S/O College enrollment cliff/schools closing

[mm123]

Yep. U of Chicago is approaching $100k/year. Plenty in that $65k+ range.


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Ok, that is just insane!! I don’t understand why more Americans don’t go to university in Canada or Europe. Even considering fees for foreign students, tuition would be a fraction of what it is at so many of the US schools.

I went to undergrad at McGill (in Montreal), and at the time (early 90’s) paid about $1400 tuition. Of course, that’s gone up, but pretty much any undergrad at a Canadian university costs between $7000 and $9000 per year. Tuition for foreign students is much higher (probably in the $20-30,000 Canadian range). But considering how weak the Canadian dollar is these days that would be a bargain for Americans! And I’ve heard European universities are even less.

[mom2binsd]

Ok, that is just insane!! I don’t understand why more Americans don’t go to university in Canada or Europe. Even considering fees for foreign students, tuition would be a fraction of what it is at so many of the US schools.

I went to undergrad at McGill (in Montreal), and at the time (early 90’s) paid about $1400 tuition. Of course, that’s gone up, but pretty much any undergrad at a Canadian university costs between $7000 and $9000 per year. Tuition for foreign students is much higher (probably in the $20-30,000 Canadian range). But considering how weak the Canadian dollar is these days that would be a bargain for Americans! And I’ve heard European universities are even less.

And the quality of education at Canadian universities is top notch and rigorous. My kids are dual citizens so can pay the normal non international tuition and I would love for them to go to school up there. DD has her sights set on U of Illinois, they offer free tuition for 4 years to Illinois students whose families make less than 61k, and my income is well below that, so if she can get in, and her grades and test scores are pretty competitive, so I'll only have to pay for room and board. Fingers crossed.

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[essnce629]

But don’t forget that the aid offered at school isn’t all that’s available. T high school is good, they’ll compile local and national scholarship opportunities they can apply to. And there’s tons of research you can do to hunt down more. Even those little ones add up. Some are just $500- but that buys some books or other more minor (but costly) expenses.

Yes, but I think a better strategy is to focus on schools that give the most merit aid and then have your kid work on getting their SAT/ACT score as high as it can be in order to get the maximum amount of merit aid. At some schools, this can be up to $25-30k and is renewable all 4 years. Studying for the SAT/ACT for a few weeks and/or getting private tutoring definitely pays off if you end up with $100k+ in automatic merit scholarships. You could apply to 100 outside scholarships but even if you win some worth a few hundred or thousand dollars, most are not renewable and some schools don't even allow stacking of outside scholarships with the aid they give you.

[westwoodmom04]

Ok, that is just insane!! I don’t understand why more Americans don’t go to university in Canada or Europe. Even considering fees for foreign students, tuition would be a fraction of what it is at so many of the US schools.

I went to undergrad at McGill (in Montreal), and at the time (early 90’s) paid about $1400 tuition. Of course, that’s gone up, but pretty much any undergrad at a Canadian university costs between $7000 and $9000 per year. Tuition for foreign students is much higher (probably in the $20-30,000 Canadian range). But considering how weak the Canadian dollar is these days that would be a bargain for Americans! And I’ve heard European universities are even less.

In Maryland, our instate tuition is about about the same —$10,000 per year, whether students the flagship or half a dozen others.

[KpbS]

We don't want DS1 to have to take out any loans (we're still paying for mine).

[

This is a great goal. More people need to understood how hard it is too pay off $$$$$$$ college loans. Save that money for graduate school, a house, etc.

[niccig]

Ok, that is just insane!! I don’t understand why more Americans don’t go to university in Canada or Europe. Even considering fees for foreign students, tuition would be a fraction of what it is at so many of the US schools.

I went to undergrad at McGill (in Montreal), and at the time (early 90’s) paid about $1400 tuition. Of course, that’s gone up, but pretty much any undergrad at a Canadian university costs between $7000 and $9000 per year. Tuition for foreign students is much higher (probably in the $20-30,000 Canadian range). But considering how weak the Canadian dollar is these days that would be a bargain for Americans! And I’ve heard European universities are even less.

DS has dual citizenship and can go to college in Australia for about $6k Australian in tuition. My only concern is that the system there is different to here, so it will depend on what he wants to do. DH has a large network of colleagues from his college days and used it to get started in his career, and at other times eg when he got laid off a college friend put in a word and he got hired as a free lancer than later full time. Going to college overseas may not give DS a network to tap into. It is an option to consider


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[wendibird22]

Yes, but I think a better strategy is to focus on schools that give the most merit aid and then have your kid work on getting their SAT/ACT score as high as it can be in order to get the maximum amount of merit aid. At some schools, this can be up to $25-30k and is renewable all 4 years. Studying for the SAT/ACT for a few weeks and/or getting private tutoring definitely pays off if you end up with $100k+ in automatic merit scholarships. You could apply to 100 outside scholarships but even if you win some worth a few hundred or thousand dollars, most are not renewable and some schools don't even allow stacking of outside scholarships with the aid they give you.

Given that so many elite colleges, and now not even just elite, are going test optional (meaning they don't have to look at SAT/ACT) and almost every campus has prioritized access to underrepresented students and first gen students. Given that, plus significant financial challenges across higher ed, lot of aid is no longer going to merit but to need/unmet need. A high achieving student without need, will enroll and find a way to pay full price (and colleges with financial challenges need to full tuition payers more than ever) but the high achieving student with unmet need, will not enroll without scholarship. And high achieving is being defined by core GPA (not overall GPA) instead of SAT/ACT scores. The landscape of aid packages and scholarshipping is changing rapidly.

[essnce629]

Given that so many elite colleges, and now not even just elite, are going test optional (meaning they don't have to look at SAT/ACT) and almost every campus has prioritized access to underrepresented students and first gen students. Given that, plus significant financial challenges across higher ed, lot of aid is no longer going to merit but to need/unmet need. A high achieving student without need, will enroll and find a way to pay full price (and colleges with financial challenges need to full tuition payers more than ever) but the high achieving student with unmet need, will not enroll without scholarship. And high achieving is being defined by core GPA (not overall GPA) instead of SAT/ACT scores. The landscape of aid packages and scholarshipping is changing rapidly.

Hmm, but "test optional" doesn't mean "tests won't be looked at and play a role in admissions." It seems like the majority of kids who apply to test optional schools submit their scores if they're high and don't if they're low. This definitely benefits the school in a big way since the average ACT/SAT scores of their admitted class will go up (since there will be no low scores submitted), which means they can move up in the rankings of U.S. News. Kids who get ACT scores above 30 will most likely submit their scores (because they won't hurt them) and kids who score in the teens/20s will not (because they would possibly hurt them). Colleges love to move up in the rankings so they basically pay kids (with lots of merit money) for their high test scores. The schools and the high testing students win. Obviously the most selective/elite schools (like the Ivy schools) don't give out any merit aid because they don't have to (all the kids applying have near perfect test scores and GPAs). So I'm talking about the schools below that elite level. I've read several articles lately that these colleges are increasing the money they're giving to high testing students, even though those students are usually high income kids who have the money to pay for lots of test prep, private schooling, etc. It's all a game and I agree that offering merit aid to students who can technically afford full tuition, takes money away from students who actually have a real financial aid. My son is in that category, but I refuse to pay full tuition so we'll play the game.



"If you’re an enrollment manager, he explains, the easiest category of students for you to admit are below-average students from high-income families. Because their parents can afford tutoring, they are very likely to have decent test scores, which means they won’t hurt your U.S. News ranking."
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...aul-tough.html


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