<p>“As colleges across the country become increasingly pricey, these five schools are cutting tuition and fees by more than 10% – and, in one case, by as much as 60%.”</p>
<p>[5</a> colleges slashing tuition - Seton Hall University (1) - CNNMoney](<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/pf/1111/gallery.colleges_lower_tuition/index.html]5”>5 colleges slashing tuition - Seton Hall University (1) - CNNMoney)</p>
<p>I was struck by the claim on Lincoln College’s website that they are a “selective” institution. Well, perhaps; according to CC’s College Search feature, they admit 67% of applicants. But the mid-50% ACT range is 15-19 and the average GPA 2.77. So I’m having trouble picturing the 33% who don’t get admitted.</p>
<p>And who in their right mind would fork over $21K in tuition for such a place?</p>
<p>Seton Hall’s best days are 20-30 years ago, they no longer draw the solid students from Bergen County…in the late 70’s and early 80’s everybody i knew went there, now all their offspring go to schools like Villanova,et al…not one goes to Seton Hall</p>
<p>For comparison to Lincoln, CSU Dominguez Hills, one of the least selective CSUs, has the same middle 50% ACT composite range of 15-19, but an average high school GPA of 3.07.</p>
<p>But, amazingly, the least selective CSUs that admit transparently by course requirements, GPA, and test scores acceptance rates far below 100%, even though one would think that students and high school counselors would be able to figure out whether a student will be admitted before the application is sent.</p>
<p>Two of the colleges are fairly worth looking at: Charleston is rated #14 in the south regional schools and Sewanee which is a known National LAC.</p>
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<p>Yes, but that’s comparing public and private. But the 75th percentile admit at Lincoln would be a marginal admit at any of the downstate Illinois directionals (25th percentile 19 or 20). I guess if parents have a lot of money, are determined to send their underachieving kid to college SOMEWHERE, and don’t want them going into Chicago for Northeastern Illinois or Chicago State, then maybe. But it seems to me that a CC would be a far cheaper option.</p>
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<p>I’d be willing to guess that lot of those who are rejected are borderline qualifiers and fail to pass the required courses during their senior year. AlgII, for example. Or English IV, or VAPA.</p>
<p>Annasdad - are you comparing schools based on their admit stats? If a school admits higher stat students then it is a better school, right? In that case, wouldn’t higher ranking schools, by definition, be better schools then?(gasp)</p>
<p>“Underachieving” would be in relation to college bound high school graduates; the freshmen at low selectivity CSUs are supposed to be among the top third of California high school graduates, although at the lower end of that range (so probably mostly in the 67th to mid-70s percentile). Presumably, the Lincoln freshman range is a bit lower than that (lower GPA, same test score range).</p>
<p>As this is generally at the margin of bachelor’s degree completion capability (about a third of people age 25 to 29 have completed a bachelor’s degree), a community college is likely a better choice for a student in the Lincoln freshman range – it offers the chance to get serious about academic study if s/he wants to study to a bachelor’s degree via the transfer route, while also offering other areas of study that can help lead to jobs and careers not needing a bachelor’s degree but needing other types of post-secondary education.</p>
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<p>annasdad - I completely agree that cc would be a much better option. However you are from a rural midwest area (from reading your posts I think you live fairly close to where I grew up). I now live in a wealthy suburban area and while some students here do attend our local (very good, by the way) cc, I know many other parents who will spend any amount of money to have their child go “away” to a 4 year school. I don’t even dare suggest cc anymore to anyone here.
That’s the kind of people who keep a school like Lincoln in business.</p>
<p>More universities and LACs should follow these institutions.</p>
<p>perhaps a “tipping” point has been reached?</p>
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<p>What are you, stalking me?</p>
<p>No, a school which admits higher stat students is not a “better” school, because the good-better-best ranking thing simply is nonsense. The right school for any given student is the school where that student will maximize his or her potential. Schools that admit students with ACTs in the high teens have a place; it’s just that it makes no sense to pay a lot of money to send a kid to such a school when there are far cheaper alternatives.</p>
<p>Just like it makes no sense to pay a lot of money to send a top achiever to, say, Harvard, when there are far cheaper alternatives that give that top-achiever the opportunity to maximize his or her potential, say, most flagships.</p>
<p>I don’t expect you to get it.</p>
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<p>In Illinois, all HS juniors take the ACT. The average composite (2011) is 20.9. So I would call a 19 ACT student an underachiever.</p>
<p>Annasdad, I take offense to the word underacheiver. I think any kid, even if they have a 18-23 ACT is an achiever. They are going to school and trying. To belittle that is wrong.</p>
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<p>Harvard is a bad example to make this point with, since its financial aid makes it very price-competitive for a rather large range of family incomes (probably the bottom 90%). Of course, the hard part is getting admitted.</p>
<p>NYU would be a much better example to make this point with.</p>
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<p>Yes, giving one’s kid the “college experience” ranks high on some parents’ priority scales.</p>
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<p>We’ll just have to agree to disagree; I consider a kid with a 15-19 ACT an underachiever and would question whether the kid belongs in college at all.</p>
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<p>Clearly if you’re in a position to get a large portion of the fare paid, then there is no financial disadvantage to sending a kid to an expensive private.</p>
<p>This is fascinating.
I am surprised to see Sewanee on the list. but it is definitely a regional school, not well appreciated by non-Southerners, and maybe not a good place for non-Southerners!</p>
<p>This appears to be an attempt to attract more applicants. Not sure if it will attract “better” applicants.</p>
<p>I am very interested to see if this was possible because they have large endowments, or there are easy to cut/not crucial expenses, or whether they will have to cut into the bone to survive. The answer is what determines whether there is a bubble in higher education in the lower tier privates, and whether there is a bubble overall is a huge question…</p>
<p>Are these colleges close to being in financial distress? Are their enrollments going down? Is the quality of their students going down?
Will any end up closing???</p>