Tuition Exchange - where to apply?

Applying to College
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My son is a senior this year and we need to come up with a list of TE schools to apply to. He wants to go to school for business/finance/economics (something in that realm). He has a 3.6 GPA unweighted and he has 8 APs, 2 dual enrollments. He’s played soccer for 4 years - 2 jv and 2 Varsity. He did another varsity sport for 3 years as well (ultimate frisbee). We’re in New England. I’m not sure he wants to go to far away. He’ll honestly probably land at our state university, but I want to have him at least apply to some TE schools as well.

Preliminary list

BU

Babson

GWU

American University

Quinnipiac

Fairfield University

Loyola University Maryland

Syracuse

Fordham

As a huge stretch he will probably apply to BU and Babson. Maybe GWU and American since his sister is at GWU - might be nice if they were closeby or I could visit 2 at once. LOL. I’m thinking of having him look at Providence College (but he wasnt raised Catholic, will he hate it there?) I was raised Catholic but dont practice any longer. He wasnt raised religious at all. Will he feel out of place at some of these Jesuit Schools?

I dont know most of the colleges on the list. My son is very much your typical teen boy. He’s going to want to live on campus and he likes sports and working out and would consider joining a frat. I dont want to suggest schools that he might be miserable at. For example, I know he would not enjoy the school I work at, most of the students are a little quirky and tend to express themselves outside of conventional norms. I dont have time and resources to visit every place. We’ve been to GWU and BU for visits with his sister. Also he visited BC, Harvard, Northeastern - enjoyed all of those. It might be nice if he was close to snowboarding in the winter - but not a “must-have”.

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I have 2 daughters who went to Providence College. My third daughter married a guy from PC. His brother and his sister-in-law both went to PC. My cousins son went there as well. The point is that I know and have talked with a lot of PC folks. I haven’t met a single one who didn’t love their 4 years there. I have met a lot who hated to leave. Whether it’s Providence or a Jesuit college, these are not your Mom or Dad’s Catholic colleges. The religion is there for those who want it, but otherwise it’s not overwhelming. In other words, it doesn’t seek you out. If you want it, you have to seek it out. Catholicism is their history, and I think that brings with it a sense of tradition in Western civilization, an ethical sense, and a view of moral purpose. Will your son be miserable at Providence? I don’t know, but I would be really surprised if he was. There’s lots of school spirit and many opportunities for intramural sports for a kid like him. Lots of kids who go there are headed for a career in business, so he should find like minded peers with a business program, grounded in liberal arts. Overall it has a laid back vibe.

Let me contrast PC with Babson, which I think offers an incredible educational experience. Like BU (11% acceptance rate), Babson has become highly selective (17% acceptance rate vs 51% at PC). It would be a reach for your son, but more importantly, the students there tend to be more driven than those at Providence. So, which environment would he tend to thrive in? Either would offer a good education, but the key question is which would be a better fit for him? Visit and see what you think.

Fairfield is somewhere in between although more like PC than Babson. Applications are up there; it is a “hot” school in terms of interest. So, it has become harder to get into (33% acceptance rate). A friend of mine is on the faculty of the Business School and she attributes the surge in applications to interest in the Business School. Located on Connecticut’s “Gold Coast”, it has relatively easy access to NYC with a lot of commuters who ride the rails to jobs in the City living there. Or to the growing business community in the exurbs of Stamford, Greenwich, White Plains, and New Rochelle. A lot of students like that proximity with the hopes of getting internships in or near NYC. I have a cousin who went there for nursing and loved it.

Fordham continues the same kind of culture. Located in the Bronx with a second smaller high rise campus at Lincoln Center, the Bronx campus is beautiful with opportunities for expanded space across the street in the NY Botanical Gardens & Bronx Park. Great Italian food down the street in Belmont, the “Little Italy” of the Bronx. Otherwise the surrounding area is urban and gritty. There is easy access to Manhattan vis campus shuttle van to Lincoln Center, commuter rail with a station at the edge of campus, or City Subway a few blocks away. With a 58% acceptance rate, it should be within reach for your son. Because of its location, large alumni network in the NY business community, and the respected Gabelli School of Business (excellent facilities on campus), it is popular as a back up choice for students whose first choice is NYU or Columbia. In full disclosure, I have family ties (brother, son, cousins), none of whom went into a business career.

I’ll stop there because the rest of your list all offer obvious differences in terms of location, size, and/or culture. But all are appropriate in terms of an admissions match and provide a range of admissions difficulty which give you targets and safeties while BU and Babson are both reaches, I have family and friends with kids at Quinnipiac (72% acceptance rate), Syracuse (37% acceptance rate), Loyola (75% acceptance rate), and American (62% acceptance rate) and can answer questions about them.

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If he likes Babson, is Bentley and/or Bryant on the TE list?

What’s your overall budget? Maybe there’s a full pay or full pay with merit that will achieve a similar cost as your in-state school?

Which state?

Is there a test score?

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When I looked up the list of schools on the Tuition Exchange, Bryant was there, but Bentley was not.

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I had a conversation with a woman whose daughter went to Syracuse TE. She said Syracuse gives more TE awards than most schools on the list. I found that interesting- our S23 did apply to a couple of schools TE but we didn’t have any luck, and we’re not pursuing TE for D26 because it’s just such a crapshoot.

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Rather, do you need TE schools that cover full tuition or are those that use the set rate ($44k for SY26-27, per TE’s site) okay?

I was going to advise looking at the acceptance rate range for TE, but it appears it is no longer on the website. That said, for many TE schools (especially those that most people “know”), TE is very challenging to receive and one should plan to be one of the school’s top applicants to improve your odds. Not only did many TE schools have fewer than 10% of TE applicants receive a TE offer, many of them might have had something more like a 1% offer rate. All of that said, the reachier the school is for a student to be admitted, the less likely one is to receive TE, from my observations.

@Excel_Dad helped set up workbooks that CC users filled out with the stats of their students and what schools they ended up receiving (or not) TE from. He may also have some additional advice on the overall TE process.

How has your son done on his APs? Does he have an SAT or ACT score? And what is a 3.6 GPA like at his school? Is it a school where lots of students have a 4.0, or are 4.0 students a rare breed? Or rather, approximately what percentile would the 3.6 place him (top 10%, 20%, 50%, etc)?

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For the schools on your current list, these are the TE amounts offered:

School Name State TE Amount
American U. DC Set Rate
Babson MA Full Tuition
Boston U. MA Set Rate
Fairfield CT Set Rate
Fordham NY Set Rate
George Washington DC Other Amount
Loyola Maryland MD Other Amount
Quinnipiac CT Set Rate
Syracuse NY Set Rate

Based off my sense of the schools on his current list, below are some full tuition TE schools that he may want to consider that students report as having a lot of enthusiasm around college sporting events:

  • Endicott (MA): About 3200 undergrads

  • Hampden-Sydney (VA): About 900 grads at this men’s college. Performs very well on Wall Street Journal rankings that heavily emphasize financial outcomes. It seems to have a very loyal alumni base.

  • Mercyhurst (PA ): About 2300 undergrads

  • Merrimack (MA): About 4200 undergrads

  • Sacred Heart (CT): About 7k undergrads

  • Siena (NY): About 3500 undergrads

  • Seton Hall (NJ): About 6100 undergrads

  • Saint Joseph’s (PA ): About 4800 undergrads

  • Springfield (MA): About 1900 undergrads

  • St. Bonaventure (NY): About 1900 undergrads

  • Temple (PA ): About 22k undergrads

  • Xavier (OH): About 4600 undergrads

If schools that are set amount or other tuition are of interest, let us know.

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He wont feel out of place at a Jesuit.

TE awards have been very difficult to get in the last couple of years. I wouldnt assume he would get TE awards from any of the schools on his list sadly. Apply of course but don’t hold your breath either.

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I know you said not too far, but in my mind, strong undergrad business plus secular plus snowboarding = U of Denver, which is on the TE list and very easy to access from Denver’s airport. I understand wanting to be in driving distance, though.

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He is thinking about Bentley and I saw that Bryant was on the list for TE.

I’m thinking $30k/year out of pocket. I’ll start with the fact that I’m widowed, and make $60k/year. My daughter pays about $30k/year AFTER her federal student loans. We have her tuition saved in a 529 account though. There’s a chance there could be some leftover for my son, maybe 1-2 semesters. What kills us though is that when my husband died a few years ago I got some life insurance and schools see that and expect me to pay more. I’m ok with dipping into that a little (like $30k tops) per year. It would be great if it could be less.

I’m not really sure what you mean by a “full pay” or “full pay with merit” I dont think anyplace is going to touch going to UVM in terms of cost? I might be eligible for free tuition because they say that Vermonters with families making under $100k year get free tuition. But I know they stipulate that with “average assets”.

We’re in VT so he could just go to UVM. I think he has around a 1250 on his SAT.

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Thats good to know about the U of Denver!

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I’m not assuming he would get a TE scholarship. I went thru this with my daughter and I know how hard it can be, but she did get one to George Washington University…so I will keep my fingers crossed and also, it cant hurt to apply.

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Money from a spouse’s life insurance payout for sure means that you can ask for “professional judgement” on what is considered “normal assets”. UVM sounds like it could work! The policies and standards aren’t set up to punish families like yours- they’re meant to make sure that a “Trust Fund Kid” (third generation wealth, parents earn $50K per year but live in a multimillion dollar home with grandparents taking the kids to Europe every summer, pay for every “extra”) isn’t getting subsidized by the taxpayers of Vermont.

Condolences. Raising kids without a partner is challenging…. hats off to you.

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I’m hoping to pay about $30k or less out of pocket a year. He’s done well on his APs. As/B+s. He’s not an over-achiever. I think his SAT is around a 1250. So not crazy high. He didnt study at all though. But I will say he has really great people skills. And he is smart, he just doesnt stress himself out about schoolwork.

He’s just going to a local public high school. I dont really know what percentile he’d be in to be honest.

My daughter has a TE scholarship to GWU and we figured it wouldnt hurt to have him apply to a bunch of places to see if he gets one. I’m not banking on it by any means.

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A bit far but schools schools like C Michigan and W Carolina should decently beat $30K at full pay - meaning, no program needed..

UAH will be right at $30K. Lower if the SAT is higher than you think. Their COA is is $39576 for tuition, room and board. But you get $10K off for a 3.6 and 1250.

There’s likely more, including in New England.

You also have the New England Tuition Exchange.

None of this is to say they are better choices for you than UVM, but there will be more assured to hit budget than you think.

Find a Program | New England Board of Higher Education

UAH | Admission & Aid | Undergraduate Admission | Financial Aid | Scholarships | Freshmen | Freshman Out-of-State Academic Scholarships | The University of Alabama in Huntsville

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I believe that when @tsbna44 mentioned “full pay” that he was mentioning families that colleges expect to pay the full sticker price of a college, and “full pay with merit” would have been famliies that colleges expect to pay the full sticker price but that need merit aid to bring the price to meet the budget that the family is willing and able to pay.

I think this is where it is important to run Net Price Calculators. Some schools are much more generous in defining need than others, so there may be schools that would define your need in such a way that you would pay less than you would at UVM. Many of the most financially generous schools have very low admit rates, but there are certainly others that have higher acceptance rates and are still pretty generous. @ali-ice, has run a bunch of NPCs, I believe, and may have feedback on which ones were more generous for her family’s situation than others. Muhlenberg, for instance, is one that I think was pretty generous for her family. Of course, NPCs can render different results for different families based on how each school weights different financial situations. St. Lawrence (no religious affiliation) is another school that accepts a good portion of applicants that is pretty generous in defining need, at least in looking at the net prices by income on College Navigator (the feds’ website).

In terms of schools that could touch UVM in terms of cost, Tuition Exchange schools that offer full tuition awards would probably be pretty comparable in price, as the room & board costs would all probably be in similar ballparks. You may want to look at the fees, for UVM as well as any TE schools, as sometimes those can be an alternative way that colleges try and raise money, and can sometimes add up to a pretty penny. I usually find that tends to be more common with public schools than private ones because local politicians don’t want the cost of “tuition” at their public schools to be going up much, so the school will then put additional fees in place to bring in the needed revenue to keep the school going.

We’re happy to help brainstorm other possibilities for your son as well.

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Below are some additional options your son may want to consider:

U. of Maine: About 9300 undergrads. Your son would be eligible for the flagship match (i.e. matching UVM’s tuition price), and if he applies by December 1, he may be eligible to receive an additional $3-5k “Early Action Award” (source). So if the professional review at UVM does not come back favorably for free tuition, this would be another option.

U. at Albany (NY): About 12k undergrads and they offer a flagship match as well (source). In fact most, but not all, of the SUNY schools offer a tuition match for Vermont, and the SUNY schools are having free app weeks from October 20-November 3 (source). Another public NY option to consider would be SUNY-Plattsburgh which is not far from Vermont but has some very well-respected business programs. It has about 3900 undergrads, which is a size that a lot of students tend to like (not too big, not too small). Another campus he may want to consider is Oswego with about 5700 undergrads. Although it’s not a tuition match school, your son may want to look into U. at Buffalo as well (about 20k undergrads). Additionally, some of the campuses may offer additional scholarships on top of the tuition match (whether for pure tuition or for room & board, etc.).

West Virginia U. has about 19k undergrads, and your son would probably receive their Level 2 scholarship of $14k (assuming that your son’s unweighted 3.6 would be above a 3.8 weighted, which is what WVU uses), and that can stack with other scholarships (source). But with the $14k, it would bring the sticker price to right around $30k.

If your son takes a look at some of the TE & other colleges that have been mentioned and lets us know what resonates or repels, that would be great, as it can help posters to suggest options that might better suit his desires.

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I suggest that you add Brandeis to your list of schools. They have a good business school, are test optional, and have a 40% acceptance rate. He falls just within the middle 50% range of their applicants.

Why Brandeis other than for its superb academic reputation? They are tuition free for families with incomes under $75,000. Tuition is $70,000, so the “Brandeis Commitment” easily gets the cost of attendance under $30,000. Free tuition for families with incomes under $100,000 at UVM makes your state university tough to match but Brandeis is pretty much there with a cost to you of about $24,000.

The business program at Brandeis is different. First of all, the business degree is a B.A. although they have a separate business school, their program is a partnership with the School of Arts & Sciences. In this respect, it is more like Providence College than like those with a separate business school. Second, the Brandeis International Business School has a focus beyond our borders and the undergraduate program builds on that. Specifically, the university offers a Brandeis in Copenhagen summer program which is Brandeis-run but in partnership with DIS Copenhagen. XThis is one of the most beautiful and historic cities in Europe, a center of high culture. Third, Brandeis has cross registration with both Babson and Bentley with the latter being just 3 miles away across town. So, anything that Brandeis lacks in its array of business courses can be picked up at one of its partner institutions.

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A few more - Just to show you it’s not hopeless if you don’t get tuition break or the free UVM tuition. There are assured schools to achieve your budget, maybe more than you think. These are just a couple examples.

U Maine Farmington (small public) is $30,643 with the New England tuition break.

You get $5K off so a bit more under $26K.

MCLA (Mass College of Liberal Arts) - I think (hard to read) full cost for tuition, room and board is $30,398 (not including books, transport, etc. They have merit aid and note you will be considered - although they don’t list the amount - but I’m pretty confident you’ll be under $30K, maybe well under.

Merit Scholarships for First-Year, Non-Maine Residents - Admissions & Aid - University of Maine at Farmington

Office of Student Financial Services

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Thats interesting about Brandeis. I always that that a B.S in Business is better than a B.A…is that not the case?