Yes - getting into Harvard is not the same as getting into college.
There are plenty of college spots overall, just not at the very most popular institutions.
While list price has increased steadily, average net inflation-adjusted tuition has increased at a much slower rate: https://trends.collegeboard.org/college-pricing/figures-tables/average-net-price-over-time-full-time-students-private-nonprofit-four-year-institutions
While college tuition has gone up, median incomes have declined since 2008 when you include inflation in the calculations.
Increasing tuition coupled declining incomes are why the amount of outstanding student loans have increased dramatically.
@roethlisburger Thanks for sharing that chart. I do not dispute the numbers but I was shocked to the point of disbelieve. Do I read the chart right that the Net tuition costs have basically flat lined from 1996 to 2017? It seems to show net tuition cost to be around 11-12K in 1996 and increased to 14K in 2017. I find that very hard to believe. Sorry.
And this is supposed to be just private schools!
Something just does not feel right from how I have experienced is my research of private college costs.
I agree that getting in to a top top school (like Ivy or another let’s say top 25 or 30 school) is probably not any easier for many of the reasons mentioned. I do think however if you are a more average student not applying for aid, you can definitely get into a very, very decent school. But to someone’s earlier point, you have to be able to afford it.
I do a little college advising and I have a student that is not even in the top 50% of her class and her ACT score is so low she only applied to test optional schools. In fact, the official classification of her ACT score is “not college ready”. Yet, this student has gotten into schools like Marist and Catholic…one of them even giving her money, even though she didn’t apply for aid. And her high school is nothing special. Let’s call it average.
But I have another student that I am advising that is top 5% in his class and has very respectable scores, but not top notch (1340 new SAT?). This student definitely had no shot at one of tippy top schools because of his score, despite having a high rank and near perfect transcript. He was rejected ED at a top 25 (and rightfully so based on the stats of those that did get in). However, when he takes it down a notch and widens his net to let’s say a top 100 school that has lots of name recognition and great pre-professional programs, he is getting in with money. Example: U of Miami gave this student 20K per year. Not a bad option!
So I guess I am kind of supporting what has already been stated…despite there being less applicants overall (baby-boomers kids are out of college now?), the top top schools are no easier to get in. But if you are willing to go to a less prestigious school but still is well known and very academically strong AND IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY I do think that it is a bit easier to get in now.
The top top schools (most of which are truly need blind) have such strong endowments that they truly can cover the costs of the strongest kids and this is great for them. But the next rung of kids that cannot afford or even get into a top top school but still have very strong applications may end up at a state school unless they want to graduate with 100K in debt.
I wish I had a solution. I hope that the state schools remain strong or get stronger to give these deserving students a shot at a great education. Some state schools are better than others.
Note that this chart is in inflation-adjusted 2016 dollars.
It may be that the average net price across all private non-profit college behaved differently from that at the private non-profit colleges that people on these forums consider to be desirable. Many of the lesser known and undistinguished (academically or otherwise) private colleges are struggling financially due to lack of student interest and the consequent need to discount more heavily (i.e. more or bigger scholarships) to fill seats.
@MassDaD68: The dotted blue line is for publics. The dotted orange line is for privates.
And yes, if a kid is in, say, the top quartile in HS, it’s not that difficult to get enough of a discount (through merit money, etc.) whereby a non-elite private costs the same or less than an in-state flagship.
@PurpleTitan I thought the dotted line referred to a net number. the solid yellow being published Tuition, Fee, Room & Board and the dotted yellow being Net Tuition, Fees, Room& Board.
I was referring to only the blue Tuition and fees. I would extend my same comments to the yellow lines as well. they just don’t seem to have increased by what I would have expected.
@ucbalumnus True that they used 2016 dollars but it still seems odd that they only increased a few thousand over 20 years? My understanding was/is that college costs have increased much more than inflation for years and years creating the problem now where nobody can afford to go to a private school.
Less popular less selective private schools may have to offer bigger scholarships to fill seats. Those are probably not the private schools most people posting on these forums consider. Remember, HYPSM are not representative of private schools overall.
Possibly. But that has not been my son’s experience. He only applied to non-ranked schools and they are still north of $45K a year. For myself and the middle class folks I talk to find this a bit rich for them. But I do understand that this country is full of very rich people who can easily afford a $45k/year college bill. It is the ones that cannot afford this that just have very little options. Private college (any college) is a privilege and not a right. I get where it is mostly for the privileged class. Thank god for the state schools and Community colleges out there that allow middle class smart kids an option for a college degree.
As usual these “net price” charts do nothing but confuse the issue. I will copy and paste the key points they list on that link we’ve been looking at below…
My opinion:
Net price is what they arrive at AFTER they subtract federal funds/grants, state funds, scholarships, student AND parent LOANS that are offered. So basically, more aid AND government offered LOANS are now prominent in the calculations. This artificially makes it seem like college prices are not going up as dramatically as they ACTUALLY ARE. People should be looking at the true price of attendance when looking at schools. What happens if all of a sudden you lose that grant…your GPA dips and you lose that scholarship? Can you still afford it?
I wish they would stop this “net price” propaganda. No applicant will truly know what their individual “net price” is until they actually fill out the FAFSA/CSS, apply and get their “offer”. If any parent has significant savings outside of their 401K accounts…their EFC will exponentially rise despite their income level. Once again we have a disincentive to save for college. This trend will continue as long as legislation continues to decide that all kids deserve to go to a 4 year college (even if it makes more financial sense to go to a community college…and/or more sense if the student is unsure of a major----Note that one typical calculation for graduation study is completion in 5-6years!.
Another issue is that “middle class families” who sent their kids to community college have even fewer “merit” scholarships offered to them when they transfer than incoming freshman…which is frustrating (but a good business move for them).
Here’s the copy/paste below the article chart being referenced:
Key Points
The average net tuition and fee price at private nonprofit four-year institutions is lower in 2016-17 than it was in 2006-07 because the increase in average grant aid and tax benefits was larger than the increase in published prices.
Between 2011-12 and 2016-17, average published tuition and fees at private nonprofit institutions rose by $3,780. The $2,360 increase in grant and tax benefits per student covered 62% of that increase.
Financial aid explains the gap between published and net tuition and fees. Average grant aid from all sources and federal education tax benefits covered 41% to 44% of published tuition and fees at private four-year institutions from 1996-97 through 2006-07. That percentage was between 57% and 59% from 2011-12 to 2016-17.
The average net tuition and fees and room and board price is $26,080 in 2016-17, an increase of 6% ($1,500 in 2016 dollars) over the last decade
Here is a good view of a website that the government has provided to “help” us understand the “true” cost vs. the “net cost”…I think it is more helpful than most. https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?md=0
If you go back and look at the article/chart…you will see that tuition/room and board (full price) has gone up about $10,000.00 which is closer to a 30% increase… very relevant for those in the middle class that do not qualify for federal/state grants.
with regard to above comment…that is in the last decade…per that same chart
Meh, this article doesn’t say much new. “The reality is that colleges and universities are not really that selective and even if there are those which are very hard-to-get-into institutions, they only comprise a very small percentage of the entire number of schools. There are still plenty of great schools to choose from.”
This is the way it’s always been…there are TONS of colleges and many of them are frantic to up their enrollment but the top 100 are always going to be harder…and I believe they’ll get harder as the international enrollment swells…
In looking at most “affordable” private school according to the major lists…with only merit aid…this link could be helpful if just starting to look… http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/index.php
Net price should mean price after subtracting grants and scholarships (not loans or work-study) from the list price. It would be misleading if it were used to denote the price after subtracting loans and work-study as well.
@ucbalumnus I totally agree. it “should”…but it doesn’t. If you use the Fafsa Forecaster, it automatically inputs both student loans and parent loans before you hit the “calculate” button. To use this tool effectively to determine just how large of a loan one will likely need, you have to delete those and enter 0. They also automatically input an “average” guess of what a persons assets are…which I find to be ridiculously low. Make sure to delete those and put in the correct amounts there too. In general, this gives a pretty close picture.
just google fafsa forecaster if the link doesn’t work
FAFSA4caster only estimates federal aid, not net price for any particular college.
A net price estimate for a particular college is best gotten from that college’s net price calculator. (Though some colleges have better ones than others.)
actually I have that wrong…the EFC will be the same if you 0 out the automatically generated loan and work study numbers, It is still deceiving though. What is generated in the tool for loans and work study is pretty low…and that is IF you qualify for work study. So if the EFC remains high you will need to find a significant loan/merit scholarship to cover the rest of the cost of tuition/room/board if there is no cash on hand.