Question about college costs

sly_vt
Tue, 04 Apr 2006 20:15:50 +0000

The governor of Vermont is trying to pass a new scholarship program, which puzzles me. I’m curious what CCers think of it – and I’d like some feedback on college costs.

The program would pay up to 1,000 students a maximum of $5,000 a year to attend college in Vermont. It’s only for Vermonters, based on financial need (not merit). The governor says college is expensive, and this will lower costs. And he’s worried about all the students leaving Vermont – both for college, and after college. He thinks this scholarship will keep students in state.
The scholarship would require that students remain in Vermont and work in the state for several years - or the grant would become a loan that must be repaid.

I think many students leave the state for college because they want to live somewhere else (Vermont has no urban areas, for example, and it is cold here).

Since some Vermont colleges have lower costs for instate residents – UVM costs about $20,000 for a Vermonter and the state colleges cost in the $15,000 range (that’s tuition, room and board) – are there many out-of-state colleges that would cost less than that? It’s hard to imagine many students flocking out of Vermont because they’ve found cheaper deals out of state.

Based on all of your expertise – are there many “cheaper” colleges out of Vermont? What do you think of this scholarship plan? Are there similar ones in your states?