Every other private school my D’s have applied to are 10-15 more expensive. (Fordham, Barnard, Syracuse). Is Marist “missing” something? Large class sizes? Crumbling buildings? We haven’t visited and probably won’t see it before accepted students weekend.
We visited Marist with my S a few years ago. While he didn’t attend Marist in the end it was a top contender (campus is beautiful, seemed to have small classes etc.). FWIW he did get higher merit aid elsewhere so the price gap closed a bit.
D got a $12 prez scholarship so while “affordable” is a relative term, Marist is when compared to some.
My son is a sophomore at Marist. They recently completed construction on several new dorms. The campus is very well maintained. They do not generally give as much in scholarship money as other schools do. In my son’s case it came out fairly even financially as more expensive schools with higher scholarship amounts. He absolutely loves the school. It may not be to everyone’s liking, but it is definitely worth visiting.
My son also applied to more expensive schools such as Fordham, Villanova, Fairfield, BU, and Northeastern. But Marist was his first choice after visiting all of them.
A little browsing shows that Marist has a smaller course catalog than many schools. It’s the only place that either of my D’s applied where you can’t take Mandarin or Asian culture classes. Most (all?) other places that they’ve looked teach a variety of languages to minor in. I suspect there are other examples but this jumped out. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it saves costs for kids who don’t demand these classes.
Like any other business, Marist cuts cost by limiting the number of permanent workers. It is common for 60% (or more) of the courses to be taught by part time (adjunct) instructors or temporary full time instructors called Teaching Associates, Lecturers or Visiting . The temporary workers are paid substantially less then the permanent ones. Other colleges will make a point of limiting the number of temporary workers, but Marist doesn’t. Temporary faculty are the cornerstone of their business model.
Lower tuition, less tuition discounting. The bottom line cost will likely approximate comparable schools.
I have to add Marist was on our school visits last year when my son was going through the process. Hands down I thought this was the best school, best education, and most to offer. One thing I noticed on our tours was how schools survived the recession. It was obvious not only did Marist survive the last ten years but they thrived. I remember on the tour they said their president of 40 years was retiring. Unheard of - 40 years!! The proximity to NYC gave many options. The school had fabulous connections. The campus was beautiful. The nicest dining hall and library! IMO, it was a fantastic school. It was not a fit for my son (they didn’t have the program he wanted and for him it was too “downstate.”) but wow! What a great school!
“Lower tuition, less tuition discounting. The bottom line cost will likely approximate comparable schools”
This^^^^
The sticker price game in college appears to work from this thread! Marist doesn’t give as much merit (tuition discounting) as some other schools. They are trying this model and it seems to be working, however, it’s funny how people perceive the lower sticker price as lower quality. Very very few families pay sticker price at comparable colleges to Marist because junior will get a “scholarship” of about 15-20k unless junior has really really horrible grades but deep pockets. Marist, with the lower sticker price can discount less and offer admission without discounting to more kids. Their yield is quite good. At the end of the day, the net price is comparable with their competitors.
At 3pm on decision day, Marist threw an extra $10k per year (guaranteed for 4 years) bringing the annual total under $20k. SAT 1230, u/w GPA 3.9
She chose APP State (Boone, NC) for 2 reasons - money not a factor since the two were almost identical:
1 - APP has a broader course catalog
2 - A poor impression of her program which is obviously specific to the individual. She is named for a big-time designer but the chairman of design department didn’t recognize it. The average guy in the street may not know Eames but a design professor has no excuse. (every design or art teacher at every other college knew him and his work)
It’s a shame since she was dying to go to NY and she had really great contact with the head of the Honors Program. A great guy with an impressive background.
We left the decision to her and I’m proud that she made what I consider to be the right call.