<p>To be honest, I know nothing about U of R but went on their website to get some information. Since I will be taking my S for a visit to RIT in April thought it would also be a good idea to visit U of R. He wants to major in computer science. I was very surprised to see that tuition and room/board is over 61K ! That is way over what I am willing to pay for college or even can afford. Can somebody tell me why so much for this school? How is everyone who has been accepted going to pay for this cost? I'm just shaking my head and disappointed that we have to cross it off the list.</p>
<p>Have you run their Net Price Calculator to see how much it’s likely to cost your family? URoc is a great “Need-based aid” school that also has some decent merit based aid opportunities for top students. We’re not paying anything close to 61K per year. My son is a current sophomore and loves it there…</p>
<p>Creekland- thanks for your reply. We are high income and will not qualify for any financial aid. My S is not a top student so merit can’t be counted on at all. He is a B+, A- student with not many honors or AP classes. He had a 3.3 GPA after 9th grade and is currently a HS sophomore ( thankfully, doing much better this school year so GPA will likely pick up). We will probably be full pay for any school. I think RIT with it’s 45k price tag is even a little steep for us. By the time he starts college, RIT will probably be around 50K. But, URoc is way too costly to consider. Glad your son has found his match!</p>
<p>There is a growing disconnect between the face price of college and what most pay. All private schools (with a few exceptions) charge relatively the same and then discount, some by merit - which to a degree reflects how they value a student in the market - and need calculations. Each school has proprietary ranking/calculation methods they don’t disclose. </p>
<p>There is no simple reason why this occurs. Some people blame government subsidy but this kind of pricing obfuscation is common in business. Try buying a mattress: each store has its own variations so nothing is directly comparable and they quote prices and discount from those so you have no idea how much they’re actually making from you. The same is true in much of business, though less true of retail, which is why consumers find college pricing so odd. If you worked with wholesale pricing, you’d think college pricing looks familiar but we’re used to paying what the tag says in the assumption the tag says the same price to every consumer. </p>
<p>Most colleges seem to follow the “From each, according to his ability (to pay), to each, according to his need (for money)” model.</p>
<p>Eventually, someone is going to figure out how to break this model, and there will be a whole lot of unemployed college administrators.</p>
<p>carly135</p>
<p>We too are high income and thus do not qualify for need based aid. Note, however, that at U of R about 92% of kids have some type of aid. My daughter, who is a senior, received a $15k per year scholarship. Initially it was suppsed to be a $10k arts scholarship but after a visit during an arts weekend, they increase the scholarship by $5k. Additionally she received this scholarship even though she is not an arts major (she is pre-med and a public health major). U of R has generous merit and other awards. I would not cross it off your list. Do not consider the list price as the actual price. Plus if you are at RIT it is worth taking the extra time to look.</p>
<p>My kid received an additional merit award in senior year, totally out of the blue; an endowed scholarship which required some form of faculty recommendation without student input. </p>
<p>As I noted above, obfuscated pricing is one way business maximizes revenue. One difference is that in business companies that pay high commissions tend to have the most hidden pricing. That allows them to reward “stars”. </p>