<p>U of I to vote today on 6.9% tuition hike. They Just raised Tuition last year 9.5%. When is this bubble going to burst? There are 5758 colleges and universities in the United states, with 15 million students all looking for work when they get out of college. With a bad economy like ours and the high debt that the vast majority of these students will have with no way to pay it back, is a very potent recipe for disaster. What are we doing to Ourselves?</p>
<p>I think it is time to give these instituitions a dose of there own medicine. What would all the university administrations do if everyone decided to take a little time off from school and maybe go to a Community College for a couple of years, instead of making these administrations rich. They would scramble and have to lower Tuitions, thats what they would do.</p>
<p>As long as we are willing to go into Hock, with our fingers crossed hoping for a better life. They will keep jamming it to us. the greed will not stop until they get every cent.</p>
<p>I read that. This is why my 3 children in college will be attending private universities instead of the U of I next fall. I don’t know how everyone manages to pay the high tuition. My theory is that there are plenty of Chicago-area parents (with potentially higher earning opportunities, and I realize a high cost of living) who find paying in-state tuition for a very well regarded public state flagship university is much cheaper than the full bill for a private school. If you can get accepted to U of I, you can probably find a private university that will offer you merit money to get the cost below or close to U of I. With 3 children in school next fall and the U of I offering zero financial aid, our choice to apply to private schools (which split our EFC amongst the 3, offer merit money and grant money) is a no-brainer. U of I just offers loans for FA for us. </p>
<p>We were in your shoes 5 or 6 years ago and discovered all this when our children first entered the college years</p>
<p>Or you could live in my state, where in-state tuition this year is $15,250 and likely to go up next year, with the governor’s plan to cut state support in half. Your $11,104 sounds pretty good.</p>
<p>According to CollegeBoard.com the totol sticker price with tuition, books, personal expenses, room and board is about $27,000 a year for U of I. This is before the tuition increase. The U of I website shows estimated total costs for 2011-2012 to be between $28,204 and $33,028. I know the cost depends on major. The sciences are the more expensive majors. </p>
<p>The middle 50% of kids admitted to U of I have ACT scores ranging between 26-31. Our oldest had a score of 35 and received no merit money. Collegeboard.com says U of I meets 70% of need and the average need based scholarship or grant award is $12,000 but I personally don’t know anyone who received any grants or scholarships. Many of them are given to low income or URM, which is fine with me. </p>
<p>Child #2 had zero interest in attending U of I. Child #2 had a 32 ACT. By this time private schools were awarding enough merit and grant money we could send 2 to school for much less than U of I cost for 2.</p>
<p>I know lots of kids with the stats to get into U of I that get between $12-$18,000 merit money at private schools. Throw in potential grants (depending on family situation) and U of I is no bargain.</p>
<p>I know a girl with a 28 ACT, top 5% of her class who is going to SEMO (Southeast Missouri State) for room and board only. It’s not U of I, but the have a graduate going to Harvard Medical School (as their site proudly acclaims) You have to check around. I remember well my U of I sticker shock experience.</p>
<p>Man this thread is depressing. I was hoping that U of I would actually be able to help me with the cost my tuition.</p>
<p>Still haven’t heard back from them, but with an EFC of only ~$1800 I don’t know what I’m going to do if they dissapoint.</p>
<p>I already heard back from some private colleges like Rose-Hulman and they each offered to take me in for the low low price of ~25,000 in loan debt every year! Yay!.. NOT! :(</p>
<p>$100,000 in debt after graduation?! And that’s already factoring in everything from pell grants to work study. I might as well move to some scandinavian country and GET PAID to go to college!</p>
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<p>All I can say is U of I had better surprise me and not pull any of that “oh you’re in-state so you’re already getting a deal” BS!</p>
<p>What a change in circumstances! When I lived in Chicago, Uof I was considered a veritable bargain. I remember that the total cost of going and boarding at Urbana-Ch was very reasonable among other state flagships. When did this spike occur? I have a friend whose daughter graduated in early 2000, and I know they considered the U of I costs a very good deal.</p>
<p>Every time they do this I do a little dance, since it raises the value of my kids’ College Illinois accounts, which they can use to pay tuition at their out of state schools.</p>
<p>Typical Illinois Politics, The announcement came out early Wednesday morning that the board was going to vote on the increase but the U of I web site already had the increase posted. They already knew it was going up, They just wanted to give us the ellusion that they tried to stop it. There was a fire at U of I Wednesday Morning I wonder if some one got mad. The building houses campus offices, lucky it was spring break.</p>
<p>With no jobs in the future for 15 million students in the US. college is no longer making sense. Or could it be that the plan is to criple everyone financialy to make them dependent on the GOV.</p>
<p>They keep stressing college, college, college, everyone needs to go to college. We are all just gambling that a college degree will pay off, Myself included. We all have faith and hope in our children and thats why we do it. But it is time we all start thinking vary hard on the possibility of taking some time off and working before going into college debt, or going to community college first while its still a bargain. Once the state officials get hold of that they will nail us there also. We have become a country of, I want it now spoiled brats.</p>
<p>There are millions of students in this country that are burried in debt and are working jobs that they could have gotten without a high priced degree. Something needs to change. We have already talked about the future of my second son’s college. He is in 8th grade right now, so we have a little time, but not much. If he does not have a clear view of exactly what it is he wants to be and we feel he can reach it, then he will go to community college first. </p>
<p>We all need to take this more seriously, our they will bleed us to death!</p>
<p>It has always been an opinion of mine that the government should be easing out of the supplementation of private colleges and universities and putting their money to improve the state options and make them affordable for everyone. The state schools should be the best ones, as in California and Virginia. I feel that our state is ever so remiss in what they do not put into their state system, and so is Illinois despite the fine caliber of the Urban-Ch campus. </p>
<p>College is pretty much affordable to everyone if they do not go away to school and go to a state school. My kids have a lot of local options that are affordable, even private ones. The room and board is pretty much what puts things way over. I can’t see government subsidizing what it costs to feed and board kids for the 4 years,and other countries do not do this either. The tuitions are better subsidized, the government schools are the top ones, but there is not the money for the dorm/campus/ playground infrastructure that we in this country provide for our kids that costs a lot.</p>
<p>I live in Illinois and it is less expensive to go out of state then to stay here. Not to mention the fact that there have been merit offers from every OOS school and 0 from any Illinois schools. U of I cost of attendance is from 28,500 to 33,000 for in state. Not affordable at all.</p>
<p>The whole point of this thread is to allert the unsuspecting, About the great college rip off.
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<p>The buildings at these colleges have been donated and also paid for 20 times over. Its the misuse of funds not the lack of funds that is the problem. Heaven forbid don’t ever question the school system. I for one am sick of it. every time I turn around we get zapped for another tax increase for our teachers salary and pensions, and I have to go out and get a tutor to teach my kid, because the teachers don’t even teach any more.
We are getting robbed and defrauded from our own government and all people want to do is try to justify it. Why not try and stand up and fight for what is right.</p>
<p>OK, so some of you are reading this and saying this is to much, you don’t want to deal with it, or don’t have time for it. Thats fine. then you can just be a lamb lead to slaughter, a victim of the scam. I for one will a least try to do something, as little as it may be. This is damaging way to many people. Next on the agenda, UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL $200,000 and beyond. It may not effect me, but what about everybody behind me.</p>
<p>Not at our school; at least five Signature Buildings ($$$) have gone up in the last ten years. I’ve read that ten percent of tuition goes to debt service. With our tuition, that’s a chunk of change.</p>
<p>I think by “not going away” cptofthehouse meant living at home while attending college.</p>
<p>Personally, I feel the education my son is getting at our state school is worth the money. The majority of the grads of his department are getting jobs, starting at pay levels I would be happy with at this point in my life (after years of being a SAHM).</p>
<p>I’m not trying to justify it. I’m just saying that, in our case, our return will be worth our investment. I realize that is not the case for everyone. If it were, people would not be complaining.</p>