Selective, private schools with low ave net price after gift aid - by family income

Paying for College
1

<p>Here are some lists of selective, private schools with relatively low average net price. Net price is total cost of attendance (tuition, room and board, fees, books, etc.) minus gift aid (e.g. grants, scholarships). Different lists are posted for different family income levels.</p>

<p>I think families sometimes avoid applying to selective, private schools without taking financial aid into account. Selective, private schools can be affordable after financial aid.</p>

<p>From US Department of Education IPEDS website</p>

<p>The first list is for families with incomes $30K-$48K.</p>

<p>ave net price, SAT CR+Math 25th percentile, SAT CR+Math 75th percentile, school
1921 1460 1590 California Institute of Technology
2547 1410 1590 Harvard University
3020 1320 1530 Amherst College
4762 1410 1570 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
5148 1400 1570 Columbia University in the City of New York
5499 1310 1530 Williams College
5559 1360 1530 Pomona College
5859 1380 1570 Stanford University
5875 1350 1530 Duke University
6040 1410 1590 Princeton University
6136 1360 1530 Rice University
6297 1400 1560 Vanderbilt University
6439 1310 1490 Vassar College
6450 1350 1560 Dartmouth College
6752 1320 1530 Brown University
7043 1420 1560 Washington University in St Louis
7350 1170 1350 Sewanee-The University of the South
7503 1340 1520 Bowdoin College
7558 1350 1550 Swarthmore College
7901 1350 1540 University of Pennsylvania
8032 1400 1590 Yale University
8643 1310 1520 Haverford College
8957 1300 1480 Wesleyan University
8998 1260 1440 Davidson College
9097 1290 1480 Wellesley College
9097 1300 1480 Hamilton College
9153 1290 1480 Middlebury College
9302 1200 1420 University of Richmond
9370 1310 1520 Cornell University
9387 1280 1500 Grinnell College
9431 1170 1380 Brigham Young University-Provo
9529 1270 1450 Colgate University
9707 1260 1500 Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
9709 1340 1520 University of Notre Dame
9720 1310 1510 Claremont McKenna College
10470 1240 1430 Colby College
10535 1190 1390 Trinity College
10896 1260 1430 Scripps College
11123 1400 1570 University of Chicago
11597 1260 1460 Oberlin College
11791 1290 1490 Georgetown University
11804 1210 1360 Gettysburg College
11859 1300 1510 Johns Hopkins University
11974 1000 1220 Harding University
11998 1160 1400 St Olaf College
12001 1240 1410 Kenyon College
12073 1190 1390 Lafayette College
12283 1270 1470 Macalester College
12536 1350 1520 Tufts University
12801 1210 1420 Wheaton College
13349 1240 1430 Colorado College
13457 1210 1380 George Washington University
13522 1190 1430 Bryn Mawr College
13587 1200 1400 Lehigh University
13603 1420 1570 Harvey Mudd College
13680 1110 1370 Beloit College
13843 1250 1440 Barnard College
14112 1200 1400 Occidental College
14168 1140 1370 Gustavus Adolphus College
14388 1340 1520 Carleton College
14555 1190 1380 Dickinson College
14624 1140 1390 Centre College
15092 1090 1350 Hendrix College
15147 1150 1350 Trinity University
15151 1130 1330 Austin College
15180 1190 1370 Pitzer College
15388 1150 1370 Rhodes College
15404 1280 1470 Emory University
15526 1300 1480 Washington and Lee University
15531 1070 1290 Covenant College
15586 1380 1540 Northwestern University
15761 1300 1490 Reed College
15977 1120 1360 Muhlenberg College
15990 1120 1340 Skidmore College
16038 1180 1360 Thomas Aquinas College
16163 1120 1340 Pepperdine University
16310 1230 1450 Brandeis University
16333 1240 1440 University of Rochester
16417 1120 1340 Willamette University
16767 1190 1370 Polytechnic Institute of New York University
16806 1120 1320 Furman University
16861 1080 1300 Cedarville University
17054 1190 1370 Southern Methodist University
17073 1270 1480 University of Southern California
17215 1250 1430 Tulane University of Louisiana
17314 1260 1450 Boston College</p>

2

<p>The second list is for families with incomes $48K-$75K.</p>

<p>5148 1410 1590 Harvard University
6272 1320 1530 Amherst College
7344 1380 1570 Stanford University
8027 1460 1590 California Institute of Technology
8225 1350 1560 Dartmouth College
8300 1410 1570 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8559 1400 1560 Vanderbilt University
9048 1410 1590 Princeton University
9108 1400 1570 Columbia University in the City of New York
10007 1360 1530 Rice University
10708 1400 1590 Yale University
11123 1320 1530 Brown University
11359 1310 1510 Claremont McKenna College
11532 1360 1530 Pomona College
11552 1170 1380 Brigham Young University-Provo
11947 1310 1490 Vassar College
12149 1260 1500 Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
12329 1310 1530 Williams College
12620 1170 1350 Sewanee-The University of the South
12670 1350 1530 Duke University
12688 1260 1440 Davidson College
12761 1350 1550 Swarthmore College
12816 1340 1520 Bowdoin College
12891 1200 1420 University of Richmond
13127 1310 1520 Cornell University
13168 1270 1450 Colgate University
13269 1310 1520 Haverford College
13312 1300 1480 Hamilton College
13412 1350 1540 University of Pennsylvania
13859 1290 1480 Wellesley College
14077 1190 1390 Trinity College
14125 1240 1430 Colby College
14499 1290 1480 Middlebury College
14890 1000 1220 Harding University
14983 1340 1520 University of Notre Dame
15293 1210 1420 Wheaton College
15638 1400 1570 University of Chicago
15643 1240 1410 Kenyon College
15738 1240 1430 Colorado College
15775 1270 1470 Macalester College
15816 1280 1500 Grinnell College
16008 1300 1510 Johns Hopkins University
16020 1250 1440 Barnard College
16225 1300 1480 Wesleyan University
16566 1210 1360 Gettysburg College
16899 1420 1560 Washington University in St Louis
16923 1190 1430 Bryn Mawr College
17121 1290 1490 Georgetown University
17245 1260 1430 Scripps College
17660 1210 1380 George Washington University
17713 1160 1400 St Olaf College
17937 1340 1520 Carleton College
18005 1190 1370 Pitzer College
18018 1300 1480 Washington and Lee University
18021 1110 1370 Beloit College
18055 1190 1380 Dickinson College
18085 1140 1370 Gustavus Adolphus College
18338 1130 1330 Austin College
18402 1150 1350 Trinity University
18412 1090 1350 Hendrix College
18534 1070 1290 Covenant College
18615 1200 1400 Occidental College
18625 1180 1360 Thomas Aquinas College
18683 1420 1570 Harvey Mudd College
18822 1260 1460 Oberlin College
18836 1200 1400 Lehigh University
18860 1140 1390 Centre College
18863 1080 1300 Cedarville University
19071 1350 1520 Tufts University
19098 1190 1390 Lafayette College
19313 1240 1440 University of Rochester
19768 1380 1540 Northwestern University</p>

3

<p>The third list is for families with incomes $75K-$110K</p>

<p>8859 1320 1530 Amherst College
9212 1410 1590 Harvard University
12684 1400 1560 Vanderbilt University
12931 1380 1570 Stanford University
13207 1400 1570 Columbia University in the City of New York
13222 1400 1590 Yale University
13494 1170 1380 Brigham Young University-Provo
13691 1260 1500 Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
14428 1410 1570 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
15233 1350 1560 Dartmouth College
15242 1310 1530 Williams College
15607 1170 1350 Sewanee-The University of the South
15807 1310 1510 Claremont McKenna College
15832 1340 1520 Bowdoin College
16263 1360 1530 Pomona College
16491 1000 1220 Harding University
16701 1260 1440 Davidson College
17044 1270 1450 Colgate University
17333 1360 1530 Rice University
17589 1300 1480 Washington and Lee University
17590 1460 1590 California Institute of Technology
17669 1240 1430 Colby College
17809 1270 1470 Macalester College
17852 1200 1420 University of Richmond
17879 1310 1490 Vassar College
17920 1350 1540 University of Pennsylvania
18095 1320 1530 Brown University
18730 1340 1520 University of Notre Dame
18869 1350 1550 Swarthmore College
18948 1310 1520 Cornell University
19083 1180 1360 Thomas Aquinas College
19139 1410 1590 Princeton University
19354 1210 1420 Wheaton College
19600 1300 1480 Hamilton College
19672 1350 1530 Duke University
19881 1300 1480 Wesleyan University
19922 1090 1350 Hendrix College
19941 1190 1390 Trinity College
20150 1280 1500 Grinnell College
20249 1290 1480 Middlebury College
20259 1240 1410 Kenyon College
20419 1140 1390 Centre College
20420 1070 1290 Covenant College
20436 1080 1300 Cedarville University
20509 1260 1430 Scripps College
20641 1310 1520 Haverford College
21099 1290 1480 Wellesley College
21114 1240 1430 Colorado College
21230 1110 1370 Beloit College
21234 1190 1430 Bryn Mawr College
21524 1130 1330 Austin College
21535 1190 1380 Dickinson College
21652 1210 1360 Gettysburg College
21683 1160 1400 St Olaf College
21739 1340 1520 Carleton College
21809 1190 1370 Pitzer College
21870 1140 1370 Gustavus Adolphus College
21904 1190 1390 Lafayette College
22160 1420 1570 Harvey Mudd College
22197 1150 1350 Trinity University
22223 1150 1370 Rhodes College
22267 1120 1340 Skidmore College
22544 1400 1570 University of Chicago
22567 1290 1490 Georgetown University
22705 1200 1400 Lehigh University
22986 1210 1380 George Washington University
23066 1190 1370 Polytechnic Institute of New York University
23173 1300 1510 Johns Hopkins University
23608 1080 1310 University of Dallas
23727 1260 1460 Oberlin College
23987 1120 1320 Furman University
23992 1200 1400 Occidental College
24068 1250 1430 Tulane University of Louisiana
24080 1250 1440 Barnard College
24113 1240 1440 University of Rochester
24265 1160 1410 University of Tulsa
24736 1110 1390 Gonzaga University
24767 1300 1490 Reed College
24785 1420 1560 Washington University in St Louis
24946 1120 1340 Willamette University</p>

4

<p>These averages are not as helpful as going to the schools’ net price calculators (or collegeabacus.com) to get net price and financial aid estimates specific to the family’s financial situation.</p>

5

<p>Great list.</p>

6

<p>collegehelp- can you supply the url for those lists?</p>

7

<p>Can you put SPACES between the numbers. This is impossible to easily read.</p>

<p>And everyone…please note the income amounts on the three lists. I would also bet these are with “typical assets”.</p>

8

<p>menloparkmom, there is no url for these lists. I downloaded data from the US Dept of Educ IPEDS website into an excel spreadsheet and then got it into final form by averaging and sorting etcetera. It is difficult to do. I selected based on variables. It takes practice to use this website.</p>

<p>[IPEDS</a> Data Center](<a href=“http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/InstitutionByName.aspx]IPEDS”>http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/datacenter/InstitutionByName.aspx)</p>

9

<p>Thumper, I believe the ipeds data is an average of everyone at the school who has applied for aid in that income range. It’s not like the school is saying, “this is what we give students within this income range with typical assets.” It’s the college saying, “this is what we gave students whose families earn this” and I would think it only includes students who’ve applied for aid or the school wouldn’t know their income information.</p>

10

<p>2494611…etc. is what I am looking at. What the heck does that mean? There are NO spaces between the numbers to indicate what is what.</p>

11

<p>Thumper–perhaps there is some sort of formatting glitch with your browser. (I am on Safari so I would expect glitches here!) Of course, I have no idea how one would remedy that.</p>

<p>I see four or five digits as avg net price, space, four digits as 25th% CR&M, space, four digits as 75th% CR&M, space, school name.</p>

12

<p>Great list, thanks for compiling it, it must have been a ton of work! </p>

<p>I’m posting to add that the net price listed does NOT subtract out the federal loans that every student is eligible for from the government. Those amounts are 5500 for freshman, 6500 for sophomores, and 7500 for juniors and seniors. So if you are a parent in the income brackets listed you should subtract those loan amounts from the net price to see an average of what you would actually be expected to pay each year at those schools. </p>

<p>Also don’t forget that most schools, especially the ones on this list, will offer you an interest free monthly payment plan, typically over 10 months, so you can divide the final number by 10 to create a monthly budget and see if it’s possible to actually afford the payments out of current income and savings.</p>

13

<p>The net price in these lists is based on first-time, full-time, degree-seeking undergrad students who were awarded Title IV Federal Student Aid. Anybody know what percent of a freshman class typically is awarded Title IV Federal Aid? That percent is available on IPEDS but I did not download it.</p>

<p>This actually was not a lot of work. But, the techniques for getting it easily are complicated.</p>

14

<p>The net prices are for first-time, full-time students awarded Title IV. Here are the percentages of FT/FT students who are awarded Title IV at various selective, private schools. I sure hope I did this calculation correctly…data descriptions are confusing.</p>

<p>69% American University
45% Amherst College
85% Austin College
45% Barnard College
59% Baylor University
81% Beloit College
46% Boston College
49% Boston University
32% Bowdoin College
57% Brandeis University
27% Brigham Young University-Provo
40% Brown University
47% Bryn Mawr College
42% Bucknell University
39% California Institute of Technology
48% Carleton College
50% Carnegie Mellon University
64% Case Western Reserve University
60% Cedarville University
58% Centre College
77% Chapman University
32% Claremont McKenna College
32% Colby College
24% Colgate University
32% Colorado College
37% Columbia University in the City of New York
24% Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art
46% Cornell University
35% Dartmouth College
31% Davidson College
59% Denison University
49% Dickinson College
43% Duke University
43% Elon University
70% Emerson College
48% Emory University
63% Fordham University
38% Furman University
47% George Washington University
39% Georgetown University
48% Gettysburg College
60% Gonzaga University
62% Grinnell College
84% Gustavus Adolphus College
47% Hamilton College
64% Harding University
22% Harvard University
45% Harvey Mudd College
34% Haverford College
59% Hendrix College
47% Johns Hopkins University
47% Kenyon College
51% Lafayette College
53% Lehigh University
59% Loyola Marymount University
75% Loyola University Chicago
55% Macalester College
36% Massachusetts Institute of Technology
33% Middlebury College
52% Muhlenberg College
54% New York University
53% Northeastern University
46% Northwestern University
40% Oberlin College
51% Occidental College
58% Pepperdine University
36% Pitzer College
71% Polytechnic Institute of New York University
29% Pomona College
16% Princeton University
40% Reed College
68% Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
50% Rhodes College
36% Rice University
50% Rollins College
44% Santa Clara University
35% Scripps College
38% Sewanee-The University of the South
43% Skidmore College
40% Southern Methodist University
55% St Olaf College
26% Stanford University
77% Stevens Institute of Technology
42% Swarthmore College
75% Thomas Aquinas College
30% Trinity College
48% Trinity University
40% Tufts University
44% Tulane University of Louisiana
37% University of Chicago
61% University of Dallas
43% University of Denver
38% University of Miami
47% University of Notre Dame
42% University of Pennsylvania
63% University of Puget Sound
41% University of Richmond
56% University of Rochester
48% University of San Diego
61% University of Southern California
42% University of Tulsa
33% Vanderbilt University
55% Vassar College
52% Villanova University
34% Washington and Lee University
32% Washington University in St Louis
41% Wellesley College
50% Wesleyan University
57% Wheaton College
63% Whitman College
65% Willamette University
44% Williams College
21% Yale University</p>

15

<p>In order to have tables format correctly, use the code tag which uses a monospace font and preserves spacing. At the start of the table, put the text [ code ] and at the end of the table put [ /code ] but eliminate the spaces.</p>

16

<p>I’m using my iPad. </p>

<p>The best thing a family can do is run the Net Price Calculator using THEIR financial information. While it is interesting to see the average aid, SAT scores, etc…at the end of the day what matters is each FAMILY’S own numbers. </p>

<p>The net price calculators are a good indicator of potential aid…much better than tables of averages. </p>

<p>Alert…they NPCs have been reported to be less accurate when parents are self employed or own their own business, divorced, or own real estate in addition to their primary residence.</p>

17

<p>I agree with you in theory Thumper but the truth is that a lot of middle income people think they are automatically priced out of the private school marketplace (or conversely that they are going to get a “full ride”, whatever that might be defined as) and this is a good quick and dirty way to get a feel for what financial aid might be like at a large number of schools in one glance. Of course going to each school individually and using their specific NPC with your own numbers is going to yield a far more accurate number for that school. But what this list does is let people know it might actually be worthwhile to take the effort to do so, and also gives a bit of an idea which of comparable schools might be best to take a closer look at.</p>

18

<p>

Thanks for the link. I was able to generate many useful stats. However, when I tried to replicate your results for average net price, different values were returned. My results matched 3rd party websites that use the data exactly, such as the Harvard average net price listed at [College</a> Navigator - Harvard University](<a href=“College Navigator - Harvard University”>College Navigator - Harvard University) . This page lists average net prices of $3,647, $7,079, and $11,639 for the listed income levels in the most recent available data; which are all around $2k more than your results. I’m guessing there is a methodology difference? Maybe you were using 2012-13 (I didn’t see this data available in IPEDs), or an average of multiple years, or subtracting off something a work study estimate the returned value?</p>

19

<p>Data10 - Because the net prices vary somewhat from year to year, I used a 3 year average to arrive at a more reliable figure. My net prices were a 3-year average of the average net price. Your suspicion was correct.</p>

20

<p>Most people I know, and most of them are very much upper income, still have their kids going to school instate,and/or within an hour of home. Many of the kids do commute. Of those that go further, they are within 4 hours of home. Before all is said and done in the college years, I would say the vast, vast majority, maybe 80% end up at a local college. Of the OOS schools, the same names come up again and again. So it’s not just the low income, middle income folks who fall into this trend, and for many it’s for good reason.</p>

<p>The fact of the matter is that getting sufficient financial aid is very difficult. What the EFC ends up being, or more pointedly for schools that meet aid, what the PROFILE Family contribution turns out being, and what the parents are willing and able to pay are often very different things. There are those who will break the bank and borrow up a storm ot send their kids to the school they most want, but there are also those who are financial realist. I have friends who did it the first time around–no holds on cost, but with future kids, they realized they simply could not afford what the formulas say they could. When you get a family who is truly low income and/or truly financially strapped, and they get into a school that does meet full need but with self help in the package, it’s still a challege coming up with the $10-15K a year that is often needed to make that college a reality. Yes, it could be a wonderful opportunity and a great deal on a $60K+ school, but if you can’t afford, it just can’t. CUNY will give a good student a full ride including books, computer and summer college opportunities. Yes, you commute, but Colgate can mean the parents borrowing about $50K that they should not be borrowing and the kid equally in debt for the same amount due to PErkins, Stafford loans over 4 years. Yes, I’ve seen this sort of scenario many times. So, pushing these private schools is not always the right thing. Yes, some should go on the list. Maybe they will come up with enough money. </p>

<p>I went to college on a full ride many years ago. And it was still a rough go financially. Going to a top 25 school where half the kids are full pay can make you feel mighty stupid and poor. And I had a FULL ride; my parents did not take out a dime in loans for me. </p>

<p>So there are good reasons too, why parents don’t consider some of the private schools when they know they can’t afford them. Yes, some can come out with some packages that are less in cost than going state, but not always. It takes some savvy and knowledge that most of us on this board have and take for granted to pick through these schools and navigate the best bets financially. The high school GCs are, as a rule, woefully inadequate in expanding horizons and helping students/families pick schools. That they often cannot get into the financial apects limit them greatly too.</p>