Cost of College in Wilkes-Barre (Scranton, State College: 2013, student loans, private school)

[BackMtnMan]

Most private schools market themselves as providing "small classes" and "individual attention." That is appealing to a lot of people, and something you just won't get at a place like Bloom or LCCC. It is also something you have to pay a little extra for. Considering the state cuts to higher ed. and the tuition discounts given by privates colleges, privates are not a bad deal at all.

[toobusytoday]

As you can see here College Navigator - King's College 86% of the students at Kings get financial aid in the form of grants and the avg. amount is $13,589.

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by BackMtnMan

Most private schools market themselves as providing "small classes" and "individual attention." That is appealing to a lot of people, and something you just won't get at a place like Bloom or LCCC. .

Huh? Schools like Bloom, ESU, Kutztown, Mansfield etc, all have about the same student population as the University of Scranton or Wilkes. Classes at the state system schools are every bit as small with individual attention as the local private colleges. Unless you're talking about PSU University Park, which isn't a true state university, although it does get a state endowment, and while more expensive than the state system schools, is still a bargain next to private schools, and offers more in the way of majors. A relatively cheap option is to go to a local PSU campus like Worthington and living at home, but the offering of bachelors degrees at the local campuses is limited (but growing).

[BackMtnMan]

From Bloom's website: » Student/Faculty Ratio: 22/1
» Median Class Size of Lectures: 33

From Miseri's website


Student/Faculty Ratio: 12:1
Average undergraduate class size is 19 student




From Wilkes website


15:1 student:faculty ratio.
Our average class sizes are freshmen classes, 24 students; upper-level classes, 16 student


Pesky facts!

[BackMtnMan]

Bloom's enrollment is something like 9,500; Wilkes is about 2,000; Miseri is less than that.

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

As you can see here College Navigator - King's College 86% of the students at Kings get financial aid in the form of grants and the avg. amount is $13,589.

That's very encouraging!

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by BackMtnMan

From Bloom's website: » Student/Faculty Ratio: 22/1
» Median Class Size of Lectures: 33

From Miseri's website


Student/Faculty Ratio: 12:1
Average undergraduate class size is 19 student




From Wilkes website


15:1 student:faculty ratio.
Our average class sizes are freshmen classes, 24 students; upper-level classes, 16 student


Pesky facts!

I attended Bloom for a while, other than a general elective psychology class with about 100 students, I rarely had a class with more than 20-25 students. I finished at PSU Worthington, and never had a class with more than 25 students. Upper level courses for my major usually had 15-20 students.

Despite the difference in student enrollment, Bloom, ESU, Wilkes, U of S, are all in the same RANGE of student population. We're not comparing the local private school enrollment to PSU main campus with 40,000+ students.

When I was at Bloom in the 90s, the enrollment was in the 7,500 range. The U of S is around 6,000. Not much difference really.

[BackMtnMan]

I will only say that I do not find your individual experience in college in the 90s as compelling an argument as the actual numbers. I would also point out that you are comparing Bloom 20 years ago(!) to Scranton, which is by far the largest private school in the area (it is also the only one with some name cache).

If you got what you wanted out of PSU Scranton then good for you. But that is not what everyone wants.

[bluemonday]

I graduated from King's in the late 90's...my tuition was around $13K prior to reiving my financial aid package and scholarship. With the aid it brought the sticker price down quite a bit, with having to finance only $18K for my entire schooling. They gave quite a considerable financial aid package compared to the state schools, which is one of the reasons why I picked King's. It's a shame that they will not be offering as much aid, then again, I have no idea why the tuition more than doubled since I went there???

[sheena12]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Very few people pay sticker price at private colleges. My two older kids college costs were just a bit more then PSU in-state costs.

This is true. There are also less expensive colleges and universities than those that seem handy or familiar. You really need to plan and work hard.

Your local private college is most likely not the best deal, or the best education.