Another reason for high cost is a paucity of affordable state public universities. The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is by far our most affordable four-year college option, with average tuition and fees of just under $10,000. Yet with only 14 universities in the system, PASSHE is not accessible to enough students. State-related universities - Penn State, Temple, Pitt and Lincoln - have filled the gap by creating over two dozen branch campuses across the state. Yet while they receive hundreds of millions of state dollars annually, these institutions are not held accountable for keeping tuition low. As a result, our state-related universities are the most expensive publicly supported universities in the nation. Average tuition and fees are over $16,000 - nearly double the national average.
Received academic scholarship information today from Cleveland State. Would provide $7,500/year for 4 years. This would get her OOS COA to about $18,000 which is less than Bloomsburg. This is before athletic scholarship is finalized at Cleveland State.
Is Cleveland State now your preferred school? Interesting symbatico between western PA and Ohio. There is no such relationship with NJ and eastern PA. Students do often cross borders but don’t get favorable tuition rates, necessarily.
@portercat…Happy New Year! When I posted that article it just opened. Now you need to be a subscriber which I am not. Sorry about that. I will look for it online. Cleveland State is definitely a school under consideration.
@kidzncatz Are PASSHE schools still in the running for your D this year? Now that it is Jan, I would love to hear everyone’s thoughts on PA schools (if you’re still interested, found better options, etc). We are still churning with our options and waiting to hear any PASSHE financial offers.
@Portercat West Chester is still a possibility and will most likely be the most affordable. Of course, my daughter now much prefers Temple to West Chester, which she now dislikes because “too many” kids from her high school are going there (as if she needs to hang out with the dozen or fewer of them at a school with 14,000 undergrads). She also applied and was accepted to the University of Toledo, as she is very much interested in their unique major in Cosmetic Science and Formulation Design. We’re waiting for financial aid offers before making a decision.
We are down to top tier of York and Randolph Macon (need to talk to them about $$ and visit in late Jan); second tier of West Chester and Millersville. Also still waiting to hear EA decision from CNU, so nothing there yet, but I am calculating that chances for scholarship AND acceptance are narrow.
D had a conversation with some guy friend that told her he thought she was too “smart” for Millersville as they were sitting and waiting to meet with the visiting representative. Ugh, kids! I don’t think that at all. Anyway, I think that put her off a bit. She also has similar concerns about too many HS friends going to West Chester. I keep telling her we have to go back to WC on a day that is NOT an open house. She definitely seems ready to move on from some of the HS friends.
@portercat…WVU is not completely off the table. Nor is Wright State, Ball State, Canisius or John Carroll. It is just that the others seem to be much more affordable!
If more than one of our daughters ends up at West Chester, maybe we can introduce them to each other. (Although my daughter would probably resent my interference.)
^ they are. Automatic merit is gone (or well-hidden… Couldn’t find it). Merit scholarships are now totally opaque, no amounts, criteria, numerous of awards, etc.
Thanks @MYOS1634. Was this in the acceptance letter and/or financial package, or are you referring to the website? I was curious if there was something in the financial info package for accepted students. I believe @kidzncatz D was accepted.
Yes, that is annoying. I definitely appreciate it when a school clearly spells it out ON the website. York does this very clearly, and it has helped. I get the whole NPC calculator, but many of them are out of date, clunky or do not ask for all of the proper info,