<p>weenie, do your kids have full ride merit scholarships?</p>
<p>I ask because the in-state tuition for SUNY is under $5K per year. My d has friends from California attending SUNY Purchase because even with out-of-state tuition tacked on, SUNY is still less than $12K a year. </p>
<p>So if you have a private school where the tuition is $30K, and they offer a $20K scholarship-- the New York family is still looking at a lot more money for the private school than for the SUNY option. In general, the SUNY's aren't great, but many of them are pretty darn good -- nothing to ignore when costs are factored in. </p>
<p>"Merit" aid comes in all varieties -- my d. received merit offers of $8-$10K from several private schools, but for us that didn't make a dent in the tuition. </p>
<p>My son is at a CSU, which I think is roughly equivalent to many of the SUNY's, so I have a parent's eye view of the comparison between reasonably-good public and elite private -- the private education is better, but I don't think its 10x better, which is the cost-differential based on full sticker price (which, of course, we don't pay). </p>
<p>I think that when we talk about merit aid, in fairness we need to distinguish between a small scholarship, a full-tuition scholarship, and a full-ride scholarship.</p>
<p>Also I'd add that here in California, in-staters can also get merit aid at the state publics -- my son has almost a full ride in the coming year at his CSU - he is supporting himself and expects to graduate debt-free. </p>
<p>I don't know what the situation is with the SUNY's -- I just know that with a sophomore in high school who has a father expecting him to pay his own way, a $15K scholarship at some private college in a faraway state may not be the best option. For the mom -- who is asking the right questions at the right time -- I think it is important to be realistic about what we mean by "merit" money. Given the cost of the SUNY's, she will be looking for an award to match an annual tuition of ~$4500 - and she will have a hard sell with the dad if the son is looking at an out of state option at a college the dad has never heard of that costs two or three times as much.</p>