<p>some lesson learned for having a son for the Class of 2013 and applying to these elite private schools.</p>
<p>-with the exception of HYPSM, the rest of the “top” schools will be $51K/yr…if your income is more than $170K/yr
-these schools (the Dukes, Notre Dame, Dartmouth, NW,etc…) will assume you can use up to 6.25% of your home equity to borrow against, and you will have to take on debt (our case it was $50K), along with your child taking on at least $25K
-if you are paying the full amount ($51K), then at least $10K of this is subsidizing some other kid
-assume 4-5.5% increases per year of the $51K
-remember, these “top” schcols have not come clean about their endowment losses(at least 35% if you factor in illiquid assets), ND for example (an officer at the university) expect 6-7% cutbacks next year.
-the “only” reason these schools increase thier financial aid was becasue of Senator Grassley of Iowa’s threat to tax endowments , because they were not spending 5% per year (the usual standard for a tax exept charity)
-so congrats if your child gets in, but do check out the costs befcore making any promises to your child on sending them to their top choice.</p>
<p>“-if you are paying the full amount ($51K), then at least $10K of this is subsidizing some other kid” </p>
<p>I’m not sure whether or not this statement is true. I worked for my schools annual fund for a while and was told that the tuition only covered 60% of the actual cost of attendance (i.e., everyone gets a silent scholarship). I’m sure this probably varies from college to college though.</p>
<p>waving hands - we do! At least I think we do. We bought long enough ago and houses in our neighborhood almost tripled in value before tumbling back down. But yes, we earn way less than $170,000, but have too much money in investments. It’s okay, that’s what it’s there for.</p>
<p>Is this supposed to be a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention? Why do people suppose that when the list price is $51K that they might be able to get the product for $30K or free? Yes, there is much financial aid for those with determined need, but there are plenty of EFC calculators out there for those who want to look into it. Merit scholarships are available, but not from the tippy-top ranked schools.</p>
<p>At D1 and S2’s college, they say that the average cost of a year is around $85K, so even those who pay full price are getting a subsidy from the endowment.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information which confirms my worry - some of the good schools are now not as affordable for middle class families.</p>
<p>Our DS will be a member of class 2014. I have been actually thinking about the situation. So, the building of his list may be far more difficult. The #1 condition is that we must be able to afford it. </p>
<p>We don’t have much saving nor home equity. Getting a decent need based FA was one of the approaches… …</p>
<p>There are definitely merit scholarships available–but you have to go to a school where most of the students are not at the same level as your child’s capacity, so your kid stands out. It’s a very legitimate way of looking at your kid’s education. Some of these schools have great honors programs, too.</p>
<p>That “tippy top” is a very small group. Eight of the USNews “top 20 national universities” offer some merit scholarships, up to full tuition and in some cases a bit more. Some of the top LACs do, as well. </p>
<p>Obviously, this is not a solution to the affordability problem for the vast majority of students, but I don’t have a huge amount of sympathy for students who will not even consider schools other than those at the “tippy top”.</p>
<p>Endicott, if you mean “stand out” at the applicant stage, I agree with your post (#10). However, one of my kids has one of those full tuition, plus cash and stuff, scholarships to a so-called “top 20” university. He does well, but it isn’t as if he is alone in that regard. He has plenty of fellow students to work with, study with and be friends with. Some of the posters on CC who insist their kids are just so brilliant that they can’t flourish any place other than “tippy top” leave me shaking my head, to be honest.</p>
<p>Have the courage to “just say no” to elite schools. There are many good affordable colleges around, and they will be getting more affordable as the graduating high school classes become smaller instead of bigger each year. I believe this year’s class (2009) is the biggest ever and next classes will be smaller (not sure, have to check #s).</p>
<p>But if you absolutely need a top tier school on your child’s resume, by all means, prepare to pay $60k per year (I think we are already at $50++)</p>
<p>It will be interesting to watch what happens to tuition and fees from this year to the next. I suspect they will continue to go up, but colleges will simultaneously increase the dollar amounts of need-based financial aid awards. This will further squeeze full-pay families.</p>
<p>I’m going to a good college near my home and in total it’s gonna cost less than 51K for all 4 years. I have 9K saved up from working in high school, my parents will probably be able to help with a few thousand each year, I get 4K from the state, can get a few thousnad more each summer working, and there’ll be a few thousand in debt left over. And I still get an education, and diploma with an almost as good name attached to it.</p>
<p>There are plenty of very good colleges that offer very nice comprehensive merit scholarship programs. If you are making $170K, save yourself some $$$.</p>
<p>Go find and check out schools with merit scholarships. You can get 1/2-full tuition, depending on the qualifications of your child. Full tuition and you are only stuck with paying 10-12K for room and board. You can rest easy because you aren’t “subsidizing” the poorer kids.
Make sure you find a FAFSA school, there are plenty of private schools that are FAFSA only, that way they won’t expect you to re-mortgage your house.</p>