Sticker shock! Cost of attendance from financial award letters.

<p>Can I do a house swap - U of M for CCM?</p>

<p>@DoReMiMom: D auditoned for FSU. No such luck in getting accepted to BFA. I told her that everything happens for a reason, and that if she had gotten into FSU, her decision would have been harder. D said that I would have made her choose FSU and she was probably right! </p>

<p>I can’t be the only person with a current junior reading this thread with horror and enlightenment. Our list is starting to take shape at least in part because of this thread. As I research the schools I am finding that some of these programs are not going to justify themselves in terms of the cost. I think a name school is great but it is what they will learn that counts. Sorry NYU and CMU, you are off the list.</p>

<p>Did the FSU costs come from an FA letter? The website showed costs were $19,167 for in-state in 2013-2014. This included $1000 for books and a mandatory health insurance policy but did not give allowances for travel or other expenses. So it is really somewhere between direct costs and total costs. Also wondering if there will be an increase from 2013-2014 to 2014-2015. If anyone has an FA letter from this year and can update or verify FSU costs that would be great. No matter what, those in state costs look very appealing! Would also be curious what OOS costs would be. For 2013-2014 the website says they are $32,000+, but I think someone said perhaps MTs don’t have to pay the OOS costs? If anyone has more specifics from this years acceptances, please let us know!</p>

<p>I think you may need to update Point Park’s cost. They are closer to 44,000 without all the added fees. A mother of a current student posted on their site that she was notified of a tuition increase. Cost projected to close to 47000</p>

<p>@evilqueen you are absolutely right. I wish that we had had this list last Fall - it would have saved a lot in app fees and travel. I’d really like the college payment to be less than my mortgage payment.</p>

<p>One of the challenges is taking all this data and then drilling down to figure out what the real cost FOR YOU will be once you factor in academic awards, talent awards, and need based aid. At the beginning of the search process, I created a spreadsheet that was all about cost. I scoured the school websites and CC and set it up to see direct costs, less all the “knowns” that I could figure out. Some things I couldn’t know until the actual FA letter came. Such as how much NYU would offer. Others I could figure out right off the bat based on her stats, or on the basis that if she was accepted then she would automatically get X amount as a talent award. I kept that spreadsheet on the refrigerator for both of us to see. As awards were offered, I updated this list. As rejections came, I updated the list. If she decided that a school wasn’t right for her, I updated the list. We talked about the financial impact of her education. It really was a great tool for us. In the end, she didn’t pick the most expensive or the least expensive. She picked the one that felt like the best fit. And because I had kept that little spreadsheet updated, I knew that we could make it happen financially. </p>

<p>As you receive a 2014-15 Financial Aid Award Letter please cut and paste this section to your reply box and add your school based on costs as shown below.</p>

<p>As you add a new school please update the count to maintain the integrity of the list.</p>

<p>CURRENT COUNT = 34</p>

<p>(dc) = direct costs (tuition, room & board only)
(tc) = total costs (direct costs plus indirect costs as listed in the award letter)
(oos) = out of state (if applicable)
(is) = in state (if applicable)</p>

<p>Cost (by lowest cost… for state schools, by IS cost)…
Florida State 17,487 (dc/is); 32,480 (dc/oos)
JMU 17,695 (dc/is) 32,294 (dc/oos)
Texas State University 18,250 (dc); 21,260 (tc)
University of Utah 23,554 (tc)
Cal State Fullerton 24,320 (tc)
University of Northern Colorado 29,936 (dc/ oos)
Coastal Carolina University 18,040 (dc/is); 31,310 (dc/oos); 23,109 (tc/is); 36,379 (tc/oos)
Viterbo 31,730 (dc)
Temple 31,870 (tc)
Central Michigan 32,214 (dc)
Montclair 35,365 (dc/ oos)
Nebraska Wesleyan 36,570 (dc)
Ohio Northern 36,960 (dc)
CCM (U of Cincinnati) 37,688 (dc) (oos)*estimate - 2014/15 figures not yet released
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: $24,196 tuition + $14,970 recommended COL = $39,166 (dc) ^
Webster 39,404 (dc)
Point Park 39,470 (dc)
Baldwin Wallace 40,720 (dc)
Shenandoah 41,116 (dc)
Marymount Manhattan 42,636 (dc)
Otterbein University 42,876 (dc)
Long Island University 45,000 (dc)
Drake 46,385 (dc)
Baylor University 46,642 (tc)
Hartt (University of Hartford) 46,962 (dc)
Indiana 47,234 (tc/ oos)
Oklahoma City University. 49,256 (tc)
Rider 50,575
Wagner 52,880 (tc)
Pace University 56,042 (dc)
Ithaca 57,316 (tc)
Emerson 57,376 (tc)
Carnegie Mellon. 61,422 (dc)
NYU-Tisch 70,606 (tc)</p>

<p>Alphabetical…
Baldwin Wallace 40,720 (dc)
Baylor University 46,642 (tc)
Cal State Fullerton 24,320 (tc)
Carnegie Mellon. 61,422 (dc)
Central Michigan 32,214 (dc)
CCM (U of Cincinnati) 37688 (dc) (oos)*estimate - 2014/15 figures not yet released
Coastal Carolina University 18,040 (dc/is); 31,310 (dc/oos); 23,109 (tc/is); 36,379 (tc/oos)
Drake 46,385 (dc)
Emerson 57,376 (tc)
Florida State 17,487 (dc) 32,480 (dc/oos)
Indiana 47,234 (tc/ oos)
Ithaca 57,316 (tc)
JMU 17,695 (dc/is) 32,294 (dc/oos)
Long Island University 45,000 (dc)
Marymount Manhattan 42,636 (dc)
Montclair 35,365 (dc/ oos)
Nebraska Wesleyan 36,570 (dc)
NYU-Tisch 70,606 (tc)
Ohio Northern 36,960 (dc)
Oklahoma City University. 49,256 (tc)
Pace University. 56,042 (dc)
Point Park 39,470 (dc)
Rider 50,575
Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: $24,196 tuition + $14,970 recommended COL = $39,166 (dc) ^
Shenandoah 41,116 (dc)
Temple 31,870 (tc)
Texas State University 18,250 (dc/is); 21,260 (tc/is)
Hartt (University of Hartford) 46,962 (dc)
University of Northern Colorado 29,936 (dc/ oos)
University of Utah 23,554 (tc)
University of Northern Colorado 29,936 (dc/ oos)
Viterbo 31,730 (dc)
Wagner 52,880 (tc)
Webster 39,404 (dc)</p>

<p>*CCU, TSU, JMU (IS), and FSU (OOS) figures are from school websites; hopefully someone with a FA award letter will update them
^ RCS: BA program is only 3 years. Figure does not include international travel costs.</p>

<p>@evilqueen - I will say some of the more expensive schools actually came through with some of the best scholarship$ – making them equivalent to or sometimes more affordable than what on the surface appeared to be cheaper alternatives. So don’t write them all off just yet.
I think it is great to share these costs with kids, and let them know how much they have to get the cost down if that is a school they want to attend. So for example, if the family budget is $30,000 per year and NYU is $70,000 per year, our child understands if they don’t have $40,000 per year in scholarships, work study, etc… Then NYU is not a possibility. It also may help them work hard for those grades and test scores because at many schools the bigger scholarships are for academic merit, not talent.<br>
I think the kids who end up most satisfied at the end of the process are the ones who have a realistic view of what is possible for them and their family to do. </p>

<p>my PPU Fin Aid letter gives
Tuition 32800
University fee 540
Activity fee 350
Technology Fee 320
Pioneer Experience Fee 100
Room 4860
Meal plan 5460</p>

<p>total $44430</p>

<p>Tuition, meals and room without all those fees is just (!) $43120</p>

<p>MT students at PPU pay an additional 1070.00 for voice. 585.00/semester
New Total for tc 44,190.00</p>

<p>I have a fun little game that I play with these numbers to make them seem less daunting. I call it the “calculate how much more” game. My son is already in a private school so I get a big boost from that number. Then I add in what I won’t be feeding him, the swim training fees I will no longer be paying and anything else that I can think of that will now be in that college number and not coming out of the household budget. If you get creative, you’d be surprised what you find yourself justifying. ;-)</p>

<p>By the way, USC tc is $65113. Not sure if you’d pay more for the BFA+ MT minor. Thought I’d throw that one in so CMU and NYU at the top end wouldn’t feel so lonely.</p>

<p>Evilqueen, my D is a junior, and, as we’ve researched and researched more, scouring websites and CC, discussing things like curriculum, faculty, location, alumni, and, yes, cost, a couple schools that have been on D’s list for years have fallen off. (Good-bye, BOCO! NYU? She may still audition there just to see what happens, but she’s knows attending there is not likely unless on top of the first “miracle” of acceptance, she has the big miracle of a lot of aid.) Our income is too large for need-based aid, so it’s all going to come down to scholarships. Thankfully, my D is a realistic person, and she doesn’t want debt or high expenses any more than we do.</p>

<p>halflokum, we have played the same game. With the cost of weekly voice lessons, car insurance (she will not be taking a car), gas, going away for the majority of the year, this has helped a lot. </p>

<p>Be carefu @myloves. We know several kids who got in nowhere but NYU!</p>

<p>@myloves we are in the exact same position and our D also agress that no one is going to go into massive debt to finance this college degree. The chances of acceptance are so small to begin with that for some schools the idea that she will get merit aid in excess of $30K is not reasonable. There is a point of no return with auditions and visits and mental energy and knowing how expensive some of the schools are is just incredibly helpful. Maybe some kids can deal with the pressure of applying to 20 plus schools but I think we want to have a solid list of 15 plus 2 non-audition BAs and call it good.</p>

<p>@LoveMyMTGirl, double check with your insurance agent on removing car insurance and then putting it back when they are home over the summer, or over breaks. It’s not straight forward I learned. I forget the details but we didn’t do it for some reason with my daughter after talking to the agent. I think the rate was going to change a lot or something like that. It was a bummer because that would have been a nice number to use in my “how much more game” especially now for my son who is in the highest rate category as a teenage male. My kids do not have their own cars so that wasn’t something we could use for the game either.</p>

<p>Yup! This is the most helpful thread under this major so far! This is going to help my junior D and I trim that list of audition schools quite a bit and save on unnecessary app fees!</p>

<p>@LoveMyMTGirl @halflokum - my auto insurer had an “out-of-state at school without a car” option that dropped one of my S’s (the one in NYC w/o car) into limbo land – we pay a VERY minimal payment and he stays on the policy for the few days he’s home on break. I had to fax in copy of fee bill and university receipt to prove he was going. As @halflokum mentioned, the insurer didn’t recommend removing him altogether as it is more expensive to get him back “on” later. For us, this “limbo” policy is super-cheap as he’s never had an accident, ticket, etc. </p>

<p>Ooo… Allstate I don’t think has that but now I’m going to investigate. I’d love to have that for BOTH of my kids if I can get it. Thanks @MTTwinsinCA.</p>