Today, my junior DS got one of his first glossy brochures…this one from Amherst. He is likely to have the numbers and ECs to consider applying to this level of academic institution, however likelihood of actually matriculating as a full-pay student is ridiculously low…according to their brochure the estimated Cost of Attendance is now more than $70,000. Could someone please help me up off the floor!
What is your income range? And assets?
We’ve been through this before with younger child…there will be no non-merit aid.
Who thought it was bursting?? No one but people who hoped it would so they would be vindicated for not saving much (not aimed at low income families who couldn’t save, but those who could have and didn’t).
Do you know about the Net Price Calculators? On each school’s website, usually on the financial aid page. Plug in your financial info, and it will tell you expected cost of attendance and the breakdown of grants, loans, etc. I’d suggest printing the results, they run together after a while. Note that they aren’t very accurate for divorced parents, or owners of small businesses or rental property. It will show more aid than will actually be given.
Vandy – if you are a one percenter or higher, you’ll send your kid to Amherst. And you’ll also drive a big Mercedes.
If you are a 5 percenter, then you’ll send your smart kid to Vandy with merit aid instead. And you’ll drive mid-range Audi or Acura.
If you are a 80 percenter, you’ll send your kid to Amherst and drive a Toyota or Chevy.
Why are people surprised that Amherst costs $70k? Are you surprised that the big cars at the Mercedes dealer also cost $70k?
I think I must be a one percenter who’s hosing folks masquerading as a five per enter cause I do drive an Audi convertible (that I bought used) and sent my firstborn to Tulane on a full-tuition merit scholarship. I just can’t wrap my head around 70k x 4 years…btw, I’d still be driving the same 70k Mercedes in 4 years (not the 280k Mercedes)…just sayin…
I think a lot of people would be surprised at the number of 1 percenters sending their children to state schools. And for the record, we have a Honda and an Acura…and they’re both over 7 yrs old. 
It’s great that you could afford ~$15k out-of-pocket for Tulane. A lot of people can’t do that. Just make sure you give your son a firm number for what you can pay so he can build a realistic list. If he has high stats, check the guaranteed merit aid thread so he can find a financial safety or two that he really likes.
It is never about what someone else thinks you can afford…it’s always about what you can afford or what you are willing to pay.
Cost of doing business.
@momofthreeboys I agree with you on that…and I also think that there’s important discussions about endgame status…ie grad school plans, consequences of outstanding debt,…just life choices in general…all in search of a good fit.
At least your child doesn’t want to go to Tisch at NYU. If they did, you would be set back $80,000 per year. Like literally, $80,000 per year. So for those of you who were wondering, robbery is legal.
@CaliCash – bubble has burst for me for a few schools that I can’t rationalize being worth full pay. I already told two of my kids that NYU is not in the cards. And yeah, it helps that none of the kids have had their hearts set on the very most expensive schools like NYU. I do know a couple of kids that got substantial scholarships to NYU though, so if you think you might have what they want, then go for it.
It is a bubble though, isn’t it? – unless prices were artificially low back when I went to school in the 70’s . . . Back then, if you got into a school, any school, you could probably come up with a reasonable way to finance it through work, loans, etc., even if you were planning to graduate with a degree in teaching or art or philosophy :). You didn’t have to be a super star and snag some amazing merit scholarship to do it either. A summer job with the state highway department one summer paid the tuition (but not room and board) of a year of the first school (private school) I attended. What school would that be true of now? A handful of the lower priced state schools, maybe.
My D, when she was a junior (last year) attended an NYU info session in our town. She came back, all excited, wanting to look into it. We did, and I realized she did not qualify for any kind of aid there. (We also don’t qualify for any financial aid.) At the time, she still had a B+ avg. too.
Seeing as how we’d never even heard of NYU before we starting researching colleges for D, we figured we would not pay full-price for her to attend. So, we had to tell her that. It made me a little sad (but only a little) because it was the first time she started to act excited about going to college. She took it well, though, and moved on.
That incident did prompt us to talk to her about setting a budget for college costs, though, so something came of it…
Vandy – you’re right. $280k over four years for each kid is probably beyond the means of someone at the 1% threshhold – i.e. the lower upper class. That’s probably more like the 0.5% zone or higher.
I also have a kid on schollie at Tulane. Good cost/value proposition for our family. Luckily my kid picked that school/deal over another great school that would have been full sticker price. That would have been tough to pay for; it also would have been tough to tell the kid we couldn’t/wouldn’t pay for that school.
Top 1% is $388K - cannot complain
Top 5% is $188K
Top 10% is 140K
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/15/business/one-percent-map.html
…
The most highly desired schools, which are highly selective and have droves of willing full-pay students, are not the ones who may see the price bubble burst.
It is the less popular schools that tend to have trouble and often rely on heavy discounting to fill seats.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-04-14/small-u-s-colleges-battle-death-spiral-as-enrollment-drops
Cool interactive map, @coolweather. We’re top 39% in the US and top 42% in our geographic area, and yet we were also Pell Grant qualified last year (not sure about this year; we shall see). You’d think Pell was for bottom 50%ile.
And we own three cars: A 2003 Buick, inherited when my mom passed away; a 2005 Ford Focus, inherited by my dh when his dad went to a nursing home; and a 2004 Chevy Tracker, the only car we bought.
Huh, you know for all the talk of high COL areas, there was not nearly as much variance on coolweather’s link as I’d have thought.
The zones in Michigan seem bizarre though. “Detroit” is pretty much the entirety of SE Michigan whereas “Flint” looks like a needle-prick.