Making the college dollar count is more important than it has been in years. If you’re a student or parent who expects to get substantial financial aid because of your current personal economic condition, the recession is not likely to mean much. Many colleges, despite the status of the economy, still plan to offer loans and work-study programs. These are mostly the institutions with small endowments. However, if you’re not eligible for loans, be ready for a different scenario.
Feeling the Tuition Pain
“The decision (on a college) goes to the rudimentary question: What will your out-of-pocket expenses be?” says David Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in the February 2009 edition of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine article “2009 Best Values in Private Colleges.”
The College Board estimates the cost at a private college at about $34,000 a year, up by 5.6% over the 2007-08 school year. Because of this, tight credit and job losses, students are likely to look more closely at state universities where the average cost is less than half that of a private school.
Rethinking Schools in a Recession
The Princeton Review recently released its list of the 100 “Best Value” colleges for 2009. But the Review is very careful not to suggest that this list is about is all about the lowest price schools. “We didn’t want to put schools in the project that just had low sticker prices because that didn’t necessarily mean value,” says Robert Frank, vice president for publishing at the Princeton Review, in the January 8th 2009 USA TODAY article “Getting the Best Bang for Your College Buck.”
The best value for a public university, according to the Review, is the University of Virginia at Charlottesville. Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania is listed as the best value among the private schools. The selections were made with three specific criteria in mind: academics, schools costs, and available financial aid.
Still, value is relative in a recession. Tom Mortenson, who publishes a higher-education policy newsletter, in the article “Getting the Best Bang for Your College Buck” published in the January 8th edition of USA TODAY says, “In the past, when recessions have been reasonably mild and short, people planning to send kids to four-year colleges continued to sent them to four-year colleges and worked it out. But in the past, we haven’t had college-educated parents laid off from jobs.” Mortenson adds, “This recession looks different.”
Consider All College Related Costs
Many organizations besides the Princeton Review compile lists of value colleges. Consulting all those lists and paying attention to the details of the criteria should be critical to a student’s research. However, one part of the selection process that gets over looked is travel to and from the institution. How far is the college from family? How many trips home will the student be making? What will the cost of that travel be? Sometimes parents fail to put this economic element into the financial mix.
Also, on-campus college housing isn’t always the best way to go. Sometimes a student can room with others in an off-campus rented apartment for less money than a dormitory room. This may not always be the best selection for a student who may need the structure of dorm life, but for those who are more independent, living off campus can sometimes be more affordable.
Academics are certainly a very important factor for students looking at colleges for the 2009 school year, but in these economic times all costs have to be considered along with the academic value. Parents and students should be diligent with their research to be sure each dollar paid is worth it.
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