<p>If finances are concern, there are free or almost free options in regard to attending the college. There are Merit awards, there are employers who are paying, In fact, out of 4 family members, we paid only one UG tuition and also two MBAs were covered by various employers. No loans either. Since most of our family education was close to free, we are in position of paying for D’s Med. School. It pays off to choose your college wisely and not following everybody’s hype of getting into selective schools.</p>
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<p>I put in a $50,000-$60,000 income family of 3 with 1 in college going to West Chester as an in-state student into its net price calculator. The net price was $25,794, the same as the list price (no financial aid grants). With a $0 income family, the net price was $16,868. <a href=“http://www.collegeportraits.org/PA/WCU/estimator/agree”>http://www.collegeportraits.org/PA/WCU/estimator/agree</a></p>
<p>The Penn State (main or branch campus) net prices tend to be in the same ballpark or higher. <a href=“http://collegecostestimate.ais.psu.edu/cgi-bin/CollegeCostEstimate.exe/launch/CollegeCC/netpricecalc”>http://collegecostestimate.ais.psu.edu/cgi-bin/CollegeCostEstimate.exe/launch/CollegeCC/netpricecalc</a></p>
<p>Commuting from the parents house would reduce the net prices, but can still be pretty high even in that case. And, since the academic offerings appear to be rather limited at the above schools, many students need to transfer to PSU-UP or some other campus out of commuting range to complete their degrees (i.e. using the branch campuses like expensive community colleges).</p>
<p>So, other than the high stats student who picks up a big merit scholarship at Temple, the Pennsylvania public universities do not look very affordable for middle or lower income families.</p>
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<p>Pennsylvania public schools filling the high-student-loan-debt lists, and the results from their net price calculators, indicate that Pennsylvania appears much less concerned with getting students from low income families to affordable college than many other states.</p>
<p>So what do you do if you don’t have the stats (or National Merit) to get a big merit scholarship somewhere?
BTW, to the OP, getting a high enough PSAT score is REALLY important in that regard, as that mostly determines whether you can qualify for a big National Merit scholarship somewhere.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Join the NJ National Guard (all NJ publics would be tuition-free). I would only recommend this for someone looking in to serving in the military, though, as you have a decent chance of being deployed abroad.</p></li>
<li><p>Working your way through Harvard Extension School. They have online courses as well. UPenn also has a fairly inexpensive night school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Neither are all that ideal, but what can you do.</p>
<p>Or
3. Learning a trade. Maybe while also going through HES or UPenn LPS.</p>
<p>Having skills is always good, and may actually be more useful than many college majors.</p>
<p>Oh wait, you have to be over 21 to attend UPenn LPS, so strike that.</p>
<p>BTW, another way to save on costs is to load up on AP and/or CLEP credits. PSU takes a bunch, for instance. You still have to take the courses required for your major, though.</p>
<p>This thread sounds like a good reason to elect a Democrat as governor in the coming election. Republicans in general are anti public education and this sounds like a good example to me. In addition, unions will be a distant memory if Republicans have their way. Sorry for the partisan thought.</p>
<p>It’s very annoying that PSU spends so much on football and practically nothing on merit aid.
Really, I look at the PA taxes, including property taxes (and consider the large number of pretty crappy public K-12 schools), and I feel so annoyed.</p>
<p>My kid might not apply, even though it’s the flagship, since she has a shot at tuition scholarships at Temple (commutable), Pitt (merit possible) and OOS automatic scholarships.</p>
<p>Note that PSU, Pitt, and Temple are only semi-public now. State-aided rather than state-supported, so closer to Cornell’s contract colleges than most other publics (PSU gets only 2% of its budget funded by the state). Democrats in power may make the PASSHE schools more affordable, though.</p>
<p>This calculator (mentioned multiple times in posts by others on related threads) gives a good idea of the maximum you should reasonably borrow</p>
<p><a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid;
<p>Once you plug in your numbers, you may be able to rule out many schools due to their expense. From among those left, pick the one which is the best fit (academics and student body are at the right level of challenge, offers majors that match your goals), and has good graduation rates, good teachers.</p>
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<p>Actually, the football program for PSU has always been self-supporting. It brings in so much money it supports the other sports as well. I’m not sure how the sanctions have changed that, but that’s how it historically was. </p>
<p>@2018RiceParent I had not seen that calculator previously. Great Link!</p>
<p>I am surprised of the number of posts suggesting the HIGHLY selective, Ivy, colleges as one way to avoid college costs. </p>
<p>UPenn, which DS toured, and liked has an acceptance rate of 12%. Cornell, I think was 16%. They would be a long shot for tens of thousands. And how many posts are on here about not having high enough STATS to even consider an Ivy school?</p>
<p>We did the calculator and came up with an acceptable debt load of $64K. That still seems incredibly high to me for a 22 yr old. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t want to saddle him w/ that kind of debt, but maybe that is the problem when you are lower income, those kinds of numbers are frightening. </p>
<p>Maybe we need to start thinking in terms of debt like that? And consider it reasonable?</p>
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<p>It is not just that they would be hard to get into, but might not be a good fit if you can’t pass the courses. Someone who was smart enough to excel at a good, solid college (Texas Tech or Baylor in Texas as examples) might be in way over their head at the most elite colleges. Finding a fit is a challenge - and one reason that the rough estimates of selectivity (25% - 75% SAT/ACT stats) and more importantly graduation rates by major that the US NCES site publishes can be surprisingly useful in making sure that you pick a college that is the right level of challenge.</p>
<p>@laralei, good point about the difficulty of getting in to the Ivies, but the debt you stated, $64K, is not possible nor recommended for a student. Direct loans to the student top out at $31K. Anything above that has to be signed for by the parents. It’s those instances where parents enable their kids to amass the debt that is just crazy.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad, my daughter was offered Perkins loans by several schools. These loans would have doubled her debt via Stafford loans.</p>
<p>I think there is too much emphasis on attending college, and too little on affording it.
Too many inadequate loans offered to the wrong people; not enough proper loans for the right people.</p>
<p>Consider this: My city does not have a 4-year ABET accredited engineering program; the closest is three hours away. If a student can’t afford a 4-year sleepaway ABET accredited university, he could finish his general education at a local CC and STILL not afford to finish his degree somewhere else. How the heck is he supposed to pay for 22k+ yearly COA (junior and senior years) if all he is offered are the Pell Grant and Direct Loans?</p>
<p>Yes, I agree, if there are no 4 yr schools with the major in commuting distance, extra funding or tax credits should be in place for needy students.</p>
<p>@oldmom4896 That’s not how it is working with my son. He was not offered a $2000 Perkins and a $3500 Stafford. Together, they add up to the max freshman amount of $3500. </p>
<p>Of course it depends on the school and the student (like everything). I posted my daughter’s offer because it is one way that a student may be able to borrow more than $31k in his/her own name without a cosigner, unlike what Erin’s Dad posted.</p>
<p>Another way is this: If the student’s parent(s) applies for a ParentPlus loan and is turned down, then the student can borrow $9,500 the first year and $12,500 subsequent years for a total of $47k.</p>
<p>2016BarnardMom, my daughter was offered the full $5500 subsidized/unsubsidized Stafford loan in addition to a $3000 Perkins loan. (I just dug out the letter to confirm.) </p>
<p>Thanks for letting me know. </p>