@GoNoles85 - The level of need-based aid provided by the elite Universities means the scenario you paint should not occur for students of those schools - most of them have no-loan financial aid policies and realistic EFC calculations.
Of course there are other schools (such as NYU) with big price tags where this is not the case. Those are the unaffordable schools that will be increasingly out of reach of the middle class.
Actually emilybee, I misread your post.
The very tippy top schools may offer major financial aid like that, but I doubt that’s true of a majority of the top 100 schools. For most strong but not HYP-level private schools, are they really affordable for a family income of 100-150K?
" but I doubt that’s true of a majority of the top 100 schools. For most strong but not HYP-level private schools, are they really affordable for a family income of 100-150K?"
It depends on what you consider HYP level schools.
Again, Xiggi’s statement was: “At that level, the top schools will be for the very rich and the very poor.”
My S went to a very good school that is in the top 20 but a school which anyone applying to HYPMS would think of as a “safety.” They give only need based aid, no merit aid. With an income between $120K-$130K/yr my S was given $160K in aid over 4 years - bringing the cost to us down to $80K - the exact same amount it would have cost us to send him to an instate SUNY.
As a clarification, allow me to add that the “at that level” was a direct reference to the article quoting a sum of 500,000 dollars for a fully paid education. If you were to project the growth in both average salaries in the US and the rapidly rising costs of education, you will see that they are not growing at the same pace.
Your example is well chosen with a education of 50 to 60,000 per annum discounted by 30-40 thousands a year. But what would happen if the income grows to 200K a year but education rises to 125.000? Do we really think that it will take the same 20K a year after need based aid?
The historical numbers and their subsequent projections do not look great for middle class families. In my case, I am greatly concerned by what will happen in 20-25 years. I already know that it would take half a miracle to duplicate what my parents could afford in terms of education. And that does not relate solely to college as the cost of private schooling has also become extremely expensive. For some the cost of private K-12 is higher than college.
Anyhow, I think that with a cost of 500,000, the market will difficult for the middle class that is neither rich nor poor.
I don’t know about that because as COA has increased the schools that are generous with FA have increased the income levels which qualify for FA.
@ 20,
I suppose you are right. I have no problem with realistic EFC’s at all. But this on-going conversation about education affordability, across multiple threads, and college debt, and my steadfast belief that one just needs to work, save and plan ahead combined with the threads about medical insurance costs basically got me to change my mind.
I have kids who are 21 and 17 years old. They are helpless without me. I don’t mean that in a negative way either. The older one has Bright Futures (a state scholarship) and he is is on his second adult job and he performs really well socially, at work and at school but he would be doomed if I wasn’t there, behind the scenes, pulling the strings and funding just about everything. Medical insurance is another joke. The only way to get premiums down to a slightly less obscene level is to make the deductible outrageously high which means, in effect, you end up paying 99% of your medical expenses out of pocket.
Your “insurance” only comes into play if something catastrophic happens, otherwise it is a complete ripoff. As someone else joked, on this thread, college costs are no big deal because you’ll get a job after college. Good one. Sure you will. Good luck with all that. So, all in all, I’m not so sure the average person, coming from a middle class background, is able to do anything other than tread water in life. That’s more of an observation than a complaint. I’ve done well for myself in life and can set my kids up a little bit but most families can’t pull that off like I can unless they were born into wealth.
Hell, even debt related to cars is astronomical at this point, might as well just add that to the tab. If the Ivies let the best of the best in, and then help them pay for it, so that they are need blind, my hat is off to them. I still feel like there is some small print or trickery involved but I suppose for HYP it is true. But for all those other 40+ and 50+ a year schools, even with a little merit aid, you are still stuck with quite a bill. In some cases, if the publics cost 30+ a year anyway, it might not be much of difference, but I can tell you publics do not cost that much down here so you are, as a middle class member, sort of locked out unless you take on ridiculous amounts of debt and that kind of pisses me off.
This is a YMMV thing.
My insurance through the exchange is completely reasonable with a very low deductible. I bought a car that I put 40% down on and paid it off in 3 years while a full time student. I did it without parent help because I didn’t have a choice. Neurotypical people become remarkably resourceful when they don’t have others to fall back on.
If you’re not getting aid at the most generous privates, you’re not middle class.
You’re lucky in Florida that you have Bright Futures. Most of us don’t live in states with that level of help.
Remember some of the increase in tuition is due to inflation and the recession. I don’t think the cost of attending colleges will ever exceed $100K a year.
“college costs are no big deal because you’ll get a job after college. Good one. Sure you will. Good luck with all that.”
You should read some of the Class of XXX threads. Many kids get jobs and good ones, too. My S just graduated, with no debt thanks to us and generous FA. He got a terrific job at a very nice starting salary with excellent benefits. We have had to help a bit setting him up (1st month/last month rent & security deposits because it’s hard for kid to do that before they even are getting a paycheck) and we are paying his car insurance/cell phone for now because we choose, too.
@ 28,
Congrats and yes I know some kids get jobs but I can certainly see the other side of the street better than I could before. It all gets back to opportunity and the notion that honest hard work can get you ahead … or not. I’m frankly beginning to wonder.
Some kids get jobs? No, I think most college graduates get jobs. It just might not be their dream job at first.
I think in 18 years, my kids will earn more than a million dollar a year so they can afford college for their kids. But I think they will come to CC and complain they can’t live on half a million.
I have a few CC posters I’d like you to meet…
It won’t happen. It isn’t sustainable. Colleges would be giving out ridiculously high amounts of grant aid to the overwhelming majority of their students. Likely 1-2% of students at private colleges would be able to afford that. They would be spending more money than they actually get with a COA that high. I think it will cap at $100,000.
@CaliCash, I believe that headline figure of half a million would be over 4 years.
As for whether only 1-2% at private colleges can afford that, I think you’ll be surprised to discover just how many wealthy families there are.
Its not like there is anything stopping colleges that meet 100% need from being need aware in admissions.
I think that can be preferable to a school that admits you, maybe gives you a teaser grant for freshmen year, then pulls the rug out.
I like to know upfront what the reality is.
Things will continue as they are, with escalating costs. Until they break. Trees don’t grow to the sky. Eventually, some folks will come up with innovative new models that deliver quality education for a fraction of today’s prices. I believe Georgia Tech has a masters in computer science program that costs about $7000, total. Texas is working on a $10K baccalaureate degree program. There is a startup called Minerva University that will offer a four-year degree at a fraction of the cost of most private universities. One or more of these models, or some version thereof, will catch fire and will go from ridiculed to orthodoxy in a matter of a few years, sweeping away most traditional-style schools. Those who adapt at the right time will prosper. Some who get ahead of the curve will die on the vine, they will be too early. Some who fall behind the curve will fail, also. How long will it be before this occurs? I don’t know, My crystal ball is in the shop for repairs.
I wonder if college will look the same when tuition gets to 100k per year. No education is worth that. That price is about elitism & no student is going to be able to pay off loans, car, & mortgage. I think many colleges will close doors. There needs to be a lid on professor & admin salaries.
When I was in college, attendance (room and board) was, IIRC, about $4k/year. Now its 60K. At this rate 100K is completely believable.
@ 36,
Certiport is a testing services company. So, for example, if you want to prove you know an application or a body of knowledge, let’s say Quickbooks, you pass one of Certiport’s exams and you get a certificate. The college I work at is tailoring some of our curriculum to match the exam or some other external exam, such as the Enrolled Agent Exam, and it won’t matter where the learner gets the skills to pass the exam.
If you pass the exam employers will hire you simple as that.
It seems to me that is the wave of the future. What do you want to be? What skills does it take to be that? Programs will arise to get you those skills, exactly those skills, and only those skills, that is what ER’s want and will pay for by hiring you. It won’t matter where you got those skills either it could be programming or apps or nursing or pharmacy technology or criminal justice skills or accounting or using this or that software. Schools can still be involved in training you … or not … but acquiring those skills is the bottom line.
All that talk about a liberal arts education developing well rounded citizens is mostly mumbo jumbo. Most of the liberal arts skills can be developed without expensive formal education and it is shocking how much those “soft skills” are lacking considering the investment made to get them. All that mumbo jumbo about needing those skills is what supports those administrators and faculty salaries that are sky high. I know I will get shot for even thinking that but hey I might as well put my cards on the table. You might as know what I really think and I am not attacking anyone. I realize that lots of people in power in corporations and government have LA degrees and let me say LA degrees have value but they are can easily be developed without requiring an expensive program. Debate and critical thinking skills are not that hard to come by.
The medieval model of baccalaureate and masters degrees and PhD degrees is somewhat out of touch with the times and I for one can’t wait for that whole thing to crumble.