OP’s question would pertain mostly to families with high incomes : 150K - 250k for three to four member family. Below 150K, ivies are very generous with their aid packages. It takes all kinds to make this world - so we are likely to hear varied answers. If my hypothetical family of 3 was making 150K annually, we would have no problem paying 50K extra to any Ivy U. if my child was accepted and wanted to go there.
Are you willing to pay or loan for the expensive ivy or top 20 schools instead of cheap state Univ.?
Would I spend an extra $30K/year/kid over and above our (not-cheap) state flagship university (so, double the cost we’ve planned on)? 30,000 x 4 years x 4 kids = $480,000. Nope, I wouldn’t do that, and I wouldn’t cosign loans for it either. We value education but we value other things, too.
Our kids know our budget and circumstances, which actually gives them lots of options. If it means they go to St. Olaf instead of Oberlin, or University of Wisconsin instead of University of Michigan, etc., they will be fine.
The answers are different because kids, families, and what matters to each differ - even between kids in the same family. As I mentioned in another thread, one might as well ask the same question about how much they would pay for a car. We all have our reasons for what we end up buying - or not.
For us, my kids could go anywhere within our budget adding that to what they could take out themselves in basic loans since we don’t feel that’s too much for a student to have at the end. Our budget wasn’t unlimited, so some schools ended up eliminated. They all attended private schools, but for two of my three, the private was the least expensive option too.
With one of my lads there was one LAC that surprisingly came in way higher than other schools. He eliminated that one quickly himself. There was definitely the feeling that they didn’t want him as much as the other schools did on his part (and ours). No regrets. That wasn’t the same as the OP’s question though. They were just “another” LAC, not Ivy level, etc.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/2149054-university-of-washington-vs-claremont-mckenna.html is an example of a student whose parents will contribute different amounts based on which college s/he chooses. Unfortunately for the student, the parents seem to want to burden the student with more debt than the federal direct loan amounts, even if s/he chooses a college that costs less than what they will contribute for the more expensive college.
@LuckorWork Paying 50k a year would not at all be necessarily easy for a family making 150k.
Yes, because I went to an Ivy that opened lots of doors and I always made more money than others my age due to the education I have. But, I am frugal so it would depend on the kid and the major. For some majors with limited prospects and the need for a masters, then I’d say it depends. For those seeking to attend medical school (one of my kids), I’d let them decide. For a kid who is going into a moderate to lucrative field yes. People on CC are always complaining about debt and it’s a real issue. No one EVER talks about kids making more money based on their education. Kid from Central U doesn’t make anywhere near the money or have 1/2 the opportunity as kid from MIT. That’s just reality. There will always be companies that want to hire from IVY and other top schools. They have no issue paying the premium to get a kid from these places.
On the other hand, taking out a mortgage at 50 to pay for your kid to attend a high priced school when you haven’t funded your retirement is a fool’s game. We have seen many in our family pay for moderate schools with high price tags. The kid doesn’t get the name recognition that translates into $ and the parent pays a premium so the kid can attend some second or third rate schools that is private. Silly, IMHO. In these cases, the public U is a much better choice for all involved. This is especially true where there is more prestige than intellect. These kids rarely create the next google. There are many low value schools in my opinion. But none are inexpensive.
There’s no universally correct answer to this question. If there were, it would mean one can put a universal value on a degree for any student in any major from a particular college. That’s simply impossible because your student is unique. S/he may or may not be a good fit for that college. S/he may or may not benefit to the same extent as an average student in that major/college. For better or for worse, outcome from any major in any college for any student just can’t be predetermined.
@compiler If you want the “ rich” to ignore your question then you are really asking a question that doesn’t make a ton of sense. Top 20, especially Ivy League schools provide excellent financial aid to the non-rich, so that it’s actually cheaper to attend or as cheap as an Instate option. it’s just that many people in the top percentages of income who will pay full freight don’t think of themselves as “ rich”. I think they are
@compiler , I think this is something of a trick question. For the most part, parents who can afford to send their children to full-pay high-priced schools, will. And parents who can afford only in-state schools will send their children to in-state schools.
Even when a student cannot earn admittance into a high-ranked nationally-respected university, high-earning parents will pay Ivy-like money to send their children to high-priced LACs. I’ve taken my son on tours to a couple of LAC that would end up being $50K/yr with room+meals, where the education is probably comparable to in-state schools that would cost less than half that amount. It seems many parents want to send their children to a school where most of the students are “like” their child in many aspects, including household income.
So, it’s not just a Top-20 versus, say, a #176 option.
Upper-middle class parents don’t, as a rule, drive 16-year old Ford Explorers and low-income parents don’t, as a rule, drive $80,000 Audis. It’s the same principle.
To specifically answer your question: If I could afford $60K/yr and my son was admitted to both Columbia and UNC-Charlotte, I’d pay to send him to Columbia and be very happy about it. If I could afford only $15K/yr, I’d send him to Charlotte and be very happy about it.
How about you don’t take any loans to go to any college. Here are some ideas.
Join the military (Reserves or ANG or AD) and get the GI Bill.
Move to a state that gives generous aid (CA), work for a couple of years and then go to college for virtually free based on you own tax returns. Make sure you do not get any financial assistance from your parents in order to be finacially independant.
…or just have your rich parents pay for school.
Avoiding 100 to 300K of debt is worth it and your chances of actually getting into an elite school go up with a few years of experience outside of school.
I set the budget of what I could pay first. Then if the school was in budget, they could choose, whether it was a full ride somewhere or a school at the top of the budget. It made it easy. And as @maya54 said, some top 20 schools have great financial aid, bringing the cost down to close to if not at the cost of some state flagships.
As a kid, my husband was given the choice to attend any state school he could get into. He would like to offer the same choice to our children, though we could afford any school by dipping heavily into savings. We will not qualify for any kind of aid. He said that if either happens to get into HYPS, then we can talk.
It’s a little different in that we live in Virginia, and it’s hard to justify paying twice or 2.5 times as much to go to a private vs. UVA or William and Mary-- even, in my opinion, a top 20. I feel slightly conflicted about this, since we could technically afford it. But overall I think it’s a good approach, given the excellent choices we have here. We will be better situated to help them with grad school if they need it.
We consider ourselves middle class and for 20 years have lived significantly below our means by living off of one salary and saving the other. Saving for college was our top priority. So yes, we had the money to pay and we are. Daughter is at a top school where we are full pay. She had many, many less expensive options with cost ranging from 17K - 65K. She’s an 3rd year Engineering student so a solid state school would of been fine ( or better). Parents both went to State Colleges / Universities so we had no loans to pay off once we graduated. She has some skin in the game with 5K in loans annually. Will graduate in 4 years with 20K in loans that we plan to pay off as a graduation gift. We have no regrets.
“And I know a lot of kids who end up at the “cheap” option on the five or six year program- six years of tuition and room/board at the “cheap” option vs. four years at a place which has a significant commitment to getting kids in and out in four years with a degree- that’s a consideration as well.”
Though, @blossom, are you comparing apples with apples? How many of those kids taking 6 years got in to a top 20 school? I’m of the opinion that (unless they’re going somewhere on a full-ride), any college is too expensive for a kid to enter without some semblance of a plan (backup plans, and ideally a decision tree).
The word “cheap” (rather than perhaps a word like inexpensive, cost effective, moderately priced, etc) seems to imply that the alternative to the elites is some cr*ppy TTT. That simply is not true. There are many, MANY excellent, affordable schools where strong students can still find like-minded peers interested in intellectual pursuits/discussions and learning, have access to excellent professors and have strong internship and career placement resources. There are of course inexpensive schools that aren’t as strong in these areas, so doing one’s due diligence is key, IMO.
And sometimes it is better to be the top of the middle than the middle of the top.
I would pay what I could afford to spend without parent loans. In my opinion somebody who gets into Vanderbilt, doesn’t qualify for FA, and can’t afford to be full pay…should not have difficulty finding a good, affordable school to attend.
I also don’t like the wording of this thread (cheap state university). It implies that state schools are crappy.
Absolutely disagree with this. We are high income and had fully expected and budgeted to pay $75k/year for our D (only child so made it easier). D CHOOSE to go to an OOS public honors program because it was the strongest and best fit for her for both her major and personal interests. She left on the table a full tuition scholarship but also acceptances to private research institutions. For engineering, the majority of the schools on the top 10 list are publics.
“I also don’t like the wording of this thread (cheap state university). It implies that state schools are crappy.”
Also there’s an inherent contradiction since UCLA is in fact a “top 20 school” but is also a “cheap state university” for us fortunate Californians. Sometimes you can have the best of both worlds.
This is not a yes or no question. It really depends on the kid, the intended major, the less costly options and the cost differential. Beyond minimal loans, most in this forum will advise against borrowing large sums to send a kid to a full pay private, even if it is the #1 school in the country. The grey area comes in when the cost differential is not that big. Are you talking about an extra $10K or $40K per year? Is the comparison between an elite school and a directional state U or a top 50 excellent school with a merit scholarship? Is the student aiming for a career on Wall Street or medical school? Do the parents have to raid their retirement fund or simply sell some stocks? The answer really is “it depends”.