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I have to wonder how the current recession is affecting the amount of money public universities get from the state and/or the amount of aid students get. true, private schools have had their endowments hit hard due to the current economy, but I wonder if public schools aren't being hit even harder. for example, I wonder how the public universities in CA are faring given the state's situation.
as for financial aid, a few weeks ago, I got emails from a few student groups about the possibility of the main IL grants (the MAP grants) being stopped this year. this would suck for me since I get this, however my school offered my a scholarship so I could managed. I was talking to someone who relies a lot on this grant (goes to a public school bu didn't get any scholarships) and would need to take out more loans if this grant program was canceled
it's possible that going to a public school would be cheaper for me, however, my school has offered me enough aid that the savings would be minuscule. plus, I had a tough time finding a public school that offered what I wanted
Friends tell me that much of the financial aide package they talk about is loans.
I am afraid that the cheaper to attend an expensive private college in the end story is just plain fiction. Most people would prefer to go to a nice private college of 3000 students with smaller classes and supportive teachers who act more like mentors than Professor Kingsfield, if it were really the same cost in the end as some are saying. Anyone have stats on the average debt of a student who graduates from a private college vs a public university?
This is most definitely wrong. It is not just fiction. I applied to private and public schools, and in the end the cost was about equal (cheaper, actually, at the private schools, although I went with the public in the end). There are a lot of variables at work, and it's going to depend on the individual circumstances. Any larger statistics aren't going to have any meaning for an individual student. Sometimes the private school will be more expensive, but it's not an absolute given.
Same thing for financial aid packages. Loans are probably going to be a big part of it for most, or at least many, students, but that's going to depend on the individual circumstances as well.
Friends tell me that much of the financial aide package they talk about is loans.
I am afraid that the cheaper to attend an expensive private college in the end story is just plain fiction. Most people would prefer to go to a nice private college of 3000 students with smaller classes and supportive teachers who act more like mentors than Professor Kingsfield, if it were really the same cost in the end as some are saying. Anyone have stats on the average debt of a student who graduates from a private college vs a public university?
I applied to a mix of public and private schools for college. What I came to realize is that while on paper public schools tended to appear cheaper the privates were de facto cheaper. Essentially what it boiled down to was the tuition at the Public .U was $9K a year and just that there was really not that much to offset that $9k on the other hand the my private finalist was $32K a year, but I received about $26K in scholarships and other non loan aid. Then end result was not only was the private school of 3000 students better academically, it ended up being only $6k year substantially cheaper then the public. I ended up graduating with only $5300 in debt, in my case it was not at all fiction.
Again this may be the case if you are talented or lucky enough to get all kinds of grants or scholarships. But many students end up getting mostly loans and call it financial aid and end up $100K in debt upon graduation.
My point is unless you can get grants and scholarships to make up for the difference you are going to be facing huge debt upon graduation in a new era where a college degree may not equal a good job. What a burden.
If he went to a community college and then a state school and worked part time while living at home he could graduate with no debt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Randomstudent
I applied to a mix of public and private schools for college. What I came to realize is that while on paper public schools tended to appear cheaper the privates were de facto cheaper. Essentially what it boiled down to was the tuition at the Public .U was $9K a year and just that there was really not that much to offset that $9k on the other hand the my private finalist was $32K a year, but I received about $26K in scholarships and other non loan aid. Then end result was not only was the private school of 3000 students better academically, it ended up being only $6k year substantially cheaper then the public. I ended up graduating with only $5300 in debt, in my case it was not at all fiction.
A lot of financial aid goes unused because no one applied for it. My husaband's aunt used to work in the financial aid office for a university and she said there were millions of dollars of aid that went unused every year. Tell them to pick up a scholarship/grant book from a book store and apply for everything they can think of. The worst case is they waste a stamp.
I read on a financial aid website that this is an "urban legend". My own experience with my own two kids is that most financial aid comes from the schools. There are tons of little scholarships out there, but you have to really get a lot of them to make a dent. (However, I am a believer in 'take it where you can get it'.) Most need-based aid is in the form of loans and jobs.
I transferred from a local community college after earning an A.A. to a private university for my B.A, and every single one of my credits transferred. Saved me a lot of money.
I think it is hard to generalize whether private or public is cheaper. I think it depends on scholarships the student may qualify for at that particular time. And different schools offer their own, different scholarships. It's worth applying to multiple schools, and comparing.
Again this may be the case if you are talented or lucky enough to get all kinds of grants or scholarships. But many students end up getting mostly loans and call it financial aid and end up $100K in debt upon graduation.
My point is unless you can get grants and scholarships to make up for the difference you are going to be facing huge debt upon graduation in a new era where a college degree may not equal a good job. What a burden.
If he went to a community college and then a state school and worked part time while living at home he could graduate with no debt.
You are refusing to hear what you don't want to hear - that he will not know for sure if he can access any of these grants or scholarships until he applies.
And I'll also echo what someone else said: the U of MN is not cheap. Even for an in-state student. It's not horrible, but it's not one of the cheaper public schools out there. Is it a given that this kid can't get a merit scholarship of some sort? I think many of the smaller private schools have more of them to hand out, and it's less competitive for some of them than it is at the U of MN. I can't say for sure, but I think it would be more difficult for a transfer student from a CC getting access to a merit-based scholarship at the U; it may depend on college within the school, but most of the merit money goes to students within the Honors College/program, and some of that is awarded when you first enter as a freshman. I'm sure transfer students have access to some of it, but it will be more difficult, especially if he's not coming in with a stellar resume (and there's nothing wrong with community colleges - it's just they will probably not be seen as sufficiently impressive compared with some of the other college transfers, in part because MN doesn't have as highly developed of a CC system as, say, CA)
Basically, say whatever you want, but this student will not know for sure what the real financial picture looks like until he's filled out all his paperwork and heard back from each school. I agree that no student should go $100,000 in debt for an undergraduate education, but there's no point in making a college decision based on preconceived ideas BEFORE knowing the specific facts - meaning specific facts for this student from his selected schools. On the other hand, he should certainly apply to more than one place, as besides the money issues there's also no guarantee that he's going to get into his choice of colleges (and that includes the U of MN, too - public schools can still be competitive), and he doesn't want to be left with no options.
I said the logical but less pleasant approach is to go to a community college the first two years, live at home and then transfer to the University of Minnesota. Total four year cost about $30K. Assuming he works summers and part time and lives at home, he could graduate with little debt.
Why not?
Sometimes people don't like the logical choice - they like the choice that is going to be a nightmare down the line. Let them send him to private school, hopefully he will be smart enough to follow your advice. But if not, he will soon find out the mistake he made.
Friends tell me that much of the financial aide package they talk about is loans.
I am afraid that the cheaper to attend an expensive private college in the end story is just plain fiction. Most people would prefer to go to a nice private college of 3000 students with smaller classes and supportive teachers who act more like mentors than Professor Kingsfield, if it were really the same cost in the end as some are saying. Anyone have stats on the average debt of a student who graduates from a private college vs a public university?
It depends. Our son will be going to a private college and compared to an out of state public university, it is cheaper for him to go there. The private college gave him scholarships and grants, compared to mostly loans from a public university. Now if you compare it to an in-state public university, the public university wins. Unfortunately, they weren't very helpful so he elected the private option.
Some kids do well at big, public schools. I knew practically half the administration, dined and partied with my profs, had private personal classes made just for me...at a school with almost 50,000 students.
Other kids need more coddling and special attention, are scared to make the effort themselves, and will get more out of a smaller private school.
You need to get the most out of college that you can...it may not just be about money.
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