Ahhhh-- and delving a bit deeper
still, most parents don't realize that "aid" at high priced institutions is often INCLUSIVE of some major borrowing on the part of the student/parent.
That's a perfectly valid means of "meeting need" in an institutional sense.
Not so much for students/families who are stuck borrowing 10-30K annually.
KWIM?
Take-home message (realizing that I've been part of academia myself, and that my DD and her friends are starting to be 'processed' by this particular machine)...
ask a LOT of questions about what is meant by "financial aid." Most of that aid is: a) less than what College Board SAYS they ought to be giving per a particular income level, b) not in the form of grants (which don't have to be repayed), and c) non-renewable if it is.
We have looked at several local private colleges for DD, one of them "highly selective."
Tuition rates are sticker-priced at 36K and 55K. "Need" in our case (and btw, we're below what NotSoGifted indicates as an income where tuition costs at that selective institution are theoretically "covered" completely)... is approximately as follows:
a) Local Public Uni 1: ~12K annually, but likely discounted to ~8K due to academic merit, and we would cover ALL of that cost.
b) Local Public Uni 2: ~14K annually, but likewise, ~9K with merit discount, again covered out of our pocket.
c) Local Private 1: ~35-38K annually, discounted to around 28K with merit-based renewable grants, our "need" at this school based upon a frankly outrageous EFC is ~14K, and they would have us meet that with.... LOANS.
d) Local Private 2: ~55K annually, no discounts (this is a selective school, so DD is a "strong, but not remarkable" applicant)... our "need" at this school is estimated to be around 30K annually. Not clear what grants are like at that level, but if recent matriculation among friends/acquaintances is anything to go by, we'd be borrowing
about 20K a year for this institution.
So no, sorry... cost
is far lower at the public institutions. By the way, BOTH of those private institutions list themselves with College Board and other calculators/aggregators as "meeting 100%" of student need in costs. They do. With
loans. They also offer "merit based aid." Again, they DO. It's just that 15K in merit based aid isn't ENOUGH to offset the fact that the tuition is
still more than double what the local flagship public universities have as a sticker price (which, again-- high-merit students DO NOT PAY).
That does bring up another good point, though, and that is-- check out the
actual price at any institution. Don't rely on that sticker price, but that applies as much to public institutions as to private ones.
