Vent-DD got college financial aid summary

ummm...no....Different schools...different programs.

I was married to my dear darling husband...I think i'd be aware of him doing a co-op, or not doing the LA classes. My editing skills were in great need during those years...LOL.

While academic programs at Marietta College are quite diverse, all have a strong liberal arts foundation. From traditional liberal arts majors such as English and History, to unique professional programs, including Petroleum Engineering and Athletic Training, each major is carefully designed to prepare students for life after college.

The college has identified a number of core values and our curriculum reflects these values. One core value is connecting a broad liberal arts background to the world of work. To that end, students in every major have an opportunity to participate in an internship experience in their field.

In addition, we value internationalization and leadership, and require students to take classes in those areas as part of their general education program.

Another core value is our commitment to the first year of college. To prepare you for college life all first-year students participate in a first-year seminar.

The academic programs are supported by a number of centers that focus on success: the Academic Resource Center provides tutoring and study skills training, the Writing Center helps students improve their writing, the library provides electronic sources and extensive databases as well as the traditional printed materials, and special services are provided to our international students who are making the transition to a new culture.
 
Marietta College. Southeastern, OH. Nice school. Great baseball team (NCAAA). One of those places that is pretty much perfect. Not that I am biased in any way shape or form!

Small city (first in the Northwest Territory...), with nearest Borders being in Parkersburg, WV, 15 miles down the road.

Marietta.edu

I remember waiting for letters...that was so hard!
 
I disagree. So many things are not truly a breadth of knowlege. Engineering-very focused. Business-also not an across the curriculum kind of thing. Just our preference for our children, all are different. And, whether they take the advice-who knows.:)

As an engineer (BSME) with my Masters' in Business, and I feel like I got a well-rounded education, particularly in grad. school. Honestly, high school is when you learn the liberal arts IMHO unless you plan to go on to a very specific LA-related field. College is for becoming employable in your field upon graduation, and grad school is the icing on the employment cake (and is often necessary). If your child receives a well-rounded high school education, then there is nothing limiting about majoring in a "focused" field in college/graduate school.
 


But my BS in CompSci DH (LOL, that just sounds funny!) also took English, History, Science, Spanish, etc. Core classes. Teachers, business, and engineers at our school do also. I"m not sure about nursing as it isn't offered. Basically two years worth, both at OU, and MC. colleges I know intimately.

I'm an engineer and I took 6 non-engineering courses in college to fulfill the degree requirement. It would have taken a lot of extra time in school (and more tuition $$) to take more liberal arts courses!
 
College is for becoming employable in your field upon graduation, and grad school is the icing on the employment cake (and is often necessary). Il.

As I said, a liberal arts undergraduate experience is my DH and my philosophies in hopes for our children's educations. Some lean one way, some another. That's what evens out the world, right? We feel grad school is the place for more specialized education, but take the time in ungrad to find what you really love. With a wide range of experiences you can easily shift from one thing to another easily in your career path. Just our opinions.:)
 
As I said, a liberal arts undergraduate experience is my DH and my philosophies in hopes for our children's educations. Some lean one way, some another. That's what evens out the world, right? We feel grad school is the place for more specialized education, but take the time in ungrad to find what you really love. With a wide range of experiences you can easily shift from one thing to another easily in your career path. Just our opinions.:)

I think it's a nice idea, but college is so $$$ if you don't qualify for decent financial aid (and from this board, I'm learning how difficult that really is!). What if your child comes out with a well-rounded education but no employable field and then has to take out big loans to go to grad school? A lot of my friends are paying off the equivalent of a home mortgage in undergrad and especially grad. school debt. All of them majored in the liberal arts as undergrads. They had nicer undergrad. experiences than I did, but they're going to be paying for that for a very long time:guilty:
 


I'm an engineer and I took 6 non-engineering courses in college to fulfill the degree requirement. It would have taken a lot of extra time in school (and more tuition $$) to take more liberal arts courses!

I don't know about engineering. I know that Marietta has one of the top Petroleum Engineering undergrad programs in the country. OU seems to have a separate college for engineers.:confused3 Who knew...
 
I don't know about engineering. I know that Marietta has one of the top Petroleum Engineering undergrad programs in the country. OU seems to have a separate college for engineers.:confused3 Who knew...

Most bigger schools have seperate colleges for liberal arts/ engineering/ education/ nursing/ business. When I went to the University of Minnesota, I went to the College of Liberal Arts. Later I went to Metro State, where I went to the College of Business. My ex husband went to the University of Minnesota - Institute of Technology where he majored in Chem Eng and later switched to CSci - then he switched again to the College of Education - which is where he evenutally graduated from. My sister went to Winona State's School of Nursing. When you start seperating these schools out, you are left with a Liberal Arts College to teach Philosophy and Comparative Lit and the like. Generally Liberal Arts colleges give out B.A.s - when you start looking at speciality applications, you get a B.S. - I have a B.S. in Accounting because its specalized. But there isn't a hard and fast standard. Also there isn't a hard and fast standard for all subjects - sometimes Economics is a liberal arts degree. Sometimes its a business degree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_of_Arts

Now my husband went to a pure Liberal Arts College - a small school where the most "employable" degree offered was a B.A. in Biology. They didn't even have business majors. Now, its a great school - and we will go to a reunion this Spring and if the past is any indication, rub elbows with some politicians and business people of international standing. I don't know if I know anyone who graduated from there that hasn't been as successful as they've chosen to be - with time.

And don't forget that there are also tech schools. If you really want to be employable - go to tech school, become an electrician or a plumber.
 
And don't forget that there are also tech schools. If you really want to be employable - go to tech school, become an electrician or a plumber.

No kidding. A friend of ours is a welder, and they are begging for people to apprentice. They pay them and teach them in the evenings. Work three years as an apprentice, and then you start making big bucks.

I still like the schools that manage the mix of LA and specialties. :)
 
And don't forget that there are also tech schools. If you really want to be employable - go to tech school, become an electrician or a plumber.
Exactly. Or car mechanic. Our car mechanic says there is going to be a huge shortage soon because the average age of mechanics is much closer to retirement than to just beginning their career.
 
I just think it's a real eye opener that each year of college on average is about 1/3 to 1/2 of the salary of someone who has been working for 20 -30 years. I am using national average. It is just lunacy that something we did years ago, get that college degree, work in said field of that degree ( in our case I will use Engineering) and 28 years later, a state school our child has applied to will cost just under 1/2 of DH salary...the salary that has been getting hit ever since 9/11. Colleges are a business tho, looking out only for their bottom line. Can you imagine if they should be an integral part of the future of this country, helping education become a reality for it's residents and reaping the fruits of that knowledge and creativity? Nah, that would be in a dreamworld. go figure.
 
Can you imagine if they should be an integral part of the future of this country, helping education become a reality for it's residents and reaping the fruits of that knowledge and creativity? Nah, that would be in a dreamworld. go figure.

I don't know if that's quite fair. A college does have to run itself as a business to stay open, but it's not inexpensive to provide a quality education. Even so, it's possible to find a relatively reasonably-priced education and make choices that help keep costs down for yourself, as well as for students to be proactive and make choices that will help themselves earn some of the myriad scholarship opportunities available.

Might a student be able to go to a $30,000/year school for four years and walk away without loans? Probably not, especially without serious savings or a family income that can handle that comfortably. But they might be able to go to a community college for two years and finish up with two more at a state university, or a private university where they've earned scholarships, perhaps while living at home or with family members, and while working part-time. Every family and every student has to make choices about what they can afford and what they're willing to borrow.

I attended a public four-year college. This was my choice and where I planned to go since I was younger. I worked hard in high school, earned straight A's, and participated in lots of extra curricular clubs and community service - no athletics or music as I'm not at all skilled in those areas. I took rigorous, AP coursework. :) I applied for lots of scholarships, as well. I planned my high school career with the intention of making myself an attractive selection for my college of choice as well as scholarship committees. I earned a tuition full-ride scholarship to my college of choice as well as a couple of smaller scholarships that were provided only for my first year. My parents provided me with $4500 each year toward living expenses, and I worked 15-20 hours a week each year of college to help with books, personal expenses, and any other living expenses. My EFC ranged from 16,000-19000 per year and I qualified for no need-based aid; we were only offered loans but chose not to borrow. Grand total for the cost of attendance for four years at my college by the financial aid office's estimate? $72,000. Grand total out of pocket for my family? $18,000 (what my parents provided me over the four years for living expenses). Even if my parents hadn't been able to provide that, I could have borrowed just about that much each year in my Stafford loan had I needed to.

I know that not everyone's student receives a tuition full-ride, and there may be those in this thread with EFCs lower than me. But I guess I just want to underscore the importance of making choices by planning - encouraging students not just to apply for scholarships but to prepare for them with what they do in high school, being realistic about the schools you and your children can afford based on what you've saved or are willing to borrow, and really saving - even just putting away a little bit each month from when they are little can really help. And if you haven't done it since they were little? It's never too late to start saving for college.
 
I'm not syaing that saving is not required,or that we have not done any planning/saving. I am just saying it opened my eyes at the comparison of cost vs income...relativley speaking. Look at how hard you worked, did everything right to get your education, and thank heaven there are community colleges, (we will be seriously looking into this route)but when state schools are thought of as the average choice in the US...c'mon, Ivy leagues are the top, state schools the average, and Jr. college the minimum level, it just shocks me that the average school is out of reach for the average salary. Even Stanford has thought about ( and may have already done this) waving tuition for students whose family income is less than 100,000. Now , they did not disclose the requirements for said students, but kudos for them for actually takng into account the severity of the current imbalance of salary vs. college cost. I personally think that what you put into the education at any school is what you will get out of it, but employers do look at the schools on resume's, schools that are the best match for their business/field, so schools names, reputations are a factor in the job search. And while I admire your accomplishments, truly, I do. Some students do not have the discipline you had or even more basic, the general knowledge or guidance during high school to know how important grade/scores really are in financial terms. sadly, an average salary family , with an average academic student is not going to be able to go to average state school, simply due to the fact that the cost is no longer average. And it's a shame, as that student should have the same opportunity as anyone else...that's what the state institutions were wonderful for...those who were not accepted to the Ivy's. No longer does that seem to be an opportunity.
Also, times ahve changed for the average parent, many are faced with being the 'tweeners....trying to save for college, retirement AND caring for aging parents. It simply is not as easy today to save for college on an average salary. Iam not 100% sure, but if memory serves, it was during Ronald Reagans presidency when the financail aid process was redone...no longer was debt taken into consideration when applying...and that was to keep folsk from living exravagantly buying boats, 2nd homes etc and then saying they could not afford college, I agree, however, now there is no wiggle room for legitimate costs/debt of everyday life, so it is still unbalanced, JMHO.
 
Even Stanford has thought about ( and may have already done this) waving tuition for students whose family income is less than 100,000. Now , they did not disclose the requirements for said students, but kudos for them for actually takng into account the severity of the current imbalance of salary vs. college cost.

That's not why they did it, though. It isn't about giving "deserving" students' families a break, it's about balancing the socioeconomic diversity of the student body. Stanford, like most top-tier private schools, was finding that all of their students were either very wealthy or VERY poor. One group paid, and the other qualified for grants. The middle class student was disappearing, and they wanted them back so that those rich and poor kids could have the experience of working and mingling with them.
 
That's not why they did it, though. It isn't about giving "deserving" students' families a break, it's about balancing the socioeconomic diversity of the student body. Stanford, like most top-tier private schools, was finding that all of their students were either very wealthy or VERY poor. One group paid, and the other qualified for grants. The middle class student was disappearing, and they wanted them back so that those rich and poor kids could have the experience of working and mingling with them.

This is so true at most private schools. Private education is attainable by the wealthy and the poor. There is a disappearing middle class. Middle income folks EFC is too high, even though many privates will make up all costs above EFC. The most needly a go, the least needy go. The middle class had tough decisions to make.
 
This is so true at most private schools. Private education is attainable by the wealthy and the poor. There is a disappearing middle class. Middle income folks EFC is too high, even though many privates will make up all costs above EFC. The most needly a go, the least needy go. The middle class had tough decisions to make.

Agreed!

I have always said, "it just doesn't pay to be middle class!" :(
 

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