<p>I think a point that is also being overlooked, especially here in California, which still has a reputation of being one of the finest state university systems in the nation, is that thanks to the economic mess that is California right now, things have changed - a lot. One of our main reasons for seeking out LACs for D was because of the severe budget cuts that are affecting every part of California education from elementary school through the universities. Horror stories of freshman not being able to find any classes they need are becoming more and more common. </p>
<p>It was a definite consideration for us in deciding between our state’s university system (which has a world class reputation) and the small LAC that D eventually opted for.</p>
<p>In all honesty we always assumed D would attend one of the UC’s. Both H and I and all my other children attended UCs and for years the discussions about baby D’s college choice always centered around which UC D would attend - not if. And of course all of us were pushing for our own alma maters. :)</p>
<p>But due to a combination of circumstances, including the economic concerns facing the UC system aloing with a generous college fund available to D and her stellar academic record, we were able to explore a world that we had never really explored before. Quite honestly I really didn’t have a clue what a LAC really was until we started looking for colleges and suddenly there was this whole new quite interesting and different world of college experiences out there that just seemed to fit our D so much better.</p>
<p>I understand the state university conversation because honestly that is how I have always felt about our UCs. For my whole life until just recently, I really couldn’t understand why anyone would spend thousands of dollars more than necessary to go college when there was such an excellent state university available. Now I am just thankful D has the opportunity to attend a school where the average class size is 16 students and her professors will know her name and she will be able to get the classes she needs.</p>