You said,“We tell our kids to work hard to achieve their dreams of going to a college that will develop them into the person and professional they hope to become. Then reality hits,…”
“…how do you tell your kid they have to settle for a school or schools that fit your pocket book, but are so far off the track for what they’re looking for?”
An anecdote from my own experience:
Years ago, I applied to my dream school, PSU. I was accepted for Summer session at UP and was ecstatic. While this was in-state for me, it was still expensive for my family. We realized after 1-year that we were not going to be able to make it work financially. I went back home and completed my degree while commuting to a branch campus of Temple University. I graduated with honors and dual majors in Finance and Economics. I now have a great career, family, etc. but I also have no student debt.
While I never realized my dream of becoming a PSU graduate, ultimately my college experience prepared me with the skills I would need to be successful in my career. And I got a great education for a significantly reduced cost.
Now is time to have an honest conversation and find a way to turn lemons into lemonade.
Penn State is not a ‘state school’, it is state related. What that means is that only 5% of it’s funding comes from the state. So an in state PASSHE school (state school) tuition only is about 8k a year. Penn State is about 20k. So you can see that Penn State is definitely not cheap for in state students either. They are also WELL KNOWN to be lacking in financial aid. So I think what some are saying is it’s unfortunate to get to this stage and then be disappointed in the lack of aid, when this could have been known early in the process, before applying. The “apply and see how much we get” theory works for private schools and some publics that offer full rides etc. But that does not work for Penn State and other schools like it that don’t have much in the way of merit scholarships.
I know it is frustrating to have kids work hard for their dreams and not be able to realize them. This is why some families go into ridiculous debt in order to keep the dream alive. Penn State is an amazing school. But unless the major is very specific to Penn State, I am not sure that I’d pay the OOS costs for it. ESPECIALLY if I had free options in my state because of the tuition program Florida has. No debt is a better start than debt in any college scenario I think. Just something to think about.
So I’m probably the parent you guys will hate. We are a local Penn State family. As an employee, our kids receive 75% off tuition. Sounds like a great deal, right? Since PSU is one of the highest priced public universities in the country, I would pay almost the same to send my kid to another state school and some private colleges even with our discount…almost all schools are more generous with aid and scholarships.
This is just my opinion: Penn state has a wonderful alumni network and supportive community, but I wouldn’t pay more just for a PSU bachelor’s degree. The education, while high quality, is comparable to many schools at the BACHELOR’S LEVEL. (Unless its one of those few programs where Penn State is top in the country.)
It’s also not the right learning environment for every kid…huge classes, lots of TAs, and very fast paced. Many kids think they want that big school experience, but it could do more harm than good. I’d rather my kid go some place where they can succeed, build confidence, and doesn’t damage our financial future.
I say get a good bachelor’s degree at a decent price with as little student debt as possible. Save the heavy investing and big brand name for graduate school.
Also, the biggest cost concern shouldn’t be just the annual cost. Picking up a 5th or 6th year for just a B.S. or B.A. is what kills most families. Do whatever you can to get your kid to tackle gen ed courses over the summer–either online or at their local community college. Just have your kid check that PSU will accept the credits before spending the money.
All that being said, Penn State is truly a wonderful institution. I just don’t think it’s worth the ultra premium price tag. It’s heartbreaking to hear that students leave with loans that may take a lifetime to pay off.
@sophley I couldn’t agree more. We have a daughter at UP right now and a son going to PSU Altoona in the fall. The smaller campus was a much better fit for my son…my daughter thrives in the “big school” environment. I did as well. I went to PSU and LOVED main campus. My husband started at Altoona and would have been eaten alive had he started at main campus. Penn State is an amazing school, but not for everyone. And I say that as a bleed blue and white alumni and current PSU parent.
For us personally, my kids were accepted into other schools where they received generous scholarships, but since they were OOS, the net cost would have still been similar to PSU. The in state PASSHE schools can be a wonderful option and my son almost committed to one of those. But we own a house in state college that we rent to students. My daughter lives there now. So in comparing costs and subtracting housing for 2-3 years at UP campus, the cost was actually the same FOR US to send kids to Penn State as it would be to send them to a state school and have to pay for housing. PSU is still a better school, even for bachelors, than the PASSHE schools, so since cost was similar, we chose Penn State. On the flip side of that, my daughter has a roommate who is from California, paying OOS tuition and is majoring in psychology. I don’t understand that one, at all.
Thanks for the well thought out post. We all love Penn State here…but sometimes the “dream” of the school won’t fit the pocket book or reality once there.
Did anyone else receive an email about activating your Penn State access account? I haven’t enrolled yet so I was wondering if this is a general thing or a mistake.
As a OOS parent of a Junior and an incoming Freshman at UP, I am adding my opinion. As my kids applied to several
colleges, they received generous merit awards for Private schools that they were above the curve(safety). They received hardly any merit for private schools matching their fit with test scores and GPA. For the OOS big town state schools that they had interested in, equal to Penn State’s ranking, they received no or little merit. Of course my kids were accepted to their State School but when visiting PSU, there was no comparison. My husband, an executive Finance guy believes the name branding of a college on one’s resume is always important. It’s not the end to be hired, but at least warrants a second look at the resume. The power of PSU’s Alumni Network is everything its made out to be.
Yes we received it. I just activated the account but have not yet received the confirmation email. I assume it is so we can view our financial aid award when it is released. @CathJR
having a hard time to decide between PSU or Ohio state, Drexel, Texas A&M U (FYE) for Mechanical engineering. Can you help with the decision. costs are not a problem. Would appreciate your help. International student.
@MYOS1634 yes TOSU, PSU, Drexel they have given major of Mechanical, but from the website I understand I still have to bid for major in the second year and clear their minimum GPA requirement of 3.2 in TOSU . not sure how PSU works. at TAMU it is FYE. also got into exploratory studies at Purdue
@Mech123
I would go for PennState. But it totally depends on you. What I did was, I made two columns and filled in certain criteria I want my college to have upon my liking. It was like a comparison table. Class size ratio, geographical location, weather and all that. This would make it easier for you to choose ur best fit college
I believe PSU also has a GPA requirement after sophomore year. Your accepted into engineering but they do have a weed-out freshman and sophomore year. I think its 3.0.
S received an email regarding understanding his financial award. When he signed into lionpath it said award not available yet??? Why send the email explaining the award if its not available yet?
The university is closed today because of the snow – maybe they intended to do something with uploading the aid packages today and then couldn’t. When in doubt, though, blame LionPATH. I’m sure the award will be out soon