Is Private College Worth the Cost?

[Paula]

Hi SoWallers and Wise Advisors,

A couple of us on this board (I'm sure more than a couple) are getting ready to send teens off to college. Do you think private college is worth the cost and why or why not. What should we be thinking about? My teens are interested in out-of-state mostly small private colleges. I'm certainly willing to support their interest in a private college, especially if it's going to pay off in their lives in terms of quality of education, quality of life for 4 years, helping them grow up to be wiser/happy adults who are loyal to their college as alums, etc. But it's good to get ideas (especially from those of you who already put teens through college or who recently graduated from college). Thanks.

 

[Minnie]

I know in our situation, we found many of the private colleges did not end up being much more expensive than popular state schools due to the difference in scholarship money.

As to the benefits, I think it really depends on what your child wants to achieve and gain from a college experience.

Many that want to specialize in a particular study or trade, will definitely benefit from a smaller private school that has a similar emphasis, however if your child is wanting a degree in something more general I feel the state schools provide just as much or more.

My child had a specific list of wants and we had a budget and she found the school that she felt matched both.

She was pleased and we were pleased.

 

[Rudyjohn]

I agree with Minnie's post. I would also add that the primary factor is the program in which the student is considering. After the best program within a college (private or state) that best fits the needs, then think about the $$.

Consider charting out a matrix with all the pros/cons including the tuition.

 

[SHELLY]

Hi SoWallers and Wise Advisors,

A couple of us on this board (I'm sure more than a couple) are getting ready to send teens off to college. Do you think private college is worth the cost and why or why not. What should we be thinking about? My teens are interested in out-of-state mostly small private colleges. I'm certainly willing to support their interest in a private college, especially if it's going to pay off in their lives in terms of quality of education, quality of life for 4 years, helping them grow up to be wiser/happy adults who are loyal to their college as alums, etc. But it's good to get ideas (especially from those of you who already put teens through college or who recently graduated from college). Thanks.

What field of study are they interested in? What are the present/future job prospects for that field?

 

[Rudyjohn]

Hey Paula, you have one of the best universities in the country, and one of the more expensive ones, I might add.

 

[Beach Runner]

Daughter has been on both sides of the fence of private versus public. She got accepted at her dream schools MIT and Yale and got full rides at her backup schools, Tulane and Georgia Tech. She went to MIT because it is arguably the best university in the world. But it was a total cultural mismatch, and she was not happy there, even though she had good grades. She wanted to get back to The South. Hubby had heart surgery, so she decided to transfer to Georgia Tech instead of Tulane to be closer to home. However, she was not happy at a big public school and being treated like a number and ignored by her professors. Some kids can deal with that, but she has so much personality that she needs to be treated like an individual. She transferred to a small private school and is the happiest she's been since she became a teenager. Some kids just need the TLC of a private school. It's worth the money to make them happy.

It really just depends on the kid's personality. It's not a matter of brains because if that were the case, she would have stayed at MIT.

 

[futurebeachbum]

Educationally, I don't think private schools in general are better or worse than public schools. There are obviously exceptions.

I think it is more a matter of what you can afford, what you are really interested in and where you plan to live after you graduate.

I have a friend in Atlanta who's daughter just had to go to Clemson. With the out-of-state fees, its costs were closer to a private school than a public one. (In this case, she is very bright and could have gone to UGA for example on the hope easily.) He is going to spend upwards of $80-$100k for her to go to Clemson to get a business or math degree,

IMHO if she plans to live in SC the rest of her life it may (and I say may) be worth it. OTOH, if she returns to GA or goes somewhere else to me it just says that the money her Dad works so hard for means nothing to her (and he was out of his mind to let her do it.) I had a drafting clerk working for me at Southern Bell in the late 70's who went to Emory and got a history degree. What a waste of his parents money.

In most positions, your college degree helps get that first job out-of-college and is irrelevant after that. Very few corporations base the hiring of a CEO or a VP of sales mainly on where they went to college.

Personally, I think pragmatism should rule in picking a school. Go where A) you can get the degree you want and B) you can unemotionally justify the costs.

 

[Paula]

Hey Paula, you have one of the best universities in the country, and one of the more expensive ones, I might add.

Thanks everyone for the advice so far - keep it coming please! I'd love to hear from some students or recent grads as well to hear what they think.

Yup, I live down the street from the university and teach there. I love living in a university town. Neither of my kids want to go there, though, and I'm fine with that. They get no special deal because I teach there (no tuition benefits for faculty or employees) and the kids want to go out of state to try living on their own. Personally, I like the idea of a smaller school because at these large universities, undergrads often get taught by grad students or have really large classes.

i think fit will be essential. My daughter has done a lot of thinking about this - she wants a small liberal and liberal arts college that ideally has quite a bit of diversity and critical studies. She wants it to be in or near a big city. She's interested in social justice and sociology, though that could change anytime once she gets exposed to what fields are available. She's also looked at a few bigger colleges, but not huge universities. She's looking mostly within a 4-6 hour drive from home, but would consider going to the west coast because there are a few schools there she's interested in. She found several colleges that seem to be good fits in a book called "Colleges that Change Lives" - I never heard of many of the colleges, but some of them sound fantastic.

As for what jobs are available after college, I'm seeing undergrad as a time to explore different options, grow up, have a wonderful experience, open up her mind, and live away from home. Of course, I'd love her (and expect her) to get a job right after college, but I think it's probably to early for her to really know what she wants to do. She'll get a better idea of potential jobs once she's in college.

I agree that the type of degree (and name of college/university) opens doors but after that people have to prove themselves to keep their jobs and move up.

It's pretty exciting (and stressful) to watch her go through this process. It's a LOT of work for her.

 

[TooFarTampa]

It sounds overwhelming! Mr. TFT and I have talked about this process and of course we have our preconceived ideas, but we are 8 years away and I'm sure they will be shot to heck.

We aim to provide our kids with a lot of choices and we are already thinking and planning hard for them. However I had little to no "choice" and I don't feel slighted at all. My parents were divorcing and lost their house to foreclosure when I was about 16, and by the time I was a high school senior the only thing I had was the state-provided scholarship that I used at UF. I paid my own way through school with scholarships and jobs and the only thing I regretted was that my parents couldn't get their acts together to help me out a little because they were busy beating each other up. Not my problem though! It was a good fit for my personality and that is all that matters.

I believe and always have that college is what you make of it. I don't want to say that I am in favor of limiting choices, but if someone had told me when I was 17 that I could go anywhere I would have been overwhelmed. Don't get me wrong -- I believe now that a top Ivy League ed does get you into an exclusive club, but beyond that, it's entirely what suits you and what you make of it. Just my thoughts from what was a very defining time in my life. I will never regret my 'choice,' I met Mr. TFT! And he passed up an appointment to the Naval Academy to stay in Florida. So it all worked out.

We have three kids and we are constantly trying to "read" the older two to see what schools they might best fit in. I promise to report back in a decade or two to see if we were right. :roll:

 

[Matt J]

Here's another resource for prospective college shopping:

Top Party Schools - PubClub.com!