My eldest is hearing from colleges and his parents are looking at price tags and, well...based on what I've been reading, it seems that it's time for a new thread about the cost of college.
I learned that Yale will cost ~$69K next year. DS didn't apply there. I just found their tuition after gagging at the prices of the ones he did apply to, including public universities in CA.
Five UCs ranged from 30-35K, not including the cost of summer school. Lots of kids have to take summer classes because some required course was oversubscribed and the university wouldn't open another section. So that adds ~$5,000 to costs. And then there's the summer income that junior didn't earn as a result. Interesting:
Complaints that college fees are too high often reflect confusion over the difference between the cost of higher education and its price to students. Cost is a function of salaries for faculty and staff and the infrastructure expenses required to educate students. Price refers to tuition. Most people don’t realize it, but the cost of educating a student has been restrained. According to the Higher Education Price Index between 2002 and 2014, college costs rose annually at a rate only about three-quarters of a percent higher than the consumer price index. Expenditure per student fell in many states.
Nice.
Meanwhile, Yale wants $69K for roughly 8 classes, assuming 4 per semester. Even if we just use the tuition and book fees, that's $51.4K for tuition and another $2K or so for the other things, or 53.4K. Divide that by 8 classes and Yale is charging ~$6,700 for a semester of English or Chemistry.
NO WAY, for any of my kids (and costs will likely be $75-80K when my 12-year-old starts). It's not worth it. DS got a merit scholarship at a nice little inexpensive but respected private college. The cost to us will be less than the public colleges, and he won't be taking classes all summer and during winter term. Sounds like a win to me.
Sure, I know that financial aid makes college affordable --- but only in that you spread the costs out over the 10-15+ years it takes to pay off your student loans (instead, perhaps, of paying off a mortgage?). And I know that a few top-tier college like Amherst don't deal in loans. But they're the exceptions, not the rule.
