Penn State worth 46K per year?

Theojohn
Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:22:20 +0000

@rockycrrab, I don’t think there is a single answer for this question. As an OOS parent who is paying for Penn State (son is studying business and I am very impressed with Smeal), I think it is worth it, but obviously it depends on your family’s resources, what you want to study, and your other options. Last year as parents we paid $32,500 for Penn State. My son took out $5,500 in loans and paid for his books and incidentals/spending money from the money he had saved and earned during the summer. I believe he should contribute and have some skin in the game. I think $46K seems high based on what we paid last year, although we obviously expect an increase every year. This does not include travel but we can drive to PSU, although it’s a long ride. We had to compare these costs to schools such at Northeastern, which was approx. $15K higher per year. And we didn’t think our state school met his needs. So for us it is worth it, but for you it may be worth going to CC for a year and transferring to UW or another good school that is less expensive then Penn State. Good luck!