Originally Posted by JonLaw
Originally Posted by HowlerKarma
Honestly, our plan for paying is to bump our household income by 30-40% and just write the checks.

You can also find employment with the university in question.

That often gets you 75% off.

Ahhhhh-- you DO know my plan! laugh

Alas, since the rollout of adjunct and fixed term teaching, it's often more like 20-50%, and those are prized 'benefits' that aren't offered to anyone less than full time. "Adjunct" as a category, by the way, is often by definition <0.49 FTE at an institution.

There's also the matter than without ties TO an institution, getting hired into an elite campus is easier said than done. But there are always lab positions. They just don't pay very well.

Here's another resource for general college planning (not specifically 'elite' and in fact, much of his advice is about cost savings, NOT considering 'worth' of colleges based on how good they are):

FrugalDad-- common sense for college He does have a couple of really good blog entries-- pay particular attention to his discussion of freshman versus renewable aid from colleges, something that is very easy to overlook.

Another resource:

College Data

Some of the information here is a reprise of what is over at College Board, but there are also financial particulars that College Board doesn't address or make public, too. There are built-in calculators at that site, but it is behind a registration wall.



Schrödinger's cat walks into a bar. And doesn't.