Average Private College Tuition, am I missing something here?

College Search & Lists
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<p>A simple google search puts the average sticker price of a private college at just around $20,000 ( I googled “average tuition of private colleges america” and the first two links were: [College</a> Tuition Continues to Rise in U.S. | News | English](<a href=“http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/a-13-2005-11-01-voa51-66907797.html]College”>College Tuition Continues to Rise in U.S.) and [College</a> tuition still rising - School Inc.- msnbc.com](<a href=“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21420361/ns/business-personal_finance/]College”>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21420361/ns/business-personal_finance/))</p>

<p>Is this accurate? I’m applying to a bunch of private schools here in the north east and most are around $50,000 at full sticker price. I’m talking Holy Cross (48k), Northeastern (47k) Trinity (50k) etc. The cheapest private university I’m applying to is Clark at just around 42 k. Am I looking in all the wrong places?</p>

<p>I’d like a college that’s small, less than 10,000 students, preferably liberal arts and hopefully just outside a major city. I can’t seem to find any that fall into this so-called 20,000 range. I mean sure I can afford the schools that are around 50k (ok well my parents can anyway) but I’d still like to look at some cheaper options. And yes I have looked at some public universities (TCNJ and Rutgers, and looking at some SUNYs) but this question is mostly directed toward private universities.</p>

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<p>While the average private college tuition nationwide may be $20K, the prices of the schools you mention also include room and board, which can get expensive. You need to look at total cost, not just tuition. One good site to find info is the department of education’s college navigator and the college board site.</p>

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<p>You are not applying to “average” private colleges. You are looking at top-tier, elite private schools that charge more because they can.</p>

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<p>The total sticker price (COA = cost of attendance) includes tuition, mandatory fees such as recreation center, perhaps student health clinic fee, average lab fees, etc., as well as room and board (which is darned pricey at the top-ranked schools), and it often estimates the cost of books and supplies and some minimal average travel expenses.</p>

<p>In other words, a tuition bill of 20K may be part of a 40K COA.</p>

<p>Look carefully at what is included in the school’s listed Cost of Attendance. Some schools are much more forthright about what things actually cost than others. In particular, mandatory fees are often relegated to small footnotes. Room and board can vary widely, and is complicated by different rules about how left-over meals are handled.</p>

<p>P.S. You are going to have quite a time finding a total cost = 20K college without scholarships.</p>

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<p>Since there are many very small, almost unknown private colleges that charge like $16k tuition and have COA’s of $26k, it can cause the overall reported averages to sound odd. </p>

<p>The typical privates that get discussed here on CC are the top and mid-tier schools that have COAs between $45k -55k per year.</p>

<p>those “really cheap” privates often have limited resources, no/minimal athletics, minimal campus rec facilities, etc…because all those things cost money. :)</p>

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<p>Of the USNWR Top 100 universities, I am aware of none whose tuition is less than $30,000, and whose Room and Board is less than $8,500. Add fees and such, and $40,000 is the starting point and $54,000 is at the top end. Most universities’ room/board is about $10,000 - $12,000. So 80% of your top 100 privates will be between $48,000 and $52,000 all in (Cost of Attendance).</p>

<p>Rice Unversity is the lone standout in the Top 20 with tuition closer to $30,000 than $40,000, which gives it a Cost of Attendance of $46,000.</p>

<p>HOWEVER, if your family makes less than $100,000 and you are admitted to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, and most Ivies, you will find that those schools often waive half or more of the tuition. That makes the Ivies the best friend of the $80,000 - $100,000 total income families who would have to take huge loans to attend most other private schools.</p>

<p>There are other anomolies –</p>

<p>BYU is under $10,000 tuition
Grove City College is very low as well</p>

<p>For Publics applying from Out of State (OOS), University of Minnesota is about $23,000 tuition/room&Board/Fees as is SUNY Stony Brook and other SUNYs.</p>

<p>Lastly, the Military Academies for the Air Force (Colorado Springs, CO), Army (West Point, NY) and Navy/Marines (Annapolis, MD) are free.<br>
Army and Navy ROTC covers tuition iat both public and private universities (that have ROTC) n most cases if you’re an engineering or science major, not so much if you’re another type of major. Air Force ROTC usually covers half tuition, or 25% tuition, with 100% tuition mostly reserved for Aerospace Engineering majors only.</p>

<p>Have you looked into Scholarships?</p>