Please move on from the scholarships and Stanford or start a new thread. Thank you!
1 Like
When I started my college search, my father told me he had budgeted $10K per year so I needed to keep that in mind when narrowing down my choices. I ended up at Fordham University from 1986-1990. I know by the time I graduated costs had risen above $10K.
I donāt have any documentation as to what costs actually were but I found this article from the school newspaper from fall 1985 that shows tuition, room and board was $9950. Fordham University Libraries Digital Collections
(Interesting article on the front page about allowing the CIA to recruit on campus!)
The article states that the University was recommending an 8% tuition hike and 11% room/board hike which would bring COA to $11K for 1986/87 academic year, the year I would be a freshman. Iām not sure if that actually happened, but when I applied, it was under that $10K threshold set by my dad!
COA for 2024/2025 is now $89,000!
Two of my kids were accepted to Fordham (one in 2017 and the other in 2023) but even with merit aid it was still ridiculously overpriced. They chose other schools. Made me sad that it was cost prohibitive b/c it was a good fit for both of them but they thrived/are thriving at the schools they ended up at, for a lot less $$!
1 Like
Merit and FAid can definitely affect final out of pocket cost but the current sticker prices of colleges (especially private ones) are quite high. Even if one were to get a break in tuition, high prices are still very very steep.
I thought prices were steep at about $40k/yr when S started sf USoCal in 2006 but itās more than doubled since in <20 years.
One more reminder to stay on topic. This is about YOUR college costs then and now. Thank you!
1 Like
University of Wisconsin-Madison
1998 (grad year): ~$9,000 in-state
Today: ~$30,000 in-state
I am enjoying seeing how young everyone here is!! In my original post I showed the price in what I thought was my senior year. I now realize the catalog is for the fall after my graduation! So the tuition/Room/board was less than $5k when I attended.
1 Like
For my Hā¦
Penn/Wharton 1979 ā Tuition 5270, Room 1094, Board 1050, personal/books 1200. Total 7614. He got a Ben Franklin Scholarship which covered full tuition (BF Scholars donāt get money any more). He worked and covered 100% of his expenses above the scholarship.
Now: $92,288
Penn Law Fall 1986 ā Total $26,500 for married student living off-campus. (Single student COA was $23k.) We had been married three years when he started. He had just turned 25, so we didnāt have to include parental income, though both of us had been working FT and saving every penny. I was making $20k/year and he worked in the summers. Maxed out the Staffords, took out a PLUS the last year. (Law school debt was about $35k). Penn gave scholarships to first years, but then reduced them second year and it was generally zero third year on the reasoning that summer associate positions in the Northeast Corridor paid well. (They did. But he sublet a studio for a summer in DC which cost us $$ because I was at home in Philadelphia, working FT and going to DC on weekends to visit.)
Penn Law now: $106,440, assuming you donāt need their medical plan. Thatās an extra $4400. YIKES!
1 Like
Actually, he is paying for his degree many times over with his service to his country. And I thank him for that.
10 Likes
I honestly donāt recall what my school cost, but it was next to nothing (late 70ās). The school, General Motors Institute, was part of General Motors when I went there; the cost of our education was heavily subsidized by GM. On top of that, every student had a paid co-op for 10 semesters.
Today the school is independent, Kettering University. Tuition is $48,470/year. Co-op is still very much part of the program (although not the guaranteed 10 semesters we had), so that does help with costs.
1 Like
Framingham State College - I donāt remember specific year but early '90ās. Tuition and Fees was $1,614/semester and adding in Room & Board would raise that to $3,611 - so call it $7,200/year.
They currently list as $27,230/year.
Just about a 4.2% YoY increaseā¦ not too bad actually.
Which is why I put āfreeā in quotes, but thank you. With the time owed for earning and payback for the PhD, he will be running out his career in the Army. He has received an appointment to do research at the Cyber Research Center at West Point where he will teach as well. So, he will earn that pension and be ready for a second career at 40. Unless the Army has a different plan for him then. Again. Semper Gumby.
6 Likes
I found an old cancelled check for my last semesterās tuition at the University of Illinois College of Law. $430. 1979.