I too say the methodology is flawed. The instate rate for tuition plus room and board at LSU and UMD is nearly identical and yet MD is 6 and LA is 32. Sure the avg salary is higher in MD but housing costs are much higher. Tulane is the only substantial private school in LA to drive up costs and Tulane is generous with merit aid compared to most privates.
UMD also has far less merit aid. LA’s TOPS program is in financial trouble and created issues but has made tuition affordable. Part of the problem was substantial “merit aid” is given to ACT’s in low 20’s.
Maryland has the highest income in the nation, $69K and has in-state costs including room and board around $23K. I am sure that there are families for whom $23K is a lot … but it is no PSU. There are also good schools around the state … and an active 2 year school pathway to UMD.
Louisiana has average income of $44K.
$25K additional income is over $2K per month, which will get you a nice house or apartment anywhere in the state, even near DC. Costs in Louisiana are not zero …
also cars, gas, clothing, target purchases are the same everywhere. food prices in MD have gone down as more chains move in, including low cost ones … There is actually a table in there that goes through what part of a poor families budget goes for what …
The study seems to focus on low income people primarily and how affordable local schools are. There is no way anyone can afford the 88% of (low) income type bills in some states, so they move way down in the rankings.
NJ people make good money, so the Rutgers bill is pretty doable. Penn is not a rich state, so PSU is very expensive. NYS is poor, except for NYC (not to be harsh, but upstate NY has a lot of families in relative poverty).
Cali has good tuition reduction for low income families, so poor families do not have to pay $35K … that is for middle to full pay families … Cali has many good paying jobs, and $15 min wage will help as well. CC->UC pathway is great for low income students, who can even work part-time … and get a UC valuable degree in say 6 years … 4 years at CC, then 2 years focused on getting that BS and making money.
Florida does help with private school tuition within the state. The state gives a Florida Resident Access grant of 40% of instate tuition for those residents attending a private college. It is because the public schools are overcrowded and the state wants to encourage residents to stay instate. It’s currently $3000 which isn’t going to sway a lot of people away from the big NE schools, but might help someone deciding between Rollins and one of the northern LACs. It’s also a drop in the bucket for UMiami tuition, but is 25% of the tuition at Flagler. Combine it with Bright Futures and the state is making privates more affordable. A resident can also get state need based aid if attending a private school.
Florida spends about $115M+ a year on the FRA grants (2015-2016). Including the FRA grants, the state fund/spend about $142M+ a year for Private Colleges. I don’t necessary have an issue with this, but it’s an interesting footnote.
It looks like Florida may be significantly increasing funding, over the next two years.
My point wasn’t that UMD was expensive, it’s that LA isn’t that bad if you take TOPS into account that most students pay a fraction of the tuition rate. I’ve lived in MD and LA. That’s why I picked it for comparison.
Cars, gas, etc. are not the same everywhere. Not even close. In this case, MD and LA aren’t drastically far apart but CA and some NE states are much higher on utilities. Gas in CA is $0.75 to $1/gallon more than LA. Electricity is double in CA what it is in other states. Substantial enough to be a factor in a household budget.
hey Mathprof63 really? you really want to play this game. The whole world knows TCNJ is the #1 public in NJ. More selective, higher admission standards plus top ranks in MANY studies . Like being the #35 ranked b-school in the entire country including privates! Seriously, there are so many more accolades I could go on and on. Nothing wrong with R but its simply not on the same level academically as TCNJ.
Regarding PAASHE schools: a plan was set in place to turn Mansfield into Geneseo or tcnj. But as I mentioned in the Lehigh vs. Millersville thread, passhe has suffered from, err, inconsistent leadership (other, stronger adjectives can be used). The plan never went anywhere.