D2 is a Junior and D3 is many years younger. I work from home and could live anywhere. I have been thinking about leaving NY (lots of reasons to do that!). This would not be the only deciding factor, but if you could live in any state for the purposes of college admissions, where would you go? Assume your child is young and you don’t know yet what kind of student she might turn out to be, so you’d want a state with affordable options for great students and mediocre students or even students with learning disabilities just in case.
https://ticas.org/posd/state-state-data-2015 may give you a starting list of states with the lowest level of student loan debt (e.g. UT, NM, CA, AZ, NV, FL, WA, WY, NC, OK, AK, HI, TX). Then try the net price calculators for those states’ public schools ranging from the flagship(s) to the less selective four year schools to the community colleges. Also, check the available academic programs at the various selectivity levels of the states’ public schools, and the transfer paths from the community colleges in those states.
Conversely, those states with the highest level of student loan debt (e.g. NH, PA, CT, DE) are not great candidates from a college admissions and affordability standpoint.
I’d move to North Carolina or Virginia. Both states have terrific options for different types of students…from a first rate flagship to smaller schools.
But I have to say…the SUNY system in NY would also have been a draw for me. Costs are affordable for instate students…and there are many SUNY options. Plus NY has TAP, Excelsior and the Stem Scholarships for eligible students.
@katwkittens made that sort of decision years ago, and has been very happy with her choice and with the options her kids have had. Unfortunately, I can’t remember which state she moved to, so I hope she spots this!
Phoenix metro in Arizona may be worth consideration in this context.
ASU has something for almost every student, and is admission accessible to almost any reasonably college ready student. So, if it is affordable as a commuter, having it gives a good baseline option for a wide range of students.
It’s expensive in some parts of NY state…but not in others. We have friends who live near Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and the costs are not high. Sure…Manhattan is high…and the boroughs…and areas near Albany…but not the whole state.
As an aside…there are some mighty expensive parts of both Virginia and NC…but less costly areas as well.
Phoenix has also gotten more pricey in the last couple of years.
Are you looking for an inexpensive cost of living AND excellent colleges, with variety?
How about Ohio? Or Florida? Or South Carolina?
Wisconsin has a good variety of colleges as well…so does Michigan. And both places have many different price points in terms of affordable living.
@thumper1 Yeah, I want a low cost of living and great colleges, no crime, perfect weather and great school system…am I asking too much? You are also right about other parts of NY state. I may look here as well.
Note that moving during a kid’s senior year in high school may mean no in state residency for the first year of college (unless gap year), because there is typically a year waiting period.
My son, with learning disabilities and low stats, was able to get and maintain a relationship with voc rehab while in high school in Iowa. They gave him a grant to attend the local community college. That grant, combined with financial aid. made the CC free. Iowa is low cost of living and low unemployment rate, an easy state financially to live in.
IMO, VA is the state that has the best set of publics for all types of students (including a good liberal arts uni in W&M).
CA has a good range as well if you’re willing and able to pay for a bit more expensive in-state rate and don’t mind large schools. CA also has a CC system that feeds in to a ton of their publics.
OH has a bunch of publics that are very strong in all sorts of different areas (but doesn’t have a Cal/UCLA/UMich/UVa).
MI would also cover a big range and has both a top and more average big flagship-type public with big time sports/school spirit, which is a pretty rare combo.
NC has been mentioned.
TX also offers a good range (and guaranteed admissions if you hit a certain class rank).
FL has NCF, which I consider a gem and it seems like many FL residents can go to one of their publics very cheaply with Bright Futures and scholarships.
Finally, NM has NMTech, which is a bit of a gem (their STEM PhD entrance rate is comparable to top privates) and I believe it’s easy for in-state kids to get scholarships to get most of their college tuition paid for if they go to an in-state public.
North Carolina. We live outside Charlotte and such a great school system. Plus you have all UNC colleges here, NC State, Elon, Wake Forest , Duke, Davidson and others. So many great colleges to choose from.
And right, NYS actually isn’t bad. Lots of variety and pretty cheap SUNYs/CUNYs.
A bunch of NYS CC’s have articulation agreements with Cornell and RPI (and Clarkson). A few NYS publics have 3-2 engineering partnerships with Columbia (and RPI and Clarkson). The Cornell contract colleges have a cheaper NYS rate (somewhat limited in majors, granted).