Cost of PA public colleges (Pittsburgh, Edinboro: 2009, lease, how much)

[saladfreak]

Hi,

Just wondering if the cost of tuition at PA public colleges is really as expensive as it looks? Although Pittsburgh seems like a great option on so many levels, the one red flag is the cost of the state colleges-I'm a single parent and my son will be attending college next year, so this is an issue for me.

Do the public colleges here give out lots of financial aid to offset the cost, or is it just something people live with?

[khyron]

Originally Posted by saladfreak

Hi,

Just wondering if the cost of tuition at PA public colleges is really as expensive as it looks? Although Pittsburgh seems like a great option on so many levels, the one red flag is the cost of the state colleges-I'm a single parent and my son will be attending college next year, so this is an issue for me.

Do the public colleges here give out lots of financial aid to offset the cost, or is it just something people live with?

I go to Pitt, and it's only like $13,000 a year, which is a great deal versus other places I've lived. Most (though certainly not all) financial aid where public schools are concerned is metered out by filling out a FAFSA, so that's no different here than anyplace else.

One option, if you're interested in changing jobs, is you can work here and get dependent tuition completely reimbursed (employee's kids go for free). I work for Pitt part time in the evenings, and my job completely pays for my school expenses (between my salary and tuition discount).

I'm sure there are some places where Pittsburgh public university expenses would seem high, for example NC where the public colleges are some of the best deals in the entire country. But as things go in general, Pittsburgh isn't an "expensive" college town...especially when you consider how ridiculously low the cost of living is here in all other aspects.

Just my $0.02!

[North Beach Person]

Expensive? PA has some the best tuition rates for state universities around. I mean for Slippery Rock, Clarion, Edinboro, etc.

My oldest daughter went to SRU, as an out of state student. Her 4 year tuition bill there covers 3 semesters in state at a MD state university for her younger sister.

Penn State out of state tuition is $1500/year less than in state at UMD.

[lifepgh2op]

I actually heard in one of my college courses that Pennsylvania has the highest tuition rates for public universities and Ohio follows in at 2nd in the United States.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by khyron

I go to Pitt, and it's only like $13,000 a year, which is a great deal versus other places I've lived. Most (though certainly not all) financial aid where public schools are concerned is metered out by filling out a FAFSA, so that's no different here than anyplace else.

One option, if you're interested in changing jobs, is you can work here and get dependent tuition completely reimbursed (employee's kids go for free). I work for Pitt part time in the evenings, and my job completely pays for my school expenses (between my salary and tuition discount).

I'm sure there are some places where Pittsburgh public university expenses would seem high, for example NC where the public colleges are some of the best deals in the entire country. But as things go in general, Pittsburgh isn't an "expensive" college town...especially when you consider how ridiculously low the cost of living is here in all other aspects.

Just my $0.02!

$13,000/yr is high for an instate student, IMO. The University of Colorado is $7000-10,000/yr depending on the "school", Arts and Sciences being the lowest, business the highest.

http://www.colorado.edu/bursar/lib/p...09-10FINAL.pdf

[khyron]

Originally Posted by Katiana

$13,000/yr is high for an instate student, IMO. The University of Colorado is $7000-10,000/yr depending on the "school", Arts and Sciences being the lowest, business the highest.

http://www.colorado.edu/bursar/lib/p...09-10FINAL.pdf

I'm sure everyone has their own perspectives based on where they've lived before. Of course the actual value / quality of the education being offered, as well as the actual value of a dollar in a given region or city, are also subjective.

If it helps, though, I decided to do a little fact gathering and it looks like $13,000/year could be accurately called "average" taking the U.S. as a whole into account.

Fast Facts (note average for last year)

So PA isn't really "expensive" from an objective point of view, but everyone's frame of reference is going to be a little different.

[Katiana]

There is no issue with the quality of education at the University of Colorado or any other "flagship" university.

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by Katiana

There is no issue with the quality of education at the University of Colorado or any other "flagship" university.

I don't think anyone was implying otherwise.

Generally, how much one pays in in-state tuition for a public university is going to depend on a variety of factors. You need to start with the university's total costs, some of which may be directly related in some way to educational quality but many which may not be. You then have to deduct other sources of funding: state contributions, individual and foundation grants, research grants, out-of-state tuition, revenues from things like sporting events and leased properties, and on and on. What is left determines what sort of in-state tuition the university has to charge.

So, expenditures on things related to educational quality are only one variable among many. Which means there can be (and obviously is) a wide variation of in-state tuitions levels among public universities of roughly equal educational quality.

[MissShona]

PA public colleges are very expensive. Pitt's tuition is $13,334 + $810 in mandatory fees for a total of $14,144 for a PA resident. This does not include room and board. Compare this with $4,340 for tuition and fees for a FL resident at the University of Florida; or $5,304 tuition and fees for a WV resident at West Virginia University.

To be fair, Pitt is not a true "public university"; but state supported. The true "public universities" in PA are part of the PASSHE system, where annual tuition is $5,554 annually and fees average around $961 for an estimated total of $6,515. The issue here though is that none of the PASSHE schools are research-level universities and most of them are in rural areas (which makes it tough if you are the type that needs to work to put themselves through school. My sister is leaving Edinboro University for this very reason). Couple this with PHEAA's chincey higher education grants program and all this makes PA an expensive state to go to college in. Don't believe me? Check out this document or check out this map.

A glimmer of hope lies in the Pittsburgh Promise scholarship program; where eligible graduating seniors from Pittsburgh Public Schools can get their tuition taken care of. I am not a Pittsburgh resident, so I don't know of all the details of this program. But it sounds very promising.

[Katiana]

Pitt, Penn State, Temple U, and Lincoln University are called "state-related" universities. They have a different governing board than the other state colleges/universities.

PA Higher/Adult Ed.: State-Related Universities

The 14 PASSHE univesities have a different board of governors.

PASSHE | PA State System of Higher Education

There are also "state-related affliliates" and 8 private state-aided institutions, plus the community college system.

The last I knew, the tuition at the "state-related" schools was the same at each school. It does seem pricey to me, considering comps in other states.

http://www.pde.state.pa.us/higher/cw...gherNav=|2928|