Good point. NVCC has a number of pretty good teachers and a number of students who are there just to save money for two years before transferring. It was definitely easier than my college classes, but not to the point I thought the quality suffered.
Out of curiosity… I did some quick googling (which apparently means I’m an expert now… lol). Most comparison lists has Virginia’s public university system in the top five (obviously a subjective list), but it’s in the bottom ten in terms of costs.
Jill Biden is a long time teacher at NVCC.
There is definitely a big difference in the student body. I grew up in NOVA and actually took a CC class (Calc I over the summer) way back when in the 80s! Where I am now, nearly 50% of the freshmen in September won’t walk at graduation 4 years later. CC is generally not a gateway to a 4 year school. It’s often for people going into trades, nursing. Lots of older people coming back to school.
We also don’t have near the number of courses found at the other CCs. I’ve been looking for GIS or German classes for example. None here, or even in the surrounding communities. Our top college bound kids typically graduate with an Associate’s degree. There really isn’t much else there that they could take for 2 years.
When my kids were applying, I was horrified at the in-state costs and lack of scholarships. Now that they’re almost done, it doesn’t seem as bad, lol. We are definitely pricey, but there are a few states that are worse. And at least ours are really good.
I didn’t realize that. I knew she was a teacher, but didn’t realize she taught at NVCC. Cool.
I am pretty caught up in my Nova bubble. Not just with the quality of NVCC, but the relative costs of tuition. Since the cost of living up here is more expensive, so in comparison $15k/year is not as big of a percentage of my normal yearly costs than if I were living in the Tidewater region… that $15K would be a much more substantial percentage of my normal living expenses.
Interestingly enough, the idea of going to community college and then transferring is getting more traction here (piercing through some of the snobbery that can be associated with it). I’d have no concerns with my kids doing two years and then transferring…
The Jefferson Scholarship is not limited to first gen, nor is it limited geographically that I am aware of. There are a number of regions across the country (14 or 17) that start the review process for nominated students and its get whittled down to a small group of finalists. My S23 was nominated this year so we have had some visibility to it. There is a separate scholarship run by the same foundation that is for URM/first gen I believe.
Ohio schools are generous with OOS scholarships. They have a population decline and are trying to get students in (Bowling Green, Ohio University, and Kent State, with scholarships, are all cheaper) Miami, Ohio is cheap than VCU and our flagships with scholarships. Plus, the jobs opportunities are numerous. Heck, Ohio State came in cheaper than our flagship Virginia schools for my 21. Plus, those 3 Ohio schools freeze instate Tuition/room and board for 4 years, so the only increase we had to deal with was small, a couple 100 over 4 years in OOS surcharge. Since my DD attended Kent State, UG, she gets instate graduate tuition at several Ohio schools. What I also loved about my older DD’s experience, her school brought in 100-plus employers, and she is currently employed working for an architect and if she decided not to go to grad school, has a position waiting for her. When we visited George Mason with my 23, as far as bringing employers in, they said they provide the tools so they can go out and look for employers. (rolling my eyes, here) We did not ask about job placement at ODU. Also when comparing costs, you need to also look at fees, housing and food. You can’t compare tuition to tuition, you need to compare costs of a 4 yr degree, including fees, 3% increases each year.
Then I was mistaken but it was hard to really know about it since it’s not really associated with the school. Not enough info or transparency. We found out in Jan that the nomination was in Dec from our school (which shared about the scholarship last week) to the students in our school who were applying but by Jan it was too late for nominations. Good luck. It’s amazing to get if you are awarded it but very hard to get I hear.
There can be huge differences in housing costs (and food) based on location. It costs more to live in urban areas. Housing at VCU is significantly more than it is at Radford University. This all plays into the cost of a 4yr degree
Yeah, my son was accepted to VCU as well and it’s more expensive for us than VT because of the housing (didn’t find out about scholarships b/c apparently they don’t award that until march or something, and we had to withdraw b/c of ED at Tech).
That’s good information about Ohio’s schools. Alabama is similar (it would have been about $8k per year cheaper to go to Alabama than Tech for my son).
Thanks. Yes, it is super competitive, so while it was nice for him to be nominated we know the odds are long. He had to file his scholarship app by 12/1, so sounds like your school was very late on it. Good luck. Note - there is a Jefferson Scholars website that has some public info. on it available.
Does he already know if he was accepted to UVA - was he Ed?
Jeffersons are also mostly from schools that are eligible to nominate. That used to be the only way to get one until the 1990s. The year I graduated from high school, my mother called UVA in November to ask about any merit scholarships, and the lady begrudgingly said there might be something if we got the application in by the ED deadline (we could not afford to apply ED) ED deadline was in two days, but I was really fast at those old, all different, printed aps. We fed-exed it, which is typical of how I sent all my applications back then since I always did them overnight last minute!
Sure enough, that was the year they first opened the Jeffersons to at-large. The lady on the phone just didn’t want us to know. They chose four people from all the applications to UVA which had arrived by Dec 1 (meaning EDs plus mine, basically) and chose 4 of us to come to the finalist weekend. When they picked us up at the airport, the woman said directly to me and the at-large boy with me (i.e. NOT from the kinds of high schools historically allowed to nominate which were largely richer and mostly private), and I quote, “You are very lucky to be here. This is an experiment to do at-large. We may choose not pick any of the four of you to win.” He and I looked at each other. By the next day, in the middle of the interview weekend, I called my mom to tell her to call Alabama and say I would take my full-ride there.
Disclaimer- Since then, I have known many lovely people who went to UVA including some close friends. The people in charge of the Jefferson at the time and how they treated us at-large peons made my decision.
They have kept the “at-large” option, but it has a nomination deadline of Nov 15, whereas the eligible nominating schools have until Dec 1. You have to know enough to find it (I nominated homeschooled D17, but she didn’t make it to the next level interview) Most importantly, I can’t find anything about how the at-large candidates do in the overall competition, i.e. if they ever give it to at-large candidates.
Like a LOT of the super-selective full rides or even full-tuitions, the student, parent, or counselor has to be aware that the dates for getting in the applications have moved ever earlier without much publicity in some cases.
It depends on how you bring up your kids. My dad cosigned loans for me and it was my responsibility to pay them. If you want to pay for your kids it is your choice.
That’s awesome you were selected. Sad that you decided to not attend UVA because of bad behavior of people (who are also not from the university). However they still poorly represented UVA by association because of the scholarship. Yes- I do think only certain places are allowed, like in MD- it seems that only Baltimore schools can nominate and we live 20 Mins outside of the city / explains why our school couldn’t nominate.
I think she was pointing out that even if you expect your kids to pay those loans that you co-sign, if they default you are on the hook. So, if you co-sign $200k worth of loans for your kid, and you make it clear to them they are supposed to pay it back, but if they don’t have a job when they graduate, or if they lose their job sometime in the next 10 years, or they have a medical emergency, or whatever, and they default on the loan… it’s your credit that gets hammered.
We live in MD, half hour from Baltimore. My son’s best friend was nominated when he was applying for Fall 2019 so I’m not sure that is accurate unless you are referring to the “at large” one? My son’s friend is most definitely not FG OR URM (white kid whose parents are doctors) and his nomination was by the school. He interviewed but was not selected.
Yeah it may have been a scholarship within the Jefferson - but nevertheless not clear how to go about the process.
No, he applied EA so still waiting to hear. From what we learned the nomination does not help with admissions since they are totally separate processes.