A debate that I increasingly hear more about since the downturn in the economy is whether or not its worth the money to attend an elite university (versus an average state school, or community college for two years first).
Prospective college students need to realize that these two options have their benefits in drawbacks. Obviously, community college and/or a state school will be cheaper than an Ivy League, but it has its drawbacks at the same time.
To begin, the quality of the education you will receive will be the same in some ways, and different in others. If you are a science or engineering major, the material you will learn as an undergraduate will essentially be the same, whether you attend an elite or average school. However, your chances of participating in cutting-edge research will be more likely at an elite school, as will the chance be of having a “brilliant” professor (perhaps a Nobel Peace Prize winner) who may be willing to write you a dazzling letter of recommendation.
One other benefit of an elite school is the connections you can potentially make there. At such schools, you will often rub shoulders with children from wealthy/powerful families (more than you will at a more “average” school). Such connections could potentially land you a great job someday, for example. Additionally, schools like this will more often have distinguished professors and speakers (i.e. CEO’s of major companies, etc.), and well-known companies often clamor to recruit students from such colleges.
On the other hand, by attending a state school (or community college for two years first), you will save tens of thousands of dollars (maybe even over a hundred thousand) on your college education. The question you must figure out is what you want to get out of college. If having those connections and extra opportunities is important to you, definitely consider an elite school. If in the end all you are looking for is a quality education and a finding a good job after college, you will be just fine attending any four-year college/university.
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Showing posts with label other. Show all posts
Nov 27, 2009
Dec 28, 2008
Affording UCSD: Part 2
After scholarships, we still had about $15,000 a year in costs for attending UCSD. We managed to afford this through grants, loans, and a bit of our own savings.
One aid program that I would advise you to check out is the Cal Grant; you probably know of it. Three different programs exist (Cal Grants A, B, and C): Cal Grant A covers a student’s full tuition, B pays about $1,500 for books and living expenses, and C helps pay for tuition and occupational costs at career or occupational colleges. To be eligible for any of these scholarships, you must fall under a certain income ceiling. We were able to win the Cal Grant A the first year, but after that my income went above the ceiling and we were no longer eligible. Oh yeah, and this is only available for residents of California, sorry. I’m guessing other states have similar grant programs though; if you don’t live in Cali, check out what’s available for your state!
So anyways, for our first year, we had about $12,000 in total aid going into UCSD. As a gift to Kelly, we paid the remainder of the costs that year, but after that (without Cal Grant) we returned to $15,000 per year in costs. For the remaining three years, we agreed with Kelly that we would split the $15,000. We would pay $7,500 per year, if she could manage the other $7,500 herself.
To pay that $7,500, she got a part time job on campus and also applied for a student loan.
She was eligible for the subsidized Stafford Loan; it’s a great program that I would advise looking into. This is a long-term loan with 6% interest, designed especially for students in need of financial aid for college. Until repayment begins after you graduate (you have a nice 6-month grace period after graduation), you are not responsible for the costs nor the interest. She took out a full loan of $4,000 per year and earned the rest of the $7,500 through her job. With a repayment time of at least ten years, she definitely will not have trouble paying off the money that she received through loans. Here is a great website for more info on the Stafford loan: http://www.staffordloan.com/stafford-loan-info/undergraduate-stafford-loan.php
So, that is how we were able to afford Kelly’s education at UCSD. Between scholarships of about $5,000 per year average, federal grant and loan programs, having her work part time, and contributing just a bit of our own savings, we were able to send her to a great school without any major financial consequences.
In upcoming postings, I will discuss various loan and grant programs, and then go into how we have managed USC…so far, that is!
One aid program that I would advise you to check out is the Cal Grant; you probably know of it. Three different programs exist (Cal Grants A, B, and C): Cal Grant A covers a student’s full tuition, B pays about $1,500 for books and living expenses, and C helps pay for tuition and occupational costs at career or occupational colleges. To be eligible for any of these scholarships, you must fall under a certain income ceiling. We were able to win the Cal Grant A the first year, but after that my income went above the ceiling and we were no longer eligible. Oh yeah, and this is only available for residents of California, sorry. I’m guessing other states have similar grant programs though; if you don’t live in Cali, check out what’s available for your state!
So anyways, for our first year, we had about $12,000 in total aid going into UCSD. As a gift to Kelly, we paid the remainder of the costs that year, but after that (without Cal Grant) we returned to $15,000 per year in costs. For the remaining three years, we agreed with Kelly that we would split the $15,000. We would pay $7,500 per year, if she could manage the other $7,500 herself.
To pay that $7,500, she got a part time job on campus and also applied for a student loan.
She was eligible for the subsidized Stafford Loan; it’s a great program that I would advise looking into. This is a long-term loan with 6% interest, designed especially for students in need of financial aid for college. Until repayment begins after you graduate (you have a nice 6-month grace period after graduation), you are not responsible for the costs nor the interest. She took out a full loan of $4,000 per year and earned the rest of the $7,500 through her job. With a repayment time of at least ten years, she definitely will not have trouble paying off the money that she received through loans. Here is a great website for more info on the Stafford loan: http://www.staffordloan.com/stafford-loan-info/undergraduate-stafford-loan.php
So, that is how we were able to afford Kelly’s education at UCSD. Between scholarships of about $5,000 per year average, federal grant and loan programs, having her work part time, and contributing just a bit of our own savings, we were able to send her to a great school without any major financial consequences.
In upcoming postings, I will discuss various loan and grant programs, and then go into how we have managed USC…so far, that is!
Affording UCSD: Part 1
Well, I’m back for my second posting =)
As I think I mentioned in my last post, in this post I will explain how my wife and I received financial aid for my daughter Kelly when she attended UCSD. Between tuition, room and board, and other expenses, attending this school turned out to cost around $20,000 a year before aid. This was an amount that we could have afforded, but seeing that we would still have future college expenses and wanted to save as much money as possible, we pursued as much financial aid as we could. After receiving federal aid and scholarships, we were able to cut our costs down to about $8,000 per year; we did get some loans, but our daughter has agreed to pay off those after college. So, how did we cut down the costs of attending UCSD?
First of all, we had Kelly apply to as many scholarship programs as possible before starting college. Most of these programs were pretty competitive, so she was only able to win a few; but, these few did amount to about $6,000, which was a nice savings for the first year. After her first year, most of the scholarships that she received were through programs at UCSD. The scholarships that she applied for and won as a high school senior included:
-The Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholarship (http://www.rmhc.org/what-we-do/rmhc-u-s-scholarships/)
-Simon Youth Foundation Community Scholarship (simonyouth.scholarshipamerica.org)
-Best Buy Scholarship (bestbuy.scholarshipamerica.org)
-The AXA Achievement Scholarship (www.axa-achievement.com)
-and one more through her school
I would encourage you to have your teenager to apply for ALL of these scholarships while a senior, as they are attainable for any well-performing student. Kelly simply did well in school (almost all A’s) and was involved in her community, which qualified her for the awards (along with her essays, of course). In some cases, such as a few of these, the family’s financial situation is another factor, but the income ceiling is reasonable (however, don’t expect to be considered if you are making six figures). At the time of these scholarships I fell under the ceiling, although I am not sure if I do now.
Additionally, another scholarship that you MUST look into is the Robert C. Byrd Scholarship. If your child is ranked at or near the top of their class, has good grades, and did well on the SAT, then they are eligible to be nominated by their school for this program. Two students are nominated from each school, both of which should get the scholarship. The scholarship pays $1,500, and is renewable each year of college, so I would advise going for it. Kelly won it, and it has definitely been helpful. Check it out here: http://www.ed.gov/programs/iduesbyrd/index.html, and http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=125
Overall, I cannot stress enough the importance of having your child apply to AS MANY SCHOLARSHIPS AS HUMANELY POSSIBLE! While most are often only $500 to $2000, if you take the time to work hard on each application they definitely add up. Spending five hours on an application and essay may seem like a long time, but think about it. If that five hours wins you $500, that equates to $100 an hour! I would never dream of making that much! And yes, of course there will be applications where you don’t win, but the time is still worth it if you win at least a few scholarships. As a senior, Kelly applied to at least 30 (yes, thirty!) scholarships and only won 6. She spent at least an hour on each application/essay, so overall I would say at least 40 hours in total. But despite her losses, the $6,000 she earned still equates out to $150 per hour. As you can see, the time is definitely worth it!
My advice would be to find scholarships that are less competitive. Scholarships offered through your school, by certain companies (such as the ones mentioned earlier), and ones available only for specific majors are often easier to win. One’s that are offered online (i.e. where you submit an essay to a website) usually are too competitive or possibly even a scam, so I would suggest not spending too much time with these.
In the end, remember that most scholarships in existence are very competitive, so unless your child is Harvard material, don’t expect them to receive more than a few thousand at the most. But if they do set their mind to applying to as many as possible, they should be able to pull off at least a few thousand. I’ll post more information on scholarships in some of my future blogs.
So the summary from this is that Kelly (on average) received $4,000 to $6,000 in scholarships each year in college. Encourage your child to search for scholarships in the areas mentioned above and through their college, and they have a good chance of doing the same.
In part 2 of this posting I'll discuss the other forms of financial aid that we acquired.
As I think I mentioned in my last post, in this post I will explain how my wife and I received financial aid for my daughter Kelly when she attended UCSD. Between tuition, room and board, and other expenses, attending this school turned out to cost around $20,000 a year before aid. This was an amount that we could have afforded, but seeing that we would still have future college expenses and wanted to save as much money as possible, we pursued as much financial aid as we could. After receiving federal aid and scholarships, we were able to cut our costs down to about $8,000 per year; we did get some loans, but our daughter has agreed to pay off those after college. So, how did we cut down the costs of attending UCSD?
First of all, we had Kelly apply to as many scholarship programs as possible before starting college. Most of these programs were pretty competitive, so she was only able to win a few; but, these few did amount to about $6,000, which was a nice savings for the first year. After her first year, most of the scholarships that she received were through programs at UCSD. The scholarships that she applied for and won as a high school senior included:
-The Ronald McDonald House Charities Scholarship (http://www.rmhc.org/what-we-do/rmhc-u-s-scholarships/)
-Simon Youth Foundation Community Scholarship (simonyouth.scholarshipamerica.org)
-Best Buy Scholarship (bestbuy.scholarshipamerica.org)
-The AXA Achievement Scholarship (www.axa-achievement.com)
-and one more through her school
I would encourage you to have your teenager to apply for ALL of these scholarships while a senior, as they are attainable for any well-performing student. Kelly simply did well in school (almost all A’s) and was involved in her community, which qualified her for the awards (along with her essays, of course). In some cases, such as a few of these, the family’s financial situation is another factor, but the income ceiling is reasonable (however, don’t expect to be considered if you are making six figures). At the time of these scholarships I fell under the ceiling, although I am not sure if I do now.
Additionally, another scholarship that you MUST look into is the Robert C. Byrd Scholarship. If your child is ranked at or near the top of their class, has good grades, and did well on the SAT, then they are eligible to be nominated by their school for this program. Two students are nominated from each school, both of which should get the scholarship. The scholarship pays $1,500, and is renewable each year of college, so I would advise going for it. Kelly won it, and it has definitely been helpful. Check it out here: http://www.ed.gov/programs/iduesbyrd/index.html, and http://www.csac.ca.gov/doc.asp?id=125
Overall, I cannot stress enough the importance of having your child apply to AS MANY SCHOLARSHIPS AS HUMANELY POSSIBLE! While most are often only $500 to $2000, if you take the time to work hard on each application they definitely add up. Spending five hours on an application and essay may seem like a long time, but think about it. If that five hours wins you $500, that equates to $100 an hour! I would never dream of making that much! And yes, of course there will be applications where you don’t win, but the time is still worth it if you win at least a few scholarships. As a senior, Kelly applied to at least 30 (yes, thirty!) scholarships and only won 6. She spent at least an hour on each application/essay, so overall I would say at least 40 hours in total. But despite her losses, the $6,000 she earned still equates out to $150 per hour. As you can see, the time is definitely worth it!
My advice would be to find scholarships that are less competitive. Scholarships offered through your school, by certain companies (such as the ones mentioned earlier), and ones available only for specific majors are often easier to win. One’s that are offered online (i.e. where you submit an essay to a website) usually are too competitive or possibly even a scam, so I would suggest not spending too much time with these.
In the end, remember that most scholarships in existence are very competitive, so unless your child is Harvard material, don’t expect them to receive more than a few thousand at the most. But if they do set their mind to applying to as many as possible, they should be able to pull off at least a few thousand. I’ll post more information on scholarships in some of my future blogs.
So the summary from this is that Kelly (on average) received $4,000 to $6,000 in scholarships each year in college. Encourage your child to search for scholarships in the areas mentioned above and through their college, and they have a good chance of doing the same.
In part 2 of this posting I'll discuss the other forms of financial aid that we acquired.
Dec 27, 2008
Welcome! First post
Well hello there! Thank you for taking the time to visit my humble blog today.
I have created this blog in dedication to all of the parents out there who will soon be sending their children off to college (or already have). Well, to the parents who cringe when they think of the price that accompanies a college education these days. I won’t hesitate to say that I am one of them.
When my oldest child was a junior in high school, I believed at the time that my kids would go off to a junior college just like I had in my younger days. It was cheap, served me well, and got me a decent career…wouldn’t it be good enough for them? Apparently not for overachievers. My oldest child, my daughter Kelly, ended up doing very well in school, and quickly began talking about prestigious schools such as Stanford, UCLA, MIT, and UC Berkeley. My eyes bulged when I first looked at the costs, but after seeing how important it was to her, I decided that it would be worth the sacrifice for the education she would receive and the experiences that she would have. Kelly decided that UCSD was her dream school, and actually just graduated last year. Although UCSD certainly wasn’t cheap (about $20,000 per year), between my decent income and some loans and grants that my wife and I acquired (I will discuss these in future blog posts), we were able to send her to school there without worry.
The future will present some greater challenges for us though. My oldest son ended up doing pretty well in high school as well and left for USC this fall (he chose USC for its excellent engineering program), which will cost us about $37,000 per year after the financial aid we were offered. Being that he received several scholarships, my wife and I will be able to afford the costs this year, but I am quite worried about after that. Although we make a considerable income, we can definitely not afford $40,000 per year on top of our house and car payments, and other living expenses. Additionally, my other son will start college in another two years and will probably want to go somewhere other than community college as well.
I can definitely say that I am anxious for the challenges ahead. But I know that it is doable, if I take the time to research the forms of financial aid available that can help us through this without too many worries…which is why I have created this blog. Through this blog, I plan to share with you ways in which my family manages to afford a college education for our three children, and how the experience is going for us. Over the next several years, I will post where my wife and I are at on affording our children’s college education, and good programs and ideas that we have come across as far as financial aid. I have already done quite a bit of research on some, and will begin explaining them in my next postings. I hope they can be of assistance to you, as they (hopefully) will be to me.
Anyways, good luck! I hope you find this blog useful, and please don’t hesitate to message me at any time if you have a question!
I have created this blog in dedication to all of the parents out there who will soon be sending their children off to college (or already have). Well, to the parents who cringe when they think of the price that accompanies a college education these days. I won’t hesitate to say that I am one of them.
When my oldest child was a junior in high school, I believed at the time that my kids would go off to a junior college just like I had in my younger days. It was cheap, served me well, and got me a decent career…wouldn’t it be good enough for them? Apparently not for overachievers. My oldest child, my daughter Kelly, ended up doing very well in school, and quickly began talking about prestigious schools such as Stanford, UCLA, MIT, and UC Berkeley. My eyes bulged when I first looked at the costs, but after seeing how important it was to her, I decided that it would be worth the sacrifice for the education she would receive and the experiences that she would have. Kelly decided that UCSD was her dream school, and actually just graduated last year. Although UCSD certainly wasn’t cheap (about $20,000 per year), between my decent income and some loans and grants that my wife and I acquired (I will discuss these in future blog posts), we were able to send her to school there without worry.
The future will present some greater challenges for us though. My oldest son ended up doing pretty well in high school as well and left for USC this fall (he chose USC for its excellent engineering program), which will cost us about $37,000 per year after the financial aid we were offered. Being that he received several scholarships, my wife and I will be able to afford the costs this year, but I am quite worried about after that. Although we make a considerable income, we can definitely not afford $40,000 per year on top of our house and car payments, and other living expenses. Additionally, my other son will start college in another two years and will probably want to go somewhere other than community college as well.
I can definitely say that I am anxious for the challenges ahead. But I know that it is doable, if I take the time to research the forms of financial aid available that can help us through this without too many worries…which is why I have created this blog. Through this blog, I plan to share with you ways in which my family manages to afford a college education for our three children, and how the experience is going for us. Over the next several years, I will post where my wife and I are at on affording our children’s college education, and good programs and ideas that we have come across as far as financial aid. I have already done quite a bit of research on some, and will begin explaining them in my next postings. I hope they can be of assistance to you, as they (hopefully) will be to me.
Anyways, good luck! I hope you find this blog useful, and please don’t hesitate to message me at any time if you have a question!
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