<p>My son is applying out of state to FSU and all I can say is we are definitely getting everything in by the Oct. 15 deadline. The admissions people told us when we visited last spring to apply by the first deadline because state funding could be cut and kids who apply by the second deadline may not be able to get in at all. I will say FSU seems like a pretty good deal even for out of state tuition.</p>
<p>On Time.com: </p>
<p>American universities have long been the envy of the world, with seemingly bottomless purses to bankroll cutting-edge research, top-notch faculty and construction projects galore. And fiscally speaking, these schools have it better than most businesses in the U.S.: multiple sources of revenue, including parents willing to pay tuition through the nose amid all kinds of money trouble, have often kept these institutions insulated from economic downturns. But in a financial crisis of this magnitude, even the ivory towers are getting hit — and in more ways than one. Not only have Bank of America, Citigroup and some two dozen other lenders cut back on or stopped issuing student loans, but the market meltdown has left many colleges scrambling to come up enough cash to cover payroll and other near-term necessities. </p>
<p>[Colleges</a> Getting Hit by the Credit Crunch - TIME](<a href=“http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1847478,00.html]Colleges”>http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1847478,00.html)</p>
<p>The top colleges have had the funds. Many state schools have been hurting for a while now as have those private colleges that are having trouble attracting enough students. I hear of college closing or look up a school to find that it is in big trouble and on the verge of closing.</p>
<p>We’ll have to see how it all plays out, but as of now I think the effect will be as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Increased applications and attendance at state schools. It would be extremely foolish not to have financial safeties at this time</p></li>
<li><p>Less merit scholarships available. Where do you think the college’s endowments have been sitting and growing? I am sure they are way down, and therefore the schools will have less $$ to entice students</p></li>
<li><p>Student loans? Who knows - they are predicted to get tighter. Home equity loans? Don’t think so.</p></li>
<li><p>The savings that many of us had are in the market and losing value by the day.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Scary.</p>
<p>I think some schools are going to have to “discount” their tuitions with merit money. Better a fuller class paying $10K less than empty seats.</p>
<p>How many states have budget troubles that will hurt their public colleges?</p>
<p>At this point I’m not sure anyone knows how the credit crisis will play out. But it’s certainly unlikely that the stock market will recover soon, or that businesses will rehire those already laid off (or those soon to be laid off). Loans will certainly be harder to come by for awhile.</p>
<p>Some families will be affected by all this. The lucky ones will have/find the resources to continue children’s educations at private colleges. The less lucky will likely find public universities very appealing.</p>
<p>Either way, life will go on.</p>
<p>It probably affects my retirement plan than D’s college plan. I probably have to delay retirement for 7-8 more years. Sigh!</p>
<p>Fewer jobs, means fewer degrees, means less educated workforce, means less money, means less opportunity, means degradation of America. </p>
<p>Education is a numbers game. The more you educate, the more pop out as doers and achievers that eventually go on to employ others.</p>
<p>LongPrime, agree with you 100% on that issue. Educated workforce means technological progress. And college research labs have been the “greenhouses” producing seedlings of new technologies. Many commercial products benefitting the mankind have roots in academic discoveries licensed out to for-profit companies.</p>