Public College vs. Private College

[ZeroToHero]

I almost went to Lesley... it was either my last day of high school or the day before that I got an email from Suffolk letting me know I had been accepted for their Honors program, which came with a full-tuition merit scholarship. Now, because of the economy, that has been dropped to half-tuition for the incoming students, but can go up to full tuition with need-based scholarships/loans/work study. If she has the grades for it, I might look into this. Feel free to PM me.

Lesley has what I believe is called the President's Scholarship, or something like that, which is a full-ride scholarship. Wheelock has an honors program too. Definitely look into things like these - the honors programs can open up amazing doors. You definitely want to be a big fish in a small pond... a few weeks ago, I got an email from the chair of my major department, offering me an internship at WGBH, which (fingers crossed) might lead to a job right after I graduate next semester!

 

[mbf]

Pea-n-Me: Thanks for posting those articles! I am going to send them off to my DD's Guidance Counselor with a suggestion that she distribute them to college bound seniors.

 

[Tistal]

If you're trying to save money why doesn't she live at home if you're only 20 minutes away? I guess, if we were all the same, life would be boring.

My friend and I went to the same undergrad. Both of us only spent 4 years there. She lived on campus, and I did not. She left undergrad with about 75k in loans; I left with none. It is possible to get the "college experience" without living on campus.

I agree with PPs that you should apply to both and look at the aid packages. However, a dream is just that-- a dream. The reality is that many who finish college right now don't find jobs, and the OP's child needs to take that into consideration too.

 

[jrmasm]

Since she thinks she'd be happy at either school, my advice is to pursue both schools aggressively and see what type of "bottom line" they offer you . . . but I'd expect the less expensive school to come out less expensive in the long run. My own high school senior daughter has already received an offer of "up to" 52K from a private school -- yet the school would still be more expensive than the public school she really wants.

What school costs so much that $52k per year doesn't bring the cost down to almost nothing? I'm curious because an Ivy that we talked to recently is only 53K per year.

Am I misunderstanding what you said?

 

[crisi]

My friend and I went to the same undergrad. Both of us only spent 4 years there. She lived on campus, and I did not. She left undergrad with about 75k in loans; I left with none. It is possible to get the "college experience" without living on campus.

I did both, and my definition of "college experience" pretty much has "living in a dorm" as a minimum requirement.

 

[NotUrsula]

What school costs so much that $52k per year doesn't bring the cost down to almost nothing? I'm curious because an Ivy that we talked to recently is only 53K per year.

Am I misunderstanding what you said?

Tuition isn't everything. There are also books, lab fees, rent, utilities, dining and transportation to be considered, plus the cost of whatever visits home that you will be making.

Harvard might give you a huge break on tuition, but Cambridge is not a cheap place to live. The avg. cost of living is about $3K cheaper per year at Penn than it is at Harvard.

 

[eliza61]

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.

No way to know this. I would have her read up on the news lately. All you hear about are college students burdened with crushing debt. Try and get her to see the "long" range picture. If she goes to private and graduates with 75K in debt, what's the picture like.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

my definition of "college experience" pretty much has "living in a dorm" as a minimum requirement.

Mine doesn't.

 

[KCMiller]

Tuition isn't everything. There are also books, lab fees, rent, utilities, dining and transportation to be considered, plus the cost of whatever visits home that you will be making.

Harvard might give you a huge break on tuition, but Cambridge is not a cheap place to live. The avg. cost of living is about $3K cheaper per year at Penn than it is at Harvard.

This . This is what is usually forgotten, and it adds to the cost of the education, and frequently, student loans are taken out to pay for these things, as well. And it all has to be paid back. A good financial aid office can give you a clear picture of the actual costs associated with matriculating at their institution, not just the bare cost of tuition and room and board in the dorms.

KC

 

[jrmasm]

Tuition isn't everything. There are also books, lab fees, rent, utilities, dining and transportation to be considered, plus the cost of whatever visits home that you will be making.

Harvard might give you a huge break on tuition, but Cambridge is not a cheap place to live. The avg. cost of living is about $3K cheaper per year at Penn than it is at Harvard.

The $53K figure was for tuition, housing and I believe a meal plan. I realize there can be other expenses but those three are the biggest.


eta:
I just checked the 2011-12 figures from the school's website it says $57k per year. That includes an amount for books and one for personal expenses. So 52k a year in aid would go a very long way to making this school affordable. Ivies may not be the most expensive schools but I would imagine they are near the tops as far as costs go.

So back to my orginal question, what are the fees for the school that 52k in aid would not making it affordable and what are the fees for the public school? One of the reasons that I asked was because I do not consider our state system of schools to be affordable so I was looking for some numbers that explained that post.

 

[MrsPete]

If you're trying to save money why doesn't she live at home if you're only 20 minutes away? I guess, if we were all the same, life would be boring.

My friend and I went to the same undergrad. Both of us only spent 4 years there. She lived on campus, and I did not. She left undergrad with about 75k in loans; I left with none. It is possible to get the "college experience" without living on campus.

I don't have a feel for whether money's tight for the OP, or whether she's just trying to get the best value for her dollar.

I definitely want my daughters to have the chance to live in a dorm and have the college experience . . . but if it comes down to borrowing to pay for a dorm, I personally would push them to live at home. Why? Because I also want them to have the experience of being a young 20-something, able to travel, able to get a first apartment, etc., etc., etc., and taking on student debt will hamper their ability to do all those other thing later.

What school costs so much that $52k per year doesn't bring the cost down to almost nothing? I'm curious because an Ivy that we talked to recently is only 53K per year.

Am I misunderstanding what you said?

Two things -- one of which I didn't fully explain: First, they offered her "up to" 52K. $25 is "up to" 52K, but it doesn't make a significant dent in the amount of the offer. Also, the offer was for 52K over the course of four years. So, the offer my daugther's received looks like this:

Large state school @ roughly 12K/year
$6800 in (renewable) scholarship money looks like a pretty sure thing
So she can do four years at her #1 school choice for just over 20K total

Small private school @ roughly 35K/year
Let's say they give her the full 52K --she is a very, very strong candidate for this school; too good for it, really.
So she could do four years there for about 88K total; more than four times the cost of the state school.

Throw in that the private school is considerably "lesser" than the state school academically, and it doesn't offer the wide variety of opportunities that the state school does.

Tuition isn't everything. There are also books, lab fees, rent, utilities, dining and transportation to be considered, plus the cost of whatever visits home that you will be making.

Harvard might give you a huge break on tuition, but Cambridge is not a cheap place to live. The avg. cost of living is about $3K cheaper per year at Penn than it is at Harvard.

A good point. You'll never be able to consider all the variables, but do at least take a stab at it. Schools and locations do vary widely.

A couple things we've learned in visiting colleges:
Several of our state schools include textbooks in tuition, which takes away a big variable.
One school we visited doesn't charge for laundry.
We've found that parking stickers vary from $45 to over $500.

Do your best to be comprehensive.

No way to know this. I would have her read up on the news lately. All you hear about are college students burdened with crushing debt. Try and get her to see the "long" range picture. If she goes to private and graduates with 75K in debt, what's the picture like.

I like the term "long range picture". I think in general we Americans aren't doing a good job of looking at the big-picture. We want a new car NOW, so we finance it. We want THIS SCHOOL, so we take on debt. We want a NICE house, so we take the biggest mortgage for which we can qualify. All too many people look at just that one item, not all the other things that we also want.

Yes, college is a very important decision, but it's one of many decisions.

 

[Arielle22]

Over the summer DD18, DH and I toured Northeastern. It comes in around 50k a year. The person who was conducting the tour was also a student.

She explained how Northeastern requires you to spend at least 1 semester either working or studying abroad but you can do up to 4 semesters. She then said she was doing the maximum because she knew once she was out of school she would have no chance to travel due to having to work to repay her loans until she retired.

I thought that was so sad that she was mortgaging her future to pay for 5 years of college.

 

[crisi]

Mine doesn't.

Just know what you mean by college experience and what someone else means and what your criteria are. There isn't any problem with living at home or getting an apartment or living in dorms but it's three different experiences

 

[lisam427]

when i went to college i started off at community college and then transferred my credits to a four year public college where i got my undergraduate degree. i finished four years with no student loan debt. a friend of mine went to private college and after earned the same amount of credit hours as i did at community college she was $28,000 in student loan debt after financial aid .we were both in very similar income brackets. .

my daughter is taking the same route that i did as she will be attending community college in January. my daughter will also be transferring her community college credits to a four year public institution. as long as she gets an education, why not pay less for it.

my suggestion to you is to see what you would get at both colleges and make your decision from there. thats what i did in both situations for myself and my daughter. i made out better at the public colleges

 

[jrmasm]

I don't have a feel for whether money's tight for the OP, or whether she's just trying to get the best value for her dollar.

I definitely want my daughters to have the chance to live in a dorm and have the college experience . . . but if it comes down to borrowing to pay for a dorm, I personally would push them to live at home. Why? Because I also want them to have the experience of being a young 20-something, able to travel, able to get a first apartment, etc., etc., etc., and taking on student debt will hamper their ability to do all those other thing later.Two things -- one of which I didn't fully explain: First, they offered her "up to" 52K. $25 is "up to" 52K, but it doesn't make a significant dent in the amount of the offer. Also, the offer was for 52K over the course of four years. So, the offer my daugther's received looks like this:

Large state school @ roughly 12K/year
$6800 in (renewable) scholarship money looks like a pretty sure thing
So she can do four years at her #1 school choice for just over 20K total

Small private school @ roughly 35K/year
Let's say they give her the full 52K --she is a very, very strong candidate for this school; too good for it, really.
So she could do four years there for about 88K total; more than four times the cost of the state school.

Throw in that the private school is considerably "lesser" than the state school academically, and it doesn't offer the wide variety of opportunities that the state school does. A good point. You'll never be able to consider all the variables, but do at least take a stab at it. Schools and locations do vary widely.

A couple things we've learned in visiting colleges:
Several of our state schools include textbooks in tuition, which takes away a big variable.
One school we visited doesn't charge for laundry.
We've found that parking stickers vary from $45 to over $500.

Do your best to be comprehensive.
I like the term "long range picture". I think in general we Americans aren't doing a good job of looking at the big-picture. We want a new car NOW, so we finance it. We want THIS SCHOOL, so we take on debt. We want a NICE house, so we take the biggest mortgage for which we can qualify. All too many people look at just that one item, not all the other things that we also want.

Yes, college is a very important decision, but it's one of many decisions.

Thanks for the details. In the case you describe, the public school does make more sense.

 

[Patience]

We have planned for and are prepared to pay for a public university education for our daughter who is a high school senior this year. She has already applied to her top two public university choices but she has also applied to two private schools (we have two more public college applications to send out and one more private). There is a decent possibility that she will be offered scholarships and grants to the two privates which is the only reason she applied. She does not want to graduate with student loan debt so she knows that she will only attend one of the privates if the cost is roughly equivalent to attending a public university.

I think it's best to be upfront with your children from the time they enter high school about what you are prepared to pay for when it comes time to go to college. That way, they know the limits and do not get their hearts set on a college that is financially unattainable or one that would put them in a precarious financial situation when they graduate because of too many student loans. I also think publics are just fine for most undergraduate college degree programs. I would consider paying more for one of the private schools only for professional or graduate school.

 

[DebMcDonald]

I did both, and my definition of "college experience" pretty much has "living in a dorm" as a minimum requirement.

OP here - For me it does also, but it could be that I didn't get that opportunity myself as I commuted and I was very jealous of the opportunity that my friends had that I didn't. I also think its a GREAT wake-up/grew up experience for kids too.

 

[MrsPete]

Over the summer DD18, DH and I toured Northeastern. It comes in around 50k a year. The person who was conducting the tour was also a student.

She explained how Northeastern requires you to spend at least 1 semester either working or studying abroad but you can do up to 4 semesters. She then said she was doing the maximum because she knew once she was out of school she would have no chance to travel due to having to work to repay her loans until she retired.

I thought that was so sad that she was mortgaging her future to pay for 5 years of college.

I agree that it's sad. I'm surprised that she realized that and still made the choice to stay at the school that required the loan.

 

[MrsPete]

Thanks for the details. In the case you describe, the public school does make more sense.

Yeah, and I've heard similar stories from my students from years and years. This is the rule, not the exception.

 

[jrmasm]

Yeah, and I've heard similar stories from my students from years and years. This is the rule, not the exception.

I would think that depends on what state you live in. Some state systems are much cheaper than other.