. It seems like there are multiple articles/stories in various media very year about college costs with specific examples. The people I know with young kids are concerned about college costs in the next 10-15 years when their kids will attend because they know that private schools are currently running $50-60,000and state schools about $25,000 including tuition, room, and board. Is it really possible she didn’t know?</p>

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<p>She may have known, but imparting that information is part of the story for a general audience. I think the point of it is that parents think their kid will get much, much more financial aid and merit money than they are actually eligible for. So many parents learn that the hard way when their kids are already in high school, and post here crying in their beer. CC is great, but I’m sure Weekend Morning Edition reaches a wider audience!</p>

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<p>A lot of times people have rose-colored glasses and assume things will work out, especially if their kiddo has great grades & scores. That happened to our valedictorian the year S graduated. She got in at nearly all the Us she applied to but not enough merit aid to be affordable, especially since she planned on med school. She ended up going to state flagship with full-ride and got her 1st year of med school fully funded as well. She’s doing well but her folks were shocked that they weren’t awarded more merit.</p>

<p>They were much wiser when their 2nd D applied to Us 2 years later.</p>

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<p>“without pointing out that very few folks actually pay that price”</p>

<p>-- except that they DO. Unless you have a child with exceptional stats willing to apply to schools where their stats put them in the highest percentiles, or a recruited student, you will join the many parents paying close to 40K per year. And that’s WITH some financial aid. </p>

<p>But let’s get real. The MAJORITY of students in America aren’t at the $60,000 per year schools. They’re at state Us, often the second-tier (State Univ. of XX state versus University of XX) and increasingly after having done at least some of their schooling at community colleges.</p>

<p>And yes, state U - either tier - is a great option. If a child is willing to live at home or work part-time while attending school and not living in dorms, it’s even a better option.</p>

<p>Of course, that’s not the norm here in CC world. That doesn’t mean it’s the norm-norm ;)</p>

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<p>Lucie, I guess I just expect more from NPR. The piece offered no analysis or perspective whatsoever. It was more the kind of personal observation I would hear from a parent at my kid’s school, not anything worthy of presentation to a general audience. She didn’t even bother to explain how the sticker-versus-actual cost issue works, or WHY colleges discount the price for students they really want.</p>

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<p>“WHY colleges discount the price for students they really want” </p>

<p>Sally, you just answered your own question. Colleges discount the price for students they really WANT. Kind of like employers offer a higher salary to employees they really want. </p>

<p>If your kid can’t offer a school something quite exceptional that they need/want, your kid isn’t going to get as much of a tuition break. I really think it’s that simple.</p>

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<p>sally, what you can’t tell from the webpage (and which I probably should have explained when I posted it) was that the piece was commentary and, in fact, exactly “the kind of personal observation I would hear from a parent at my kid’s school.” </p>

<p>Neary was filling in for the regular host Scott Simon today, and he always does a little thought-provoking personal commentary in the context of that week’s biggest news items. I think that was why it resonated so much for me–it wasn’t a dispassionate news story about the “high costs of college” but rather a fellow mom’s very personal observation. Just so happened that “fellow mom” was a pretty well-known NPR journalist. (And I’ve made that “airplane ticket” analogy myself here on CC–in a Penn State thread as a matter of fact. :slight_smile: )</p>

<p>The musical cue before the piece started is a kind of auditory “cue” for the listener that the commentary is coming, and they always occur at the same point in the program, so regular listeners know it’s an opinion piece. Context is everything, so I’m sorry I didn’t explain it better!</p>

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<p>Ah. The context helps a lot. Thanks. :)</p>

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<p>Not the best researched story; more like a personal anecdote reactive to initial appearances.</p>

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We live in Pennsylvania and it’s actually the same cost for our son to attend a state school as OOS versus total costs at Penn State. Both NY and VA schools are much cheaper for in state residents and even OOS evens out compared to Pennsylvania state schools…</p>

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No, it’s nothing at all like buying an airline ticket. The airlines don’t penalize you according to your income. The airlines penalize you on the lack of flexibility of your travel plans.</p>

<p>A millionaire who books early and buys a non-refundable ticket is charged the same fare as a welfare mother who books early and buys a non-refundable ticket.</p>

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<p>Apparently, she hasn’t heard of using net price calculators to get financial aid estimates before applying.</p>

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<p>High in-state tuition, poor in-state financial aid (as can be seen on its net price calculator).</p>

<p>Pennsylvania is one of the worst states for college affordability for in-state low income students.</p>