<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>She has my sympathy. It would be nice if we lived in a world where if your kid worked hard enough to be admitted to a college, she could go there for the same price as everybody else. Having to wait to see how much FA is awarded before knowing whether she is really accepted is less than ideal.</p>
<p>…It would also be nice if we lived in a world where all kids had the same opportunities to become prepared to get to those colleges. Obviously, a lot of the kids who “work hard enough” to be admitted are in the fortunate position of having support others lack, whether from parents, better teachers and schools, or not having to work/take care of siblings/whatever.</p>
<p>I love College Confidential. I have learned so much from this site.</p>
<p>However, it is a tiny world. And after awhile, when the same questions and topics come up over and over, it is easy to become a bit jaded about how other people manage to live their lives while not paying attention to rising college costs.</p>
<p>I’ll be the first person to admit that foe many years I was busy living my life and not paying much attention to the astounding rise in college tuition. Partly because it really wasn’t in the news much, and partly because I was focused on other things. It wasn’t until sometime around 2007ish, when my friends’ oldest kids were applying that I really started paying attention to how very high tuition had gotten. And it wasn’t until 2008, when my oldest started looking at colleges that it started to hit home. I probably stumbled onto CC around that time, but didn’t spend much time here until 2009 or 10, when my second kid, who was aiming quite high, started looking at colleges, and I was looking for advice.</p>
<p>I had over 25 years of living between the time I graduated from my cheap, cheap, cheap instate public university to the time my oldest started looking at colleges. And yes, I was shocked.</p>
<p>Why is it so suprising that people are a bit blindsided by the price explosion over the last 30 years? Who spends time researching college costs when their kids are 12 years old? (Let me rephrase that: Who, other than CC people, spends time researching college costs for years prior to the time they need to?)</p>
<p>We all need to ease up on people who are going through this for the first time. My youngest is now a HS junior, so we are now beginning the college search process for the third time. Many of her friends are the oldest in their families, and their well educated, smart, economically savy parents are honestly shocked about prices and the whole college application/SAT testing/“show-me-the-love” college application process.</p>
<p>Net price calculators are not as helpful to those of us who do not quality for need-based aid but can’t pay full freight and instead are relying on Merit scholarships. You can find information on the various merit scholarships a school offers, but in most cases (programs like Bama’s being an exception) there’s no guarantee what your child will received. All you can do is wait for the envelope to arrive. It all comes down to the pool of applicants you’re competing against.</p>
<p>I’d suggest that there are two different discussions, with some overlap – the affordability of a public school education and the affordability of a private school education.</p>
<p>I don’t know when it happened, but clearly the cost of a public college education is increasingly a barrier to entry – bad for our youth, bad for the economy, and bad for the country. International competitiveness aside, with the resources that this country possesses, an affordable, quality public university education for qualifying students is a reasonable expectation. At some point soon, I expect things will hit a critical mass & something will start to occur regarding fees & funding. If not, the only economically viable route for many will be community college for 2 years, followed by state university for those qualifying.</p>
<p>As regards private colleges & universities – well, it is what it is. An environment only for the very brightest (probably not a bad thing) and the wealthier.</p>
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<p>I agree with this. None of my friends/family without kids in range of the college years can believe that the COA at our state flagship is over $24k a year now. It’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>That Penn State number is frightening. Commitment to addressing that price should be at the top of the agenda for any representative seeking elected office in PA. Or at least the voters who aspire to attending college (or want the same for their kids/grandkids).</p>
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To a large degree, your second sentence is already the reality for the majority of even traditional aged students (and overwhelming majority in states like California). The problem is that the massive influxes of students and decreases in state funding means that it is often extremely difficult for students to finish in four years or fewer, especially at a non flagship state u. Many of my high school classmates who opted for a CC or Cal State to save money are now finding it necessary to take an extra year or two since they couldn’t get into the necessary classes.</p>
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The people most affected by the hideously high prices of PA publics (generally younger and from less economically affluent families) are also the least likely to vote for the potential representatives.</p>
<p>Well, now wait a minute, here. UC’s fully fund tuition for families making under 80K and we personally know a 20K kid who got room and board and full tuition fully paid until he got rescinded for getting a D. But, that’s another story. I also know more than a few Cal State kids who are paying zero in tuition costs.</p>
<p>“Net price calculators are not as helpful to those of us who do not quality for need-based aid but can’t pay full freight and instead are relying on Merit scholarships” - True. </p>
<p>But NPC do help you know early in the game that you should be chasing merit scholarships. That helps you refine “The List”. It was not all that many years ago that GC said, “apply to all schools of interest and see what happens in April”.</p>
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There’s no question that public college affordability varies significantly from state to state. But I don’t think that anyone would deny the overall trend.</p>
<p>Right, but it’s much worse for the “comfortable” than the needy. People forget this for some reason. Also, I was addressing a comment about CA.</p>
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<p>The affordability of COLLEGE may be more challenging for the comfortable than the needy, but comfortable kids have an undeniable advantage in becoming ready for college in the first place. In my experience most of the kids getting merit scholarships to private colleges are those who have had the advantages of good preparation in high school, opportunities to do interesting (and often expensive) ECs, tutoring as needed to boost scores, and of course parental support.</p>
<p>^ incredibly true.</p>
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<p>Probably not in most states. While California publics generally do meet FAFSA-based need for in-state students, needy students in many other states will find their in-state publics to be unaffordable on just need-based financial aid (Pennsylvania being a well known example). Given the disadvantages in becoming college-ready in the first place, and with less opportunities as noted in #33, the needy who need merit scholarships more than the comfortable do are likely to find it harder to actually get those merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Even in places like California, the needy tend to face more barriers to becoming college-ready in the first place. A student who is unable to become college-ready cannot make use of financial aid to attend college.</p>
<p>Well, of course it’s harder to be poor than comfortable. But, it’s entirely possible to get “college ready” at a public high school and get into a Cal State school without much trouble. The bar is not all that high. I know nothing about any other state but I do know plenty of kids who have done this in CA from a variety of not so great circumstances. Throw in the CC option and it’s not even particularly difficult. My only point was, it’s doable.</p>
<p>There is a tiny niche, overrepresented on this forum, and also looking like it is a more sizeable group when one is in the private college/sleep away college seeking crowd of kids who are qualified to get accepted to schools that meet full or close to full need, do not qualify for it due to Parental financial situations (they make/have too much money). </p>
<p>Yes, it is possible to be accepted to HPY et al and if your parents have the means according to the schools’ calculators to pay, and they won’t, you cannot go. The schools won’t give you financial aid. WHereas someone who has a family who doesn’t meet the “have to pay” mark will get the money from the school. </p>
<p>So, yes, this niche exists, but a very small one it is, miniscule compared to the thousands of colleges in this country that do not come close to meeting need, and so if you can’t pay, you can’t go. And the kids with well to do parents who cannot pay the $60K+ tabs, often can kick in something on a smaller level. If not commuting from a more comfortable home with more amentities is often the option than those doing so from poverty level ones. Yes, there are the exceptions, but in numbers, it’s far better off to come from a family with means.</p>
<p>Wanted to add a quick note that Penn State is not really one of our Pensylvania state colleges. Sate funded colleges are West Chester, klutz town, Millersville etc. West Chester goes about $8000 in state with room and board.</p>
<p>I don’t know if it still holds true but son applied to many schools in the top 50 and as acceptances came in the higher on the prestige list the school was the less merit money son was offered.</p>
<p>Millersville cost of attendance instate with room and board: $18,498.00/year
[Millersville</a> University - Tuition & Fees](<a href=“http://www.millersville.edu/bursar/costs.php]Millersville”>http://www.millersville.edu/bursar/costs.php)</p>
<p>Klutztown:
$8,832.60 per semester/ 17665.20/year
[Tuition</a> & Fees - Kutztown University](<a href=“http://www2.kutztown.edu/costs-and-financial-aid/tuition-and-fees-(undergraduate).htm]Tuition”>http://www2.kutztown.edu/costs-and-financial-aid/tuition-and-fees-(undergraduate).htm)</p>
<p>West Chester:
$21,636
[West</a> Chester University of Pennsylvania Tuition, Costs and Financial Aid - CollegeData College Profile](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=207]West”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=207)</p>
<p>Certainly cheaper than Penn State but much more than $8000.</p>