College Navigator is still having issues, so I’ve grabbed these numbers from the College Board’s website. I chose New York City, because even for those of us who don’t live there, people generally have some idea as to the costs. Apart from Sarah Lawrence, there weren’t too many differences in Books & Supplies. But there were definitely some big differences in Personal Expenses & Transportation (which I think are two categories that are added together for College Navigator’s “Other” expense category).
NYC-Area Colleges
Books & Supplies
Personal Expenses
Transportation
Total
Sarah Lawrence
$600
$870
N/A
$1,470
Hofstra
$1,000
$1,050
$1,000
$3,050
Manhattan College
$1,200
$1,200
$900
$3,300
Barnard (NY)
$1,150
$1,370
$1,070
$3,590
Columbia (NY)
$1,392
$2,350
N/A
$3,742
Fordham
$1,088
$1,560
$1,242
$3,890
CUNY Baruch
$1,364
$1,776
$1,122
$4,262
NYU
$1,494
$3,034
$1,154
$5,682
NYU’s budget for personal expenses is more than 3x greater than the one for Sarah Lawrence and more than double the one for Barnard. I don’t think these differences are really cost-of-living differences…it’s just more how generous a school is in defining those costs. So this “extra” category in COA that is not tuition & fees or room & board has more than a $4200 difference between the lowest “cost” school vs. the highest, even in the same city.
Let’s switch to another city, Chicago, which is generally considered to be less expensive than New York City.
Chicago-Area Colleges
Books & Supplies
Personal Expenses
Transportation
Total
North Central
$1,200
$1,202
$522
$2,924
Loyola Chicago
$1,200
$1,600
$450
$3,250
Wheaton
$910
$1,800
$640
$3,350
Lake Forest
$1,350
$1,948
$1,150
$4,448
Northwestern
$1,686
$1,905
$1,314
$4,905
Elmhurst
$1,240
$3,190
$1,520
$5,950
U. of Chicago
$3,750
$2,400
$450
$6,600
U. of Illinois at Chicago
$1,400
$4,500
$1,526
$7,426
Three of the schools have higher “other” expenses than the most expensive school in NYC, and five of them have higher costs than all but two of the NYC schools. And U. of Chicago has $2k/year higher book costs than Northwestern.
If someone asked me whether I think that costs for “other” expenses would be nearly $6k/year more at UI-Chicago than at Sarah Lawrence, I’d wonder what on earth they were thinking. Thus, this is why I think that COAs are not really good comparisons for most colleges.
And I chose NYC and Chicago because there are lots of colleges in close proximity to show this comparison…and not so much in New Mexico.
I’m not sure, but I don’t want to derail @peanutmom1’s thread further to discuss COAs, so I’ve created a new thread for anyone who wants to continue the general COA discussion there:
Other than a laptop, which is officially part of “books and supplies”, I don’t think any of my kids spent more than a few hundred dollars on textbooks in their entire college career. And the online problem sets are typically $20-$25 per course per term. I agree its much better to exclude books/personal expenses/transportation and then look at your individual circumstances (e.g. how far away is the college, are the a lot of expensive off-campus activities your kid will be involved in).
UNM was one of my kids top 3 when he looked a few years ago. He was looking for merit aid and considering nuclear engineering.
For the big merit (full ride) opportunities some schools (Ohio State, UMD, etc) require EA applications. EA is also important for a getting spot in engineering at popular publics. Some schools will require an additional application for the full rides. Stamps at Ohio State requires meeting the EA deadline, applying for honors and a separate application. Stamps Eminence Scholarship Program | Honors and Scholars Center
Although merit will change a bit by next cycle, it’s not too early to start investigating and building a spreadsheet with important deadlines.