Worth going to MIT, Stanford or Harvard for undergrad?

Alexandre
Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:01:12 +0000

LDB, one does not have to come from a “wealthy” family to have to pay full freight to attend Harvard, MIT or Stanford. A family income of $250,000+ will generally result in a student having to pay 100% at those schools. $250,000-$300,000 is hardly “wealthy” when you consider that after taxes, such families are left with $150,000-$200,000. With a single child, that may be manageable, but with 2 or 3 kids, financial concerns are legitimate.

Furthermore, to such a family, spending $80,000 or $90,000/child more for a school like H, M or S over a school a school such as UT-Austin or Wisconsin-Madison is a waste of money. The average household has over 2 children. That would mean well over $150,000 for two kids and well over $200,000 for three kids. And what if those kids intend on going on to graduate school later on as most students of such caliber do? Who takes on that debt then?

Finally, students strong enough to get into H, M or S will probably get close to a full ride at their in-state public flagship, so the cost differential will seldom be as low as $20,000 or $30,000 over four years, unless the student comes from a lower income family. In many instances, the cost differential would be in the $200,000, with the public flagship giving close to a full ride and costing the student $40,000 over four years and the private university costing close to full tuition.

Regardless, to most upper middle income folks, the in-state option (assuming one comes from a state with strong public universities such as Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin) is far more reasonable an option than a school such as H, M and S. One must either come from a lower or middle income (under $200,000) household or from a wealthy family ($500,000 annual income) to be in a position to make such a decision. Households with incomes in the $250,000-$400,000 range and more than 1 child will probably be better off sticking to their in-state flagship, particularly if then are residents of one of the 20 or so states with solid-excellent public universities.