<p>ProudMary is playing a little fast and loose with the numbers.</p>
<p>Carleton’s comprehensive fee has increased from $36,975 to $45,645 over my years (04-08) as a student. You may verify this in old course catalogs on the Registrar’s web site. When I applied in 03-04, the comprehensive fee was $34,395, so I saw an increase of $11,250 in the fee between when I applied and my final year. Someone in the class of 2009 at Carleton saw a comprehensive fee increase of $11,064 from the fee in the year he/she applied to the upcoming 08-09 school year–this is actually slightly less than the fee difference faced by someone in the class of 2008. For someone in the class of 2010 (the class of ProudMary’s child?), they saw a comprehensive fee of $40,467 in the 05-06 year when they applied, and would pay a comprehensive fee of roughly $51,000-$52,000 in the 09-10 year if this $11K fee increase between year you apply and year you graduate holds. I’d wager that’s pretty close to what Carleton will charge in 09-10, or maybe even a little higher.</p>
<p>Also, if cost is a concern and financial aid isn’t coming through: go Northfield Option for junior and senior years, or at the very least, get off-board by living in a non-board campus house. Sharing a non-college-owned house or apartment and paying for groceries is considerably cheaper than the $9,993 room and board cost for 08-09.</p>
<p>dietcokewithlime’s numbers are correct for the 04-08 time period. My D is also a member of class of '08. A quick search of Swarthmore’s and Bowdoin’s common data sets and college catalogs yielded the following comparison. Bowdoin & Swat increased ~16% and Carleton ~23% over this time period (look at Carleton R/B increases). I tossed in the only year Pomona has info for on their website. As others have pointed out, this is the current financial reality of a private education. The question is whether Carleton can and will increase FA accordingly. </p>
<p>Four of the more telling quotes helping to explain the seemingly capricious nature of rising college costs: </p>
<p>“One big reason is that institutions of higher learning watch one another.” </p>
<p>“We’re setting it by our competitors,” said the Rev. John I. Jenkins, the institution’s (Notre Dame’s) president.</p>
<p>“Many administrators say that without raising prices, they could not maintain or expand economic diversity among the student body. In other words, making college more expensive for some enables less well off students to go.”</p>
<p>“It can be argued that everyone studying at a private liberal arts college is getting a discount…Swarthmore spends about $73,690 a student. But its tuition, room, board and fees in the last academic year were little more than $41,000.” </p>
<p>How does all this apply to Carleton?</p>
<ol>
<li> Carleton this year remains less expensive than 6 of the other 9 top ten LACs and this gap will probably narrow next fall (playing catch-up or the “setting it by our competitors” argument?).</li>
<li> Rightly or wrongly chasing Harvard’s lead, Carleton did what a lot of other top tier schools (AKA “competitors”) did in establishing the new Access Scholarship Program for family incomes below $75,000. The program will not come cheap. ([Carleton</a> College: Carleton News: News: Carleton Announces New Access Scholarship Program](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/news/news/?story_id=391275]Carleton”>http://apps.carleton.edu/news/news/?story_id=391275)) While good news for this income cohort and neutral news for all others receiving financial aid (Carleton continues to guarantee 100% of need for students), this is a zero sum game. Those without need who pay full freight (just under half the student body) will end up helping fund the new program. Haverford, in a very similar situation, posted their increase in student costs for 2008-2009 (the only other top 10 LAC I could identify yet to do so). That increase was more than half a percent greater than Carleton’s.</li>
</ol>
<p>When she applied in the fall of 2004 The Princeton review put Carleton’s comprehensive fee at $34,392.00. It was raised after her acceptance. In her Senior year it will be over $48,000.00. What fast and loose numbers are those? Financial aid goes by percentage of the fee. We were concerned about the increase in tuition before she accepted and were assured that this was the first increase in many years and unusual. I would like to hear from someone who is middle income. Obviously, as my daughter has noticed with each new class, money swarms Carleton.</p>
<p>ProudMary, as others have suggested, contact the financial aid office about your circumstances–especially before calling all of us “passive.”</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s passivity that we’re exhibiting but realism, which stems from being well-informed. You ask," And again my question is what is that thing that Carleton is doing to ameliorate the student’s financial burden?" Again, as I did in a previous post, I point to Post #29 in this thread and 1190’s Post #44, both with links to the same article.</p>
<p>The rising cost of higher education has been in the news numerous times over the past year; 1190’s link to the NY Times article is one among hundreds. Congress has held hearings on rising tuition costs. It’s not a breaking story.</p>
<p>You are assuming we have not contacted the financial aid office which I assure you we have. Your realism stems from being well off. Post 29 and 44 site ways that all colleges are raising tuition, not how carelton is ameliorating student financial burden. Or is the way to ameliorate financial burden to accept less students who cannot pay as reducing need blind acceptance points to? Segregation was a “realism” that so many accepted. This is class segregation.</p>
<p>ProudMary, due to timing of publication the fees printed in the Princeton Review (as well as admission information - number of applicants, number accepted, etc) is always at least one year out of date. </p>
<p>I think our realism stems from being informed of the realities of college costs. Most regular readers of CC are well aware of tuition increases (there is a recent thread in the Parents Forum where people have been posting various colleges tuition increases for next year). Colleges have heavy payroll costs, as well as heavy maintenance costs; it’s no surprise they need to increase income to cover increasing expenses.</p>
<p>All I can say is that I have found that the Financial Aid office has probably accurately assessed (on the generous side) my ability to afford the costs. I am not a representative of the administration, I am not a member of the Parents Committee.</p>
<p>Do you think I am not aware that college costs are rising? Do you think I am uniformed that this has happened? That is exactly my gripe. It is exactly my point. Financial aid is a percent of the fee. If the fee goes up then the percent we pay is more. Are you really saying that they can’t run that school for less than $48,000.00 per student per year? They are charging more because they can. If you were at my income you would be furious as I am.</p>
<p>OK, I did a little checking, comparing financial statements for 2007.</p>
<p>Carleton - tuition, room and board $80,000,000
scholarships granted $23,000,000
total expenses $98,500.000</p>
<p>Williams - tuition, room and board $85,000,000
scholarships granted $25,600,000
total expenses $163,633,000</p>
<p>Swarthmore - tuition, room and board $63,000,000
scholarships granted $18,700,000
total expenses $114,661,000</p>
<p>It would appear that Carleton is keeping expenses lower than its peer institutions. And in most cases, tuition does not cover expenses - thus requiring substantial endowment funds.</p>
<p>ProudMary, affording college is tough. I’m at the end of year 2 of 7 years of tuition payments. Year 4 is what I’m dreading - when I’ll have two kids in college.</p>
<p>I don’t think Student Financial Services computes financial aid with any consideration to percentages. If all you can afford is $15K per year, for example, they are going to charge you that each year, not some percentage of the whole fee. If your income hasn’t changed much, you haven’t had another child graduate college or start college, your assets are basically the same, then your expected family contribution (EFC) should remain the same each year, regardless of what the full comprehensive fee is. If these circumstances apply to you but your EFC is becoming quite a bit larger, then, you should definitely call up SFS and ask what happened between years. If your family income has increased quite a bit, though, then an increasing EFC is not very surprising because your ability to pay for college has grown. My family’s EFC has remained very stable, so no complaints here.</p>
<p>How wrong you are! We pay a percent of the fee. Whatever that fee is. They do and have charged us more every year. Every year. Obviously you don’t have to be concerned with such things or you would know this. We have called up SFS and were told that we should consider using our 401K which is our only retirement fund. We were told that we all have to make choices. My family’s EFC is actually worse because we have paid out so much already. How arrogant you all are. Is there no one who is middle class who will speak out? Oh, that’s right, you can’t be middle class and send someone to Carleton.</p>
<p>We have two in college at the same time–one at Carleton, one at the College of Wooster. Both expensive. However, we did manage to qualify for a need-based grant from Carleton. Last year, with just one in college, we got zip. The year I dread is my younger daughter’s senior year at Carleton, when she’ll be the only one we have in college and tuition will certainly be well above $50,000. All but the NMF and Byrd $$ will be out of our humble, middle-class pocket. Alas.</p>
<p>First off, I find your suggestion that we are all “well off” to be fairly ridiculous given that NO one on this thread at the time of that post of yours had given any indication of their financial situation other than to say that they were on financial aid. Secondly, you seem to be missing that most of us agree that, yes, college costs are spiralling to a fairly ridiculous level. The problem is how you seem to be specifically targetting Carleton, which, if you pay attention to the facts that others are posting (and which you have not been utilizing other than your repetition of tuition numbers reported from a different year than your child attended Carleton), you will see that Carleton’s costs have been QUITE consistent with competing small liberal arts colleges. If you wish to argue more generally: “Private LACs cost too much, they aren’t worth it,” that’s fine, but you are haranguing Carleton specifically without first verifying whether your complain is one specific to Carleton. </p>
<p>45% of Carleton’s students are on need-based financial aid. That figure is equal to or greater than the number at most comparable liberal arts schools. The middle class is no more dead at Carleton than any other highly selective institution.</p>
<p>Proudmary, my parents currently have 2 kids in college, and next year one will graduate and i will start out at carleton. 1 is currently at state college, another at an expensive private college. our family income is below 80,000 a year. let me tell you that the costs are going to make money tight, but carleton’s financial aid was manageable. it’s true, my parents are going to have to make sacrifices, as they have been doing for the last 4 years. with gas prices getting so high, consider biking to work. question big purchases, is it really necessary? vacation? why not just relax at home, or do something inexpensive. my parents have been prepared to postpone retirement. none of my siblings have ever spent more than 500 dollars a year on personal expenses at college, we try to live simply. if you really care about sending your child where he/she will feel the most comfortable, or where they could learn, and bloom, and become an adult, then you should be willing to make sacrifices. personally, i don’t think i would have been able to survive at a state university, i just couldnt fit in. i don’t think i would even make it through 4 years, not to mention the fact that the university classes would be way below my potential. i’m greatly indebted to my parents from giving me this opportunity, and i promise to make the most of it.</p>
<p>also, </p>
<p>your consistent posting in threads over and over and over again, with an angry tone, and insulting people, is rather immature. i realize venting steam helps, but try to talk it out with a family member, with your spouse, or your Carleton student. i know it’s fun to argue with anonymous people, but enough is enough</p>