<p>Note that highly selective colleges often have excellent financial aid, which allows most students at those colleges to graduate loan free. For example, the Harvard NPC lists the following net cost to parents by income level for a 4-person family with 1 in college and typical non-retirement/primary home assets:</p>
<p>Of course there are some that slip through the cracks, such as students who come from families with a higher income that can not afford as much as the college expects or simply does not wish to spend as much as they could afford. There is also a sizable group that is not academically qualified for highly selective colleges or others with excellent FA, as such has little shot at merit money, and comes from a family that can not or will not spend much money on college. This group would indeed have limited options. They might focus on colleges with a low sticker price. There are often good options for this group, but the specifics vary by state, income level, how much the student could work during the school year, etc. It’s difficult to give much detail without more detail about the student’s situation.</p>
<p>I hope your correct, but I think around 2000 SAT score is more likely with a 186 PSAT score sophomore year. </p>
<p>From reading many posts a 2000 SAT score is very unlikely to get any merit aid. </p>
<p>For example, in Pitts forum I see the applicants need a 1500 (out of 1600) to qualify for merit aid. Similar results are needed for Penn State. </p>
<p>That is my issue here in PA. parents and students are left with choices of either stepping down in college rankings or taking on larger loans.</p>
<p>"" What do you mean by stepping down? Are Kutztown, West Chester, etc (the true PA state colleges) a step down? “”</p>
<p>It’s doesn’t even have to be a step down, DS wants to go into engineering, and would like a school that has several options. </p>
<p>None of these state schools have that. </p>
<p>AND, the community college to engineering is also problematic, I think. After 2 years of CC, what if you can’t transfer into an engineering program? </p>
<p>I checked our local CC, and though there are many programs that you can start there, engineering isn’t one of them. </p>
<p>Many state university schools of engineering have (mandatory) articulation agreements with the community colleges, which means that kids can get calculus, chemistry, physics and other required courses for engineering out of the way at the CC, even if no engineering courses are offered. It may be easier to get through the program that way as well. Look at your state universities, and if necessary call up the schools of engineering for answers.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, yes in my opinion going to Kutztown or West Chester vs Pitt or Penn State is a step down in most majors and future opportunities. </p>
<p>However, each college is what you make of it. My wife and I went to IUP. That is also a step down (in my opinion), but we are doing well for ourselves. </p>
<p>But I have to say I am not a fan of how PA does with our so-called flagships vs EVERY other state. The state does a great dis-service to its residents. </p>
<p>It all depends on the student. For many the nonflagship U’s are ideal choices. No one needs all of the opportunities in this world/country, they just need several options that interest them and they have aptitude for. If possible I would encourage freshmen to live on campus for the never again experience. </p>
<p>There are also other schools like Truman State and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology that start out at low out-of-state list prices, so it may take less scholarship to make them affordable than would be needed at a more expensive school.</p>
<p>Agreed, besides Truman State, which is the honors college for the state of Missouri, the other school often mentioned in terms of low cost liberal arts colleges is University of Minnesota at Morris. </p>
<p>But what about our other state subsidized school? - Temple University. If your child can get 1350 on the SAT’s, Temple will be slightly cheaper than West Chester. And even a 1300 would knock 8k off tuition which wold bring Temple into range of the real state schools.</p>
<p>I think PA’s state system and state subsidized schools (Pitt, PSU, and Temple) get an unfair bad rap. We live in the eastern part of the state and there are no fewer than 3 PSU branch campuses within commuting distance. There are also Temple’s main and its Ambler campuses within easy commutes of our home. I don’t have any idea if Pitt is similarly set up with branch campuses all over the western part of the state, but I can tell you that most people in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas - which happens to be most of the stat’s population - can afford a Pitt, PSU, or Temple education without oppressive loans. Can most people afford 4 years in Happy Valley? Probably not. But I don’t think that’s worth dissing the entire state system when there are affordable alternatives for most Pennsylvanians.</p>
<p>OP, where do you live? Are there no branch campuses nearby?</p>
<p>Guess it depends on “your” definition of affordable. </p>
<p>We can’t do even a net cost of $15K per year, not w/ 3 kids. We are not in the Philadelphia or Pittsburgh areas where incomes are probably high enough that this would not be a problem. </p>
<p>So yes, we could manage the branch campus of PS, but then can’t afford the transfer to main campus without going into a great deal of debt, for us.</p>
<p>But assuming kids attend a branch campus of PSU and then transfer to Main, they’re still getting their undergrad degree from PSU for right around 70k. That cost is right in line with what a degree from most other states’ flagships will cost - admittedly, 2 of the years are at a satellite campus, but there’s no reflection of that on the diploma. And, depending upon major, some kids can do all four years at their local branch campus. And a talented student can attend Temple tuition free. I do hear it’s harder to get merit money from Pitt these days, but that’s not the case at Temple where merit money is guaranteed. </p>
<p>ETA: My point is not that 70k is not a lot of money. It is. My previous posts were addressing the idea that Pennsylvania is somehow particularly bad when it comes to affordable schooling options. I just think that rap is undeserved. </p>
<p>^^^^I’m sorry you’re dealing with high cost issues. Catholic U and Scranton both have engineering schools that may be worth a look for your student. Merit money may help you out there.</p>
<p>Temple COA ends up being around $64K, even w/ the tuition covered, if you do not live close enough to commute. </p>
<p>None of the state schools, flagship or otherwise, are attainable without going into significant debt for a lot of people we know.</p>
<p>We are lucky in that DS actually has a chance to qualify for some of the auto admits, it depends on how he does in his next round of testing.</p>
<p>Also, since we have an EFC of around $2K, the Fed grants should offset some of the costs of attendance. Add in the $5.5K in loans for him, what we can pull together for him, and we should cover it. (Temple & U of AL are 2 we are seriously looking at. He is not happy with either school at this point.) </p>
<p>IF he does not test high enough, I have no solution about what we can manage for him to get into an engineering program. </p>
<p>Friends of ours, whose kids don’t have the stats are having a real hard time w/ this. </p>
<p>So, again, we come back to the point of the thread, do you pass on college because of debt? </p>
<p>If my child didn’t have the stats to get any kind of aid and we couldn’t afford it I would recommend a CC to get an Associates and then find a good company to work for that will pay for school. Getting it done will certainly take time but in the long run I think it’s worth it. I know some people who have gotten their undergrads at night and on weekends. I have great respect for someone who can do that.</p>
<p>Take AP classes in high school, and save money and time by using your test scores to test out of a few classes.
Join the military/Americorps and earn an education credit to help with loans.</p>
<p>I think it depends on a lot of different factors. I don’t think anyone should necessarily consider “opting out of college” period, but taking a break before attending can be the right choice for some people. </p>
<p>If you’re considering a degree with huge payoff opportunities - medicine, engineering, computer science - then I think it’s fine to attend an expensive college and pick up some debt. If you’re considering a degree with fewer, but still decent, earning potential and so-so security, I think attending a CC first and then a cheaper school would be best. If you’re considering a very low-demand degree - such as theater, film, music, creative writing, etc. - I think it’s an absolutely horrible idea to attend an expensive school that’ll put you in debt. </p>
<p>I think people should also consider their ability to pursue certain careers. If you’d like to be a doctor, teacher, police officer, lawyer, dentist, or any other profession that requires certain credentials, you obviously need to attend college right out of high school. If you’d like a more loose, variable career however - such as small business ownership, freelance work, and most careers in the arts - you can afford to give yourself two or three years after high school to pursue these careers debt-free. If the stars don’ align or you find yourself struggling, you can always go back to college for something more practical. But I disagree with this notion that everyone has to rush off to college as soon as they get their high school diploma. </p>
<p>Laralei, did you run the npc at temple? We have an efc of about $5,000 and net price came out at around $12,000.
(with full tuition scholarship)
Don’t forget the state grant, if you qualify for pell, you should get pheaa also.</p>
<p>What are they supposed to do if they can’t afford the cost, even if there is some finaid: it seems this is still a secret to many kids- many states have a Guaranteed Transfer program, start at cc, meet min gpa and transfer. Don’t know how satisfying it is in PA, but in VA, eg, you can transfer into UVa. What a deal. I grew up near Ambler, back when Temple was an Ag extension. </p>