<p>My son is looking for a small traditional liberal arts college in the New England Area. He has visited Middlebury, Connecticut College and plans to visit Wheaton and Bates. Unfortunately these schools are all incredibly expensive. If my son was to apply and possibly be accepted to these schools, I'm concerned that we would not be able to afford to send him. Thus, we need to find schools that are like these schools in appearance and opportunities but are less expensive. I would like to know of other options than just attending the smaller state colleges in our state. Also, we would prefer that the school is not associated with any one particular religion. Am I being unrealistic?</p>
<p>Look at the schools that offer merit aid to students with your sons stats. You may not need to be paying full “sticker price”. </p>
<p>Are you likely to qualify for any need based aid?</p>
<p>The midwestern LACs are just as good academically and cost a bit less - some offer merit aid to top students. Look at Grinnell, Macalester and Beloit.</p>
<p>SUNY Geneseo is about $30K if you are out of state…</p>
<p>Why rule out the Catholic universities without even looking? Some can give pretty good merit, especially if your S is candidate for Middlebury and the like.</p>
<p>In the midwest, there are also relative bargains like University of Minnesota - Morris and Truman State, both under $25,000 per year at list price for out of state.</p>
<p>Not all religiously affiliated schools have a heavily religious curriculum or environment.</p>
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<p>Sounds like you may be searching for something that doesn’t exist, which may require you to relax one or more of your criteria. Some have suggested looking in other regions (Midwest) or broadening the search to include Catholic institutions, many of which are not heavy-handed with religion. You could look at a school like Marist in Poughkeepsie, NY. Not New England, but it’s close. Catholic, but I believe many non-Catholics attend and don’t find it oppressive. Pretty strong academic reputation, and tuition is about $28K per year, which is about $14K or $15K less than many New England LACs charge. I have no idea what their FA is like.</p>
<p>First, though, I’d suggest you look at the Net Price Calculator on the website of each of the colleges your son is interested in, and be certain you don’t qualify for need-based aid before you just assume you’ll be paying full sticker price. If you are full-pay but don’t think you can come up with that much cash, then I agree that you need to spend some time searching for schools that will give good merit aid, which may take you outside the New England region. </p>
<p>But I’d also urge you to spend some time with a sharp pencil figuring out what’s the maximum you really can pay, if it comes to that. If you’re coming out full-pay on all the net price calculators, it’s because you have substantial financial resources. Sometimes people just don’t want to put a dent in their lifestyle or tap savings and investment accounts to pay for their kids’ education. That’s ultimately your choice, but you may find upon careful examination that your financial capacity is greater than it appears when you just take an initial look at that big sticker price and think, “No way can I come up with an extra $55K or $58K per year on top of everything else I’m already doing!” Well, it’s not “on top of.” It involves making some hard choices. I initially thought it would be impossible to pay for expensive private schools for my daughters. The colleges all said we were full-pay; just barely, but we knew we wouldn’t get a dine of need-based FA, yet our accumulated college savings (529s) could cover only a fraction of the cost. But by tapping other savings and investment accounts, upping our savings rate (including diverting funds for expense items that were on our budget while D1 was in HS but would be on her budget in college, as well as things like reduced car insurance costs, a non-trivial sum), cutting back on some luxuries (e.g., vacations and that daily latte), and working out an agreement with D1 that she would contribute X dollars from term-time and summer employment and take on some modest student loans, we’re pulling it off. Not without it pinching sometimes, but nobody ever promised it would be easy.</p>
<p>^Actually, bclintonk, Marist has shed it’s Catholic standing and is now on it’s own. Latest estimated COA is about $46K with room and board. They do give merit scholarships, however.</p>
<p>You could look into Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick, Canada.</p>
<p>Many people have encouraged us to look towards the mid-west because the cost for college there appears to be less as well as the fact that we have been told that mid-west schools seek out students from the Northeast. We are actually looking and are interested in applying to schools located in the southeast. We were just wondering if there are schools in the Northeast, closer to home, that offer the programs that Conn College, Bates and Wheaton do but are a little less expensive.</p>
<p>I agree that there are people that want the best but are not willing to give up what they are accustomed to. Before we started this process, we talked with a financial planner who specializes in financial planning for college and she let us know what we could afford to spend on education, given our age (close to retirement), the fact that we will have two children in college at the same time and anticipated expenditures related to home repairs and other family expenses. Thus, I know the ballpark figure of what we can afford without having our children take thousands of dollars in debt as they start their careers. (I realize it is the rare child who does not have some debt after graduation and we planned this when we determined what we could afford.) Thus, it appears that what I need to do is, as suggested, look at the net price calculator to determine the true cost for education at these schools.</p>
<p>Look at UNC Asheville
It is pretty low cost out of state</p>
<p>SUNY Geneseo is very popular and competitive because it is a smaller but excellent SUNY school which attracts many outstanding students. SUNY New Paltz is somewhat less selective (I don’t know his stats but judging from the schools you are looking at, he should get into Geneseo). Another choice might be to look at schools that are very good but maybe a bit less selective where your S may qualify for merit aid (perhaps Muhlenberg). As an aside, I would sit down with your S and explain what you can afford to pay in general terms so he understands the situation.</p>