College Net Cost Calculator - what's the catch?

[sksjasams]

DS15 has started thinking about college. He wants to go away to school...far away

We live in the Madison, WI area. I am a UW alum and loved it there. I would love for DS to go there, but he really wants to get out of Wisconsin.

I started looking up some of the net cost prices of schools. Based our income, it seems most of the far away private schools are much more affordable.

For example, just looking up Duke, Colgate, Notre Dame it shows our est cost would be $8-11k per year. UW Madison and other UW schools show the cost of $18-21k.

How accurate are these numbers? Would it actually be less expensive for him to go to school far away?

Thanks for your help!!

 

[tyniknate]

Its entirely possible. My son ended up going to the most expensive private school he applied to because they gave him the most money. His education is costing less than if we went to the local state schools. Most times they have the money from alumni to offer great incentives to attend their university. Good luck in your search. Its overwhelming, but so worth it when they find the right school for them.

 

[arminnie]

With great credentials many students can get a far cheaper education at a private school than a public school.

At the Harvard level they admit on a need blind basis and give the student the means to attend with ZERO loans.

Of course not everyone can get into one of those schools (even with perfect grades and a perfect SAT). But there are schools the next tier down that are still excellent schools that vie for good students and sometimes give a totally free ride.

If he wants to really go far away I think it's the University of Alabama that gives free tuition to anyone with an ACT score over a certain level.

There are many good schools out there that offer significant financial aid to attract good students.

I went to two of the most expensive Universities in the country (undergrad and grad) and never paid a dime of tuition. There is no way I could have afforded to go to the state school. That was a long time ago but the universities are even better now about giving aid.

 

[powellrj]

My DS went to a state school and we were on the hook for all of it. DD had her heart set on a small private college that cost more than twice as much as the state school.

She leaves on the 23rd and her entire first year is paid for with scholarships! We found the scholarship money to be much more available with the private schools rather than the state schools. She was offered scholarships to many private schools, but none of the state schools.

 

[sksjasams]

Thank you for the responses so far!

I looked up the private school Marquette University, which is only an hour away - happy mommy Unfortunately the net cost calc showed us paying $31k...yikes. Not a good deal at all.

 

[3boymthr]

Does he know what he wants to study yet? That can be a huge driver in what schools you should look at. I wouldn't go too crazy looking at net price calculators until you've refined what he wants to study - if he wants to study accounting or English lit or even art history your choice of schools is of course wide open, but some majors have a much, much, much smaller selection base for school. Oldest DS is starting college in a few weeks. There were ZERO schools in our state that offered his first choice of major (forestry) and in the New England area only 4 - one of which was Yale and if I recall correctly only 24 across the entire country - and with the exception of Yale (with his grades there was no way he was going there) almost all of them were public/state schools. His second choice major was also extremely limited in school choice - only two schools in MA offered the degree - both state schools - yup, even though the financial aid wasn't as good, he's at a state school.

 

[tyniknate]

Thank you for the responses so far!

I looked up the private school Marquette University, which is only an hour away - happy mommy Unfortunately the net cost calc showed us paying $31k...yikes. Not a good deal at all.

Understand that the net cost calc will not show you what the university will offer in terms of need-based aid and scholarships. It only shows you what the system deems you "able to pay". We all know how that works My son was offered a set amount of money based on his grades, but the school was still financially out of our reach. One phone call to his admissions counselor and we had a cost we were all happy with. They were able to offer him $10,000 more per year based on our income. Though they wouldn't offer it, it was there for the asking. I'm so glad we asked!

 

[lisaross]

They offered you more even after they looked at the FASA form? thats great to know...

Understand that the net cost calc will not show you what the university will offer in terms of need-based aid and scholarships. It only shows you what the system deems you "able to pay". We all know how that works My son was offered a set amount of money based on his grades, but the school was still financially out of our reach. One phone call to his admissions counselor and we had a cost we were all happy with. They were able to offer him $10,000 more per year based on our income. Though they wouldn't offer it, it was there for the asking. I'm so glad we asked!

 

[Iowajes]

What is it calculating based on?

That seems very very low since
Notre Dame gives an estimated cost of attendance as $62,461 a year.
http://financialaid.nd.edu/prospective-students/planning/

Duke says $63,530.
http://admissions.duke.edu/application/aid


If the calculator is factoring in loans, and that is just what you would pay out of pocket- keep in mind loans have to be paid back; especially in today's market having low or no loan payments coming out of college would be a huge benefit to a new grad. If it is just scholarships and grants, yes, in some cases a private school might be less expensive. Most people I know have found that in-state public universities are less expensive (especially if you can get scholarships there as well). Also, most public universities offer in-state tuition to out of state students who receive school scholarships, which can reduce the cost. And many public universities have excellent credentials depending on what you want to study. Private does not automatically mean better.

 

[sksjasams]

What is it calculating based on?


Notre Dame gives an estimated cost of attendance as $62,461 a year.
http://financialaid.nd.edu/prospective-students/planning/

Duke says $63,530.
http://admissions.duke.edu/application/aid


If the calculator is factoring in loans, and that is just what you would pay out of pocket- keep in mind loans have to be paid back; especially in today's market having low or no loan payments coming out of college would be a huge benefit to a new grad. If it is scholarships and grants, chances are a private school might be less expensive. But in all but rare circumstances, local public universities are less expensive (especially if you can get scholarships there as well). And many public universities have excellent credentials depending on what you want to study. Private does not automatically mean better.

Try googling notre dame (or duke) net cost calculator. You will see a link that brings you to the calculator. All colleges are required to participate in these now. The calculator does not factor in loans. You enter your financial information and it tells you how much aid you would receive and leaves you with the net cost to attend. This net cost can then be met with loans, work study, etc...

 

[scrapquitler]

DS15 has started thinking about college. He wants to go away to school...far away

We live in the Madison, WI area. I am a UW alum and loved it there. I would love for DS to go there, but he really wants to get out of Wisconsin.

I started looking up some of the net cost prices of schools. Based our income, it seems most of the far away private schools are much more affordable.

For example, just looking up Duke, Colgate, Notre Dame it shows our est cost would be $8-11k per year. UW Madison and other UW schools show the cost of $18-21k.

How accurate are these numbers? Would it actually be less expensive for him to go to school far away?

Thanks for your help!!

Many of the private universities give more financial aid than the public universities because of their endowments. It also depends on your income. Be aware that lot of that aid they are giving you is going to be in the form of loans, many of them unsubsidized and in some cases not deferred.

But yes, it can be less to go to a private school than a state one.

 

[hollieplus2]

There's a website, not sure what it's called but google automatic full tuition and it'll give you a list of schools that offer full merit aid to kids with certain gpa's and test scores. There's also a ton of schools that will waive the out of state fee for certain gpa's and scores which really brings the cost down.

Our state school is pretty expensive and far away enough that I'll have to pay room/board. If DS's gpa & test scores hold steady we will probably end up out of state cheaper than our state school. Based on the ridiculous calculators online we probably won't qualify for any need based aid so we're trying to get creative. Because I definitely don't have the 26k our state school wants each year x 4!!!!

 

[georgina]

The net price calculators can be very good but several things will make their numbers very wrong. If your family owns a business, or if their is a divorce/non-custodial parent are two I can think of that will make the numbers wrong. There may be others. I have spent a lot of time on the college confidential website over the years, there are some knowledgeable and helpful people on the financial aid part.

I agree that state schools are known for being bad for financial aid and giving lots of loans as 'aid'. Sometimes a good student can do better at privates.

 

[Colleen27]

Some private schools give generous need-based aid as well as more generous merit packages than their public school equivalents. Of the schools I considered our state flagship would have been the most expensive in the final analysis because even though the private universities had cost of attendance of twice the public uni they also offered much more in aid. I'm hearing from friends with college-bound juniors and seniors that the same is still true - quite a few of the new grads we know are headed off to small, fairly expensive private colleges with considerable grant aid rather than accepting public university aid packages that are predominantly in the form of loans.

 

[crisi]

Just be careful when you are looking. Make sure you compare apples to apples - not grants to loans. Look at total cost - University of Hawaii is surprisingly affordable - but those plane tickets home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break and Summer can get expensive . Don't let your kid get their heart set on a "financial stretch" school - see if the aid comes through first.

 

[clh2]

My daughter is attending a private university in central Illinois. The financial calculator was extremely accurate. She was able to put in her ACT scores, and the calculator was very accurate., as it included the award money that she would receive based on her ACT score.

 

[Dakota731]

For example, just looking up Duke, Colgate, Notre Dame it shows our est cost would be $8-11k per year.

That just doesn't sound right. My friend's daughter was valedictorian of her class and is paying a lot more than that at Duke! Unless you have a very low household income, I'm finding that estimate to be very low.

 

[havaneselover]

I did the notre dame calculator. I'm a single mom with a modest income. It told me it would cost $25,000/year ($7500 of that in loans). Way better than $60k and probably close to what we would pay at a state school in va.

It did open my eyes. My dd is very academically inclined and I've hoped she'd attend my alma mater (UVa) which is extremely competitive. But if my financial situation remains somewhat crappy maybe she'll have other avenues to explore. Looking for the silver lining I do have prepaid college funds though which will complicate matters.

On another note, a friend of a friend : ) who went to Duke was told by his financial adviser to put $500 K / child away for a Duke education.

 

[mjkacmom]

There's a website, not sure what it's called but google automatic full tuition and it'll give you a list of schools that offer full merit aid to kids with certain gpa's and test scores. There's also a ton of schools that will waive the out of state fee for certain gpa's and scores which really brings the cost down.

Our state school is pretty expensive and far away enough that I'll have to pay room/board. If DS's gpa & test scores hold steady we will probably end up out of state cheaper than our state school. Based on the ridiculous calculators online we probably won't qualify for any need based aid so we're trying to get creative. Because I definitely don't have the 26k our state school wants each year x 4!!!!

Well, that's what we're paying (NJ colleges are expensive and don't give a lot of $). However, every other school dd18 applied to gave her money - from $8- $25,000 a year, pretty much getting the cost down to about $25,000 a year. It came down to the program she chose, vs. a similar ranked out of state school (UMASS Amherst, $35,000, but they gave her $10,000 per year). She decided it was more practical to stay in state.

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

On another note, a friend of a friend : ) who went to Duke was told by his financial adviser to put $500 K / child away for a Duke education.

That seems a bit excessive. I had a full tuition scholarship to Duke, but most of the people I knew had some kind of aid. Over half of Duke students receive financial aid. Even for those who don't, the estimated cost of a year at Duke is just over $60,000 (which is a lot, but most people at Duke do not take eight years to graduate ).