NPR College Admissions Story

skrlvr
Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:43:53 +0000

LD,

As much as you want to complain about taxes and NC, the system does a much better job of allocating its resources towards in-state taxpayers than Alabama.

First, UNC Chapel Hill has an 82% in-state enrollment, while U Alabama has only 58% in-state enrollment, so it keeps most of its slots at its coveted state flagship for taxpayers.

In addition, its tuition is $5922, compared to an average state university price of $7605 and much better than Alabama’s $7900. NC residents can attend one the best universities in the country, public or private, for less than the average tuition at any public or private school.

In addition, for those lucky out-of-staters who do get to attend UNC, tuition is set at 24,736, while Alabama’s is at 20,500.

So your state is doing a very good job of using its precious higher education tax dollars towards its taxpayers.



I’m talking about a token little $1K award, just a morsel, just enough to say, "Yes, we want you.



As much as you want to be cynical about being a taxpayer and not getting any ‘scholarship’, perhaps that’s because the in-state tuition is already relatively low. Would you have felt better if in-state tuition at App State was $7900, as it is in Alabama, and then you got your little $1K award. It seems to me that that’s not as good a deal than what App State is doing now, with $5175 for tuition.

Now we can se why colleges have high list prices and then hand out ‘scholarships’ to lower the price as a way of making the student feel good–exactly what most people complain about in terms of setting college tuition.