Public College vs. Private College

[DebMcDonald]

My oldest DD is applying to college, she's doing early (non-binding) for a state college and seems to think she will be very happy with her decision if she gets in. The guarantee with this state college if you get in early you are guaranteed housing (it's only 20 minutes from our house, but we all agree that she should live there). She also loves a private college in Boston at the cost of $50,000, state is around $20,000, we're the middle income bracket that probably won't receive much financial aid. Has anyone had a child that went off to private college that got alot in the means of financial aide that brought a private school in line with a public school cost. She's going into elementry eduction, so the public education is more financially in line with the salary she'll get later.

I guess my question - years later will she be disappointed that she didn't have the opportunity for that private college or will she be happy with the financial decision she made.

 

[tam.daelynn]

I went to a private school and I spent $100,000 on my educartion (Which I paid for myself). If I could go back in time I would go to a community college or a state school for 2 years and then transfer to a private school. Its the only regret I have in life

 

[msp2mco]

I would suggest applying to both and waiting to find out what the financial aid package from the private school will be. Then you can compare the pro's and con's of the different schools and the price. Also, my understanding is that each college or university must have a financial aid calculator on its website to give you a preliminary idea of what aid would be available to your daughter. I filled out a couple of them a few days ago, and they took about 3 minutes to do.

 

[Green Tea]

If she is happy with the state school and the graduates have good success in finding teaching jobs then I wouldn't worry about the what ifs.

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

For me, due to grants I received through financial aid, it cost roughly the same for me to go to a private school rather than a public school. I do think I lucked out though, as my financial aid award was fairly substantial (almost $20,000 a year in grants), and my university was in the top 20 for "worst financial aid"!

 

[An_Island_Girl]

If your DD is looking at an education major, 2 wonderful Boston schools that immediately come to mind are Lesley and Wheelock. If she is planning on just getting her undergrad, then either school would be fantastic!
But from a different perspective, we have a family friend that went to Salem State for Education, then finished up his Masters at Harvard. He is now the dept. head at his high school, and still has his "big" degree from a fantastic name... it's the last school you attended that employers really look at.

I'd definitely apply to any schools that your DD is interested in, and see how much financial aid and scholarships she can get before making a final decision.

Best of Luck!

 

[Shelly888]

I think looking at both financial aid packages is a great idea. I have heard from a couple of our old baby sitters that side by side with FA it was almost equal. With that being said, I personally think it's important to instill the fact that in this day/economy, it's makes excellent financial sense to weigh cost of tuition very carefully. These are extremely hard times, we all know that, and I feel that choosing wisely is being responsible, especially knowing that it may be a while before she is making decent money to live comfortably.

When I graduated high school, I had NO idea what I wanted to major in. MY mother(SO thankful for her), suggested I at least take classes at the local community college. So, that is what I did. I dabbled in a bit of everything from oceanography-anthropology-pottery. In the end, I choose nursing. I earned 110 credits from the school in the process but I only took on $5,000.00 in student loan debt, and now 8 years later, make close to 6 figures a year. Looking back, it was an incredible decision on my part. At the time, I had no idea of the impact it would have. I was just trying to find my way in this world!

Of course I married a Culinary Institute of America educated chef(in Hyde park, NY) and well, he had quite a bit in loans that we paid off together. It really does make a huge difference in the overall quality of life. If we both had those big bills it would have been harder to pay off.

I am already grooming our 7 year old into going to our state college that is loacl, and living in our inlaw suite that's in our house! I think it would be a great way to start, of course right now he agrees with me.....we'll see how he feels at 16, lol. Good luck to her, and her schooling.

 

[kymmyk13]

I know that the private college I went to offers many different types of FA to a point where it brings it down to equal what you will pay at a state college. One thing they do have is an alumni scholarship which cuts tuiton in half, Dh and I are each allowed to give a student this scholarship each year.

 

[mbf]

I went through this same situation with my oldest. What everyone is saying is very good advice. Apply around, check the aid packages and go from there. Until you see the $$ amounts there is no way to know what way you can go.

My oldest DD was accepted at NYU (music education major) and was given a very generous aid/scholarship package, same for Ithaca College. Both are private schools of course and with NYU she still would have graduated at least $100K in debt and at Ithaca about $80K. Our state school (SUNY) offered her a full tuition scholarship and while the dollar amount was comparatively less than the ten's of thousands that the private schools were offering in the end her/our out of pocket cost was about a quarter of what it would be at Ithaca (additional scholarships were given from NYS and her local HS but not enough to make a dent in the private school cost of attendance). Huge difference. However, on a case to case and school to school basis it sometimes ends up differently. Luckily, although she loved the allure of living in NYC and the faculty at Ithaca, once I broke down the loan amounts on a calculator and showed her what payments would be like after graduation she certainly realized what was the smart way to go.

Now I am going through the same situation with my youngest DD who is a senior this year. Her options are quite a bit more limited as she is pursuing a BFA in Dance (hopefully a minor in something more substantial) and the private schools are the ones who seem to hand out the most money for dance and have the better programs. However, like with oldest DD, she is auditioning everywhere (two state schools so far) and we will weigh the options as they come in.

That said, Financial Aid has been drastically reduced as my oldest has gone on in years. This year she received about $500 in total State and Federal grants compared to the thousands she received her first year. Problem was that in trying to keep up with the lagging economy and lack of increases at my job I was working lots of OT and that counted against us as did DD's part time job income.

Also, remember that you have to pay taxes on any scholarships/aid received over the cost of tuition and fees. Any moneys that eat into the cost of housing and living expenses will have to be reported to the IRS as income (although not on FAFSA as actual income IIRC).

 

[DebMcDonald]

If your DD is looking at an education major, 2 wonderful Boston schools that immediately come to mind are Lesley and Wheelock. If she is planning on just getting her undergrad, then either school would be fantastic!
But from a different perspective, we have a family friend that went to Salem State for Education, then finished up his Masters at Harvard. He is now the dept. head at his high school, and still has his "big" degree from a fantastic name... it's the last school you attended that employers really look at.

I'd definitely apply to any schools that your DD is interested in, and see how much financial aid and scholarships she can get before making a final decision.

Best of Luck!

She has fallen in love with Lesley and I can see her moving to the city and never coming back home. Bridgewater is the school that she's comfortable with and says she will be happy at, but Lesley is definitely her dream school. But it could be a $30,000 a year difference on a teachers salary.

 

[BubMunkeyBles]

I went to a private university my first year of college and then switched to a large in state school. I totally regret the private school, but I wanted to get away from home. I had no problem getting loans, I'm pretty sure my parents had to cosign though.

 

[thomas998]

It really depends on what she plans on doing when she gets out of school.

IF she is planning on going into teaching then go to the cheapest school she can get into that has a degree in teaching. What has baffled me is the fact that some people will go to very expensive schools like Harvard or Boston College and then study to be a teacher where the pay will be the same whether you graduate from Harvard or the cheapest state school you could find.... where a teacher graduates from really wont impact what they are paid when they get a job because a union contract will govern set the salary and increases will be based on seniority not the pedigree of the the teacher.

If her plan was to go to a grad school afterwards, or try to get a job in investment banking or management consulting then the name of the school she goes to will matter... but for a teacher... go for the best deal don't waste time on a name.

 

[KCMiller]

After putting three kids through college, I can say with absolute assurance that unless they 1. get a HUGE scholarship to a private school or 2. you are independantly wealthy, the best way to go is spending a year or two at a local community college getting all the required classes out of the way, then transferring into your college to finish your bachelors. And unless you're getting a degree in something like engineering, where there are plenty of high paying jobs, I would steer your kids to a state school. If they're going to graduate with a liberal arts degree, then saddling themselves with enormous student debt is a big mistake.

Any financial aid office at any college can break down the costs realistically for you and your child, and the important conversation is the one about how much debt attending will incur, and how long it will take to pay back that debt. Too many families have their eyes on that bachelors degree, and not on what degree, what that degree will mean, and how hard it's going to be for the child to pay back that debt. An 18 year old may not understand debt, so it's up to us as parents to help them learn.

Good luck, though - it's a hard choice, a hard conversation. I'm lucky, because my kids all decided to go to the best public university in the country, but I realize that not every state has such a wonderful state college.

KC

 

[An_Island_Girl]

She has fallen in love with Lesley and I can see her moving to the city and never coming back home. Bridgewater is the school that she's comfortable with and says she will be happy at, but Lesley is definitely her dream school. But it could be a $30,000 a year difference on a teachers salary.

As a Lesley alumni myself, I can definitely tell you that there are some wonderful scholarship opportunities available! Don't give up hope this early.
It is a well recognized school, and to be honest with you, it often opens up many more job opportunities in the field if you have Lesley on your resume. Is it necessarily fair? No. But in practice I have seen it happen time and time again that a Lesley, Wheelock, Harvard, etc degree will get you put to the top of the application pile.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

My son graduated from an outstanding private university; however due to his academic achievements, his tuition was pretty much covered by the school. We had to cover housing and books, but it was probably less than we would have paid at a public university.

Unless your child has a chance at getting a fantastic financial aid package at a private school (not just loan offers), then I'd stick with your local public university. It is not worth amassing a huge debt for a name school, especially if her goal is to be a teacher. This is a wonderful profession, but there's no need for a private school degree, at least not as an undergraduate.

 

[crjack]

She has fallen in love with Lesley and I can see her moving to the city and never coming back home. Bridgewater is the school that she's comfortable with and says she will be happy at, but Lesley is definitely her dream school. But it could be a $30,000 a year difference on a teachers salary.

It is definitely worthwhile to investigate what type of aid she may get from Lesley but Bridgewater is also well known for it's teaching program. I have a nephew there now and he is a senior doing his classroom observation and student teaching right now.

Since she will have to get her masters could she consider doing BSU for her undergrad and Lesley for her graduate program? It may help to minimize her total education costs.

The two things that are unfortunate considerations for aspiring teachers is the overall salary starting out and also job security. Even in better economic times, school budgets are always under the microscope and new teachers are typically the first ones cut if that becomes necessary. You definitely dont want to have too much outstanding debt from student loans if you are in that position.

Best of luck to her.

 

[Swimalie]

Will she get a better paying job by going to a private school? I didn't think that most schools tie their pay to where someone went to school. Am I wrong about that?

Both my sister and I started off at private schools with zero financial aid. After we were there a few years, we both transferred to state schools and were very happy. My parents were so happy about saving the $30,000 a year that they bought a new car to celebrate. hee-hee. My sister is now a VP at a large company. I am a stay-at-home-mom primarily but also own my own company. In our professions, the school wouldn't make a difference in pay nor in promotion.

 

[Jaime4004]

I would definitely let her apply if it's her dream school and wait for the financial aid package. I went to a private school in Boston and they gave me about 1/2 the tuition in a grant so it brought it in line with the rest of the schools I had applied to. I was very happy to get to go to the school I wanted to go to. However, if the aid had not been there, I would not have been happy to graduate four years later with twice as much debt. Especially for I job where I couldn't recoup the money... Of course, at 18 I probably wouldn't have thought much about the future debt repaying, so I would make sure she knows what that will be like if she chooses an expensive school and doesn't get any aid.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you can manage to equalize the expense with financial aid, then more power to her, but for a prospective teacher, it is absolutely NOT worth taking on private-school debt for a name-brand Bachelor's degree.

If she is going to contemplate taking on big debt for a big-name degree, let it be a post-graduate degree.

 

[Darcy03231]

DD ended up going to a private university because of the outstanding financial aid package she received.

She was accepted to the state university. Cost of approximately $20k per year. She received some private scholarships, but nothing from the state university. Of course, she was eligible for her federal student loans (which vary each year). Depending on the year it would have cost anywhere from $12k - $15k out of pocket to go there.

The private university runs about $38K per year. Between her financial aid from the university (scholarships and grants), her private scholarships, and her federal student loans, she gets money back each year (anywhere between $2k and $4k).

She's saving all the money she gets back to apply to her student loans as soon as she graduates. Whatever is left over, DH and I will pay off. She hasn't been told this as I want to make sure she applies herself while she's in school. I found, for the most part, there is a big difference in attitude in the kids that think they have to pay for school themselves and the kids that know mommy and daddy are paying for everything.