The prospect of college is exciting and overwhelming at the same time. This is the first in a series of posts that will help you avoid some basic mistakes when choosing where to apply and attend. Read on to find out how the cost of college should be on your radar right from the beginning.
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I wrote a guest commentary that appeared in the online edition of the Denver Post yesterday. It’s about the high cost of tuition, with special attention given to tuition prices in the state of Colorado.
It’s clear from reading the comments that many readers misunderstood my central point: that the citizens of Colorado cannot have it both ways: they cannot continue to refuse to underwrite the cost of tuition through higher taxes and continue to complain that tuition is too high.
Money does not grow on trees. There is no free lunch. The piper must be paid.
Someone has to pay for the college education to which we aspire. And it’s going to be either the taxpayers, the students (and their parents) or some combination of both.
And at the moment, the cost of the education is falling to the student. Colorado ranks 49th in terms of public support of higher eduction.
It’s fun to read the comments, and I encourage you to read them, too.
Mark Montgomery
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College Counselor and Writer of Guest Editorials
Two more colleges have readjusted their financial aid policies in the wake of Harvard’s decision to woo the middle classes by offering richer aid packages (which I wrote about here). The changes were reported in Inside Higher Ed:
Two more colleges have joined the growing number pledging to eliminate loans for low-income students. Claremont McKenna College announced Monday that it would eliminate loans from the aid packages of all current and new students, effective this coming fall. Lafayette College on Monday announced that it would eliminate loans in the packages of students from families with incomes of up to $50,000 and limit to $2,500 a year the loans in aid packages of families with incomes of between $50,000 and $100,000. Lafayette also announced plans to increase the size of its faculty by 35 positions (or about 20 percent) over five years, without increasing the size of the student body.
Families concerned about paying for college should take note of these changes at many of the nation’s most selective and well-endowed colleges. They are becoming more affordable.
However, also keep in mind that these financial aid changes will also lead to higher application numbers and increasing selectivity at these colleges. Harvard’s applications were up 19% this year over last, and you can expect that all the colleges with revamped aid policies will experience similar increases next year.
Mark Montgomery
College Counselor
Montgomery Educational Consulting
