university costs
Mar 10th 2005, 6:27 pm
#16
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Re: university costs
I have a kid at in-state school, the fees etc are about $4000 a year with accomodation food etc around $7000, our state has a free fee program for good students so we get more or less free tuition and the living costs are about the same wherever you go. He got accepted by some very good schools but even with around $10K a year in grants and scholarships we would have needed another $20,000 a year to keep him there. So the question you really need to ask is that aprt from Harvard, Yale Stanford etc. Is college worth about $80,000 extra over a state school. You do the math.
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Mar 10th 2005, 6:56 pm
#17
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Re: university costs
The decision Ivy League vs state colleges, in purely cost terms, is not straightforward. So much depends on what financial aid a student qualifies for. For instance, a acquaintance has a son at Stanford and she says it is costing them less than if he'd gone to the University of California.
There is of course a huge difference in quality between different state colleges (and no doubt between private ones too). The Univ of CA system is generally considered the best of the former, and great value for less than $7000 a year - that's if you qualify for in-state tuition (I think it's around $20k for out-of-state).
But one also has to look at who actually does the teaching, eg UCLA and Berkeley have a fantastic reputation (and lots of Noble laureates to bragg about), but many courses are taught by 'lecturers' (i.e. could be anybody with a degree in the subject).
US News publishes a yearly ranking guide of all the different colleges, both state and private.
There is of course a huge difference in quality between different state colleges (and no doubt between private ones too). The Univ of CA system is generally considered the best of the former, and great value for less than $7000 a year - that's if you qualify for in-state tuition (I think it's around $20k for out-of-state).
But one also has to look at who actually does the teaching, eg UCLA and Berkeley have a fantastic reputation (and lots of Noble laureates to bragg about), but many courses are taught by 'lecturers' (i.e. could be anybody with a degree in the subject).
US News publishes a yearly ranking guide of all the different colleges, both state and private.
Mar 10th 2005, 7:14 pm
#18
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Posts: 8,266
Re: university costs
FL has a program whereby you pay a certain amount p/month over the period of a few years, and you get tuition at any school in the state at today's prices.
Do other states have them?
Do other states have them?
Mar 10th 2005, 7:14 pm
#19
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Location: texas
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Re: university costs
Originally Posted by markwplatt
I have a kid at in-state school, the fees etc are about $4000 a year with accomodation food etc around $7000, our state has a free fee program for good students so we get more or less free tuition and the living costs are about the same wherever you go. He got accepted by some very good schools but even with around $10K a year in grants and scholarships we would have needed another $20,000 a year to keep him there. So the question you really need to ask is that aprt from Harvard, Yale Stanford etc. Is college worth about $80,000 extra over a state school. You do the math.
Bear in mind that you live in Louisanna and not in the north east or the west coast where college costs are much more expensive. My daughter goes to Texas State and last year her in-state fees were $4500 as she was doing 15-16 credits a semester. This year with with less credits (14) but with a huge hike in fees it was nearer $6000. Don't begrudge paying that much but its bad to keep up with 17-20% increases.
Last edited by jjmb; Mar 10th 2005 at 7:21 pm.
Mar 10th 2005, 7:19 pm
#20
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Re: university costs
Yeah, you're right about the cost / benefit of ivy league etc. I went to decidedly "non-Ivy league" in the UK (Bradford!) and it hasn't done me any harm. I haven't had chance to research the grants etc yet - we're more concentrating on elementary school selection at the moment! (But still starting to put a little away, just in case...the sort of numbers being bandied around scare me too much to do nothing at all!)
I remember reading about the schemes that lock in todays prices somewhere - I can't remember what they are called, but I recall teh article was about states closing them down left right and centre becasue the returns that the funds were managing to achieve weren't matching the price rises in the tuition fees, so the states were ending up massively out of pocket. The artiucle was basically saying if you can still get into one of those schemes in your state, do it. I'm pretty sure Texas was one that was closed to new entrants.
I remember reading about the schemes that lock in todays prices somewhere - I can't remember what they are called, but I recall teh article was about states closing them down left right and centre becasue the returns that the funds were managing to achieve weren't matching the price rises in the tuition fees, so the states were ending up massively out of pocket. The artiucle was basically saying if you can still get into one of those schemes in your state, do it. I'm pretty sure Texas was one that was closed to new entrants.
