<p>It all depends on what your goals and aspirations are. A student spends 13% of their collegiate walking hours in the classroom. The other 87% is influenced largely by their fellow students, their priorities and abilities, the quality of the environment, etc. For many people, after aid, the difference in cost is negligible. For some others who don't qualify for aid, the difference in cost isn't critical.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Please give me a list of some top schools with a reasonable tuition. <30,000.</p>
<p>I know a few like Rice and many top LACs have pretty decent tuitions.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>How about this for a pretty decent tuition. Cooper Union charges zero tuition. That's right - zero. Every student gets a full-tuition scholarship (although they still have to pay room and board). Yep, EVERY student. </p>
<p>There are also several very small schools that aren't even known that have free tuition, but charge room and board ($3,000).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Maybe I am totally wrong, but there's just no way I'd incur huge debt when a fine state school is available for undergraduate work. Grad school, med school, law school, maybe - but that's different.</p>
<p>To hear about kids planning on dumping $30K or more per year into a private when a much less costly state school is available, just floors me. </p>
<p>Y'all better hope you have a huge income stream coming in from your degree to service all that debt. Then add a spouse, a house, taxes, car payments, retirement planning, children, medical expenses, insurance...</p>
<p>Not to rain on your parade, but debt is not something to incur if you can avoid it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, how about this for a counter-rant. For some students, the supposedly expensive top private school is actually CHEAPER than the supposedly less costly state school, once financial aid is calculated. That's because, as mentioned before, some of the private schools, especially the top ones, tend to be EXTREMELY aggressive with financial aid, far more so than the state schools are. That best example of this is almost certainly Harvard, who has recently enacted a formal policy of giving free rides to anybody whose family makes less than 60k a year. That's arguably the greatest deal in highest education today. </p>
<p>Even in the past, before this deal was announced, Harvard was still extremely aggressive with financial aid. They just didn't have a formal policy that committed them to be so, but they did it anyway. I know two guys who were all set to go to Berkeley to take advantage of in-state tuition, but then got admitted to Harvard, and then found out that Harvard was actually going to be CHEAPER for them than Berkeley would be, once financial aid was factored in. I will always remember one of them mordantly joking that he had always dreamed of going to Berkeley, but he couldn't afford it, and so now he had 'no choice' but to go to Harvard. </p>
<p>Furthermore, some of the top private schools will lure you with aggressive merit packages. Take my brother for example. He could have gone to a state school, and paid the normal tuition. But Caltech offered him a full-ride with stipend. So his choice was to pay to go to a state school, or GET PAID to go to Caltech. Honestly, which one would you choose? </p>
<p>This extends to graduate school as well. I know a guy who wanted to get his PhD. He got admitted to the program at his state school. He also got admitted to Harvard. The state school offered him a 20k TA-ship to support him, where he would have to teach to get the money. Harvard offered him an 30k fellowship, with no teaching requirement. So not only was Harvard far higher ranked than the state school in the discipline he was pursuing, Harvard offered him more money with fewer requirements. Which one would you choose? </p>
<p>Look, the point is, you shouldn't eschew the private schools because of their supposed high price. Not everybody pays that price, and of those that do, many of them are so rich that they don't care anyway. For some people, the private schools are actually CHEAPER than state schools are. Nowadays, if you are poor, then clearly the best higher education deal you can get, financially and otherwise, is almost certainly at Harvard, and to a lesser extent at peer schools such as Yale, Stanford, Princeton, MIT, etc. I don't know any state schools who are willing to guarantee free rides to anybody making less than $X. So if you really are that poor, you should go to one of the top private schools. That is, of course, if you are good enough to get in. If you are good enough, and you're poor, then there really is no reason not to go.</p>
<p>Wow, I didn't know that anything less than 30K is cheap, lol.</p>
<p>Only a few schools in the nation (about 25) charge more than 30K, so you shouldn't have trouble finding that. However, finding quality schools that are 20K or less, that's harder.</p>
<p>Agreed - there are some great deals out there and your examples are compelling.</p>
<p>However, many kids are incurring large amounts of debt for an undergraduate education and I'd suggest this is more the norm than the exception - unfortunately. </p>
<p>For example, one parent asked me if I thought it was reasonable to incur $80K in debt to send his kid to U Miami. I had to respond 'heck no', when state schools are available and far less expensive, yet as good or better in quality. While your Harvard example is a great story, it's the exception rather than the rule, I'm afraid (I wish I was wrong about this).</p>
<p>Frankly, young people starting out with such burdensome debt just worries me. It's hard enough to make a living on a starting salary, but starting out in the hole is just plain not good. I'd rather suggest they spend a couple years in the military and serve in the reserves, despite the risks. This example is workable financially and serves their country. Then enter the university mature, ready and graduate debt free. </p>
<p>I guess I am old fashioned, even though I'm not that old. You know, it wasn't too many years ago in this country that times were hard and people wondered where their next meal was coming from. This could happen again, given the right circumstances. This alone should prompt a better rate of personal savings among all folks. It does not...</p>
<p>Rice, McGill, good public schools in-state (UVA, W&M, UMich, Cal/Berkeley, UCLA, UNC, UWisc, UT, SUNY Bing, SUNY Geneseo)</p>
<p>bica:</p>
<p>Rather than focusing on tuition up front, select a number of schools you like that have great programs for you and that are known for offering good packages. Apply to a number of these schools but make sure you include good state schools as well. See where you get accepted and what the 'package deal' is. You may end up with a better deal at a private as sakky was talking about but on the other hand, depending on your personal (and parent's) circumstances, you may be better off at a state. I agree with parent2noles to be careful about incurring too much debt since the gain (if there is any) may not be worth the pain of paying it off later. Plan for the costs of grad schools as well if you're considering that route.</p>
<p>The five service academies are great schools and you exchange a commitment to serve with pay for a no tuition education.</p>
<p>Rice is one of the best.</p>
<p>olin.
again, free tuition for every admitted student.</p>
<p>the catch is, they only offer engineering.</p>