Looking over several threads it’s seems like many college applicants are choosing private colleges for their kids. Why is this? Is the financial aid / merit better or do they like the smaller classes, religious aspect, etc of private colleges?
My older daughter went to a small private university. My younger daughter went to a small private college. They both applied to and were accepted by our state flagship and the flagship of an adjoining state with which our state has a reciprocity agreement. They went to the schools they did because of the schools’ size, look and feel, and financial aid packages.
Lots of reasons. One of mine went to a private school, and that was because the money and opportunity to play her sport was better at that particular school. Academically, she could have had a fine experience at a public school. Other daughter went to a public school.
In our case the decision was our daughter’s, not our encouraging her. She didn’t want to stay in state, and the main OOS publics she would have otherwise been interested in were those for whom OOS quotas make them reaches so they didn’t make her list. She did have 2 publics as safeties on her list, but ended up not applying to them after being admitted to her ED school.
Her reasons for the colleges she was interested in were none on your list - she wanted a large, preferably east coast, urban college with good social sciences. All the ones we visited did emphasize small class sizes despite the overall student body being large, but that actually wasn’t a critical factor for her.
We let our lads choose where they wanted to apply.
One wanted a religious school.
One applied to a state school, and OOS school, and a few privates - ended up at a private school that was his favorite and it came in less expensive than both state schools one of which is known for high merit, but still didn’t match the private.
One wanted tropical south on the water, selected “a” school he liked and only applied there. Fortunately it came in affordable. Had it not, his Plan B was to take a year off and work.
In the end all ended up at private schools and all enjoyed their journey, but none would have liked their brothers’ schools.
I didn’t want my kids to go to a school that relied on a state’s budget. As good as Berkeley is I didn’t encourage my kids to go there. I would have had to pay full fare for my kids to go to Berkeley, but if it was our in-state then I would have considered it as a great bargain.
Some people have a lot of money.
You could argue until the end of time whether a private education is “worth” what they charge, but we all spend money on all sorts of things others might not have chosen.
My son went where he wanted, which was a big OOS public. But I know my elite private had things like a) more safety nets in place so that more of those who start finish, b) some resources that were really quite nice, c) an intimacy you just can’t find at a big state school, d) no reliance on state political whims.
Depending on the student’s stats and the private college merit aid can make the private cheaper than the public, especially for parents who do not qualify for need based aid.
One of our kids applied to six private universities, and one public OOS. As a music major, he had very specific criteria which could not be met at any of our instate public universities. He attended a private.
Kid 2 applied to 4 privates and one OOS public. Kid attended one of the private colleges.
But I should add, we were in the position to financially support these choices.
Seems like public versus private per se is not a reason to choose a college, although public versus private may affect characteristics that actually are important. Examples of these other characteristics include cost, financial aid, and scholarships – but these are best determined by using each college’s net price calculator and scholarship web pages, rather than making assumptions based on public versus private.
For some low-income families private colleges can be cheaper than state schools.
People whose kids are only looking at their own home-state public universities aren’t likely to end up here at College Confidential unless they land here when searching the internet for advice about financial aid.
Lots of the kids here do end up at their own home-state public universities once the admissions offers and aid packages are on the table.
I hope you don’t think I’m being confrontational, but I don’t agree at all with the premise of this question. I have a kid at a private, non-religious LAC, but my son has applied to mostly public universities and I was happy for him to do so. They are usually less expensive and some do offer merit awards, as my son can attest. Tons of parents encourage their kids to apply to publics. Tons of parents encourage their kids to apply to privates.
I think most parents encourage their kids to apply to colleges that the parents can afford, and equally, to colleges that the kid thinks he/she will be happy at.
We are among those for whom the privates were a lot cheaper than the public even tho the in-state public was SUNY. SUNY wasn’t going to be on the list. I think there are a lot of outstanding public schools but we were OOS for them. But they were considered. Yet, when it came down to it, the issue wasn’t state or private so much as it was fit. We’d have covered whatever seemed the best fit no matter how it had to happen. But the fit was best with the specific privates.
Some of it was money, the only public school on S19 list was not financially viable unless we moved to a state we had little interest in moving to. The rest is personal preference. DH & I are both products of small Ohio LAC and that’s the style S19 fell in love with. Little S has a wide variety of schools on his list… but he’s only 11. As he matures, it won’t surprise me if he also goes the small LAC route as well.
Private schools are outside of our budget, so they were never on the table.
My D applied to the schools that best fit her, regardless of their funding source - it never really entered the conversation. It turned out to be 5 public schools and 2 private schools. She ended up at a public school because we felt it she fit in best and would get the best education there. It’s an out-of-state public school, so cost really didn’t drive the decision.
Mine applied to an even number of both public and private. All but one offered merit scholarships. She was unlikely to go to the one private that didn’t because we couldn’t afford it, but her godfather was an alumni and really wanted her to apply there so that one really was an application fee donation. She got merit awards at all schools. We didn’t visit or spend any time worrying about perfect “fit.” The plan was to apply places that offered her desired major and merit, where she thought she could be happy, and go to the one with the best bottom line. Three of the four highest ranked (if you care about that and those three were a mix of private and public) were tied in ranking. In the end, the one with the best bottom line was one of privates. She has received a great education there, but I think would have at any of the others as well, she’s that kind of student.
We wanted flexibility and support to be what you want to be (easy to change majors), smaller classes, nicer housing and facilities, closer relationships with professors, be in an environment where people care, and strong ability to build a network. Felt those were best served at private schools. Plus, didn’t want to deal with random budget cuts and the crowds at CA public schools. Didn’t have to encourage because they wanted private schools too, but we would have. So didn’t really consider public’s but they applied to them as backups and to keep it as a choice, but didn’t attend.
There are a few reasons.
To begin with, there are more than twice as many private four year non-profit colleges (about 1,600) as there are public four year colleges (about 700). That alone would be enough to cause parents to show an apparent preference for private schools.
Second, as people wrote, for OOS, the cost for many universities is high, and many do not provide much by way of financial aid. On the other hand, many private schools will meet full need, making them cheaper, in general, than OOS colleges of the same rankings. So many students will apply to one or two public schools in their own state and prefer to apply to private schools OOS.
Private schools also have more holistic admissions, so students often have a better chance at their reaches and high matches, if these are private schools.
However, there are plenty of parents here encouraging their kids to apply, and then attend, public schools.