<p>I think all you have to do is look at how many people send their kids to private secondary schools. Those schools’ tuition is $35,000 per year, not that much less than college tuition. Contrary to colleges, most of those school do not offer FA to students.</p>
<p>I personally do not think the bubble will burst, but what will happen is in this country is there will be more disparity between rich and poor. All you have to do now is look at top tier schools, the student body is comprise of upper middle class or lower class. The reason is most middle class do not qualify for FA (income lower than 120k or 180k), so those students would need to take out a huge amount of loan or go to a lower tier schools to get merit aid. In today’s employment environment, employers could have the pick of employees, and they are recruiting at top tier schools.</p>
<p>Prices might not drop but the student loans sea might become unnavigable for many families. I agree with Bchan1 in that loans (debts) are the modern equivalent of indentured servitude. Once more and more families end up priced out of the more expensive schools, those families will start looking at cheaper options; we may reach a point where community colleges might be seen under a positive light.</p>
<p>The number of high school graduates is expected to drop each year for the next 5 or 6 years. This may leave some schools with empty beds if they don’t lower prices to attract more students.</p>
<p>Rising Tuition benefits all schools.
Top colleges don’t really care other than they can be selective towards those who can afford it.</p>
<p>Middle colleges can discount from the top tier pricings through scholarships while keeping the high prices to wealthier students, and OOS/foreign students, giving the appearance of value. </p>
<p>Lower schools can rise the prices to keep them in solvency. </p>
<p>If the top schools do not raise tuition, the middle and lower schools will eventually have the tuition catchup to the colleges at the next level. When the cost differences disappear, we are going to be in trouble.</p>
<p>Disclaimer. Its an opinion. I don’t really care at this time, since we our time has come and gone.</p>
<p>I’ve been thinking this bubble will burst for years. Never believed the costs would get up this high. I was wrong, and we can’t afford the full cost of a private school anymore. </p>
<p>I can tell you that when my current college kid was making his choices, a lot more of his peers had to take cost into account. I don’t think my older kids’ peers were doing this. I didn’t hear much about that anyways. But people are out of work, business is down, investments are down, HELOCs and credit lines rescinded, people are scared. My friend who paid fully for her daughter had to withdraw her son from private high school in the last few years and tell her son that he either could commute to a private school where he got a merit award or go to a state school They could not afford the private schools that did not give merit money. The dad is a doctor who just started his own practice and the money is just not there.</p>