College affordability

Kasey Urquidez, University of Arizona

Posted on Tue, 11/05/2013 - 10:23

In its earliest days, University of Arizona had a bit of a Wild West aura. Students rode their horses to school, hitching them outside Old Main, the first building on campus. And a year after the first undergraduates arrived, the dean of students asked the Board of Regents to prohibit the use of firearms on campus.

In fact, Arizona was still a territory when the University of Arizona broke ground in 1885 on 40 acres of land with a $25,000 grant from the legislature. The first students arrived in 1891 – 32 strong – along with six teachers. But only six were admitted to the freshmen class. The remaining 26 went to a specially established prep school since there were no high schools in the territory. Seventeen years later, the university students finally outnumbered those in the prep classes and more than 20 years later -- in 1912 -- Arizona became a state.

Amount Students Pay for College has Barely Changed Over Last Decade

Posted on Fri, 10/25/2013 - 09:36

The amount that students actually pay for college — because of increased discounts, grants and tax benefits — has barely changed over the last decade, according to the latest report from the College Board’s Trends in Higher Education research and analysis series. Trends in College Pricing, a major analysis of college cost and affordability using data from the College Board's Annual Survey of Colleges, reports on the prices charged by colleges and universities in 2013-14, how prices have changed over time, and how they vary within and across types of institutions, states, and regions. It also includes information on the net prices that students and families actually pay after taking financial aid into consideration.

As the report notes, “The story is a complicated one, with different students paying different prices at the same institutions, depending on their financial circumstances; on their academic qualifications, athletic ability, or other characteristics; and on their year or program of study.”

Among the highlights:

Juniors: It's never too early to start learning about financial aid

Posted on Thu, 04/25/2013 - 16:46

When it comes to financial aid, it’s never too early to start learning about what is a very complex and important topic. All colleges are required by law to have a financial aid calculator (sometimes referred to as a net price calculator) available on their website. Financial aid calculators can provide an early understanding of what you will be asked to pay at individual colleges and what your aid award might look like.

So as you research colleges now and through the summer, check out the financial aid calculator for each school on your list as you’re surfing the colleges’ websites. Use the calculator to help you figure out what the colleges offer, as well as to start thinking about what you will need to do to make your choices work financially. If possible, try out the calculators with your parents.

Your results— the cost to you and the aid you may receive— may differ fairly significantly from calculator to calculator and from college to college. Just to see how things compare, try out the calculators at a few less expensive colleges and some more expensive ones. It can often be at least as affordable to attend a more expensive college that offers a strong financial aid program. Find out now, so you can select the colleges that work best for you while factoring in price, without ruling out options that might initially seem unaffordable.

Frank Palmasani, Hinsdale South High School

Posted on Mon, 02/04/2013 - 09:29

February is Financial Aid Awareness Month. So who better to feature as our Counselor of the month than Frank Palmsani? A veteran counselor now in his 20^th year at Hinsdale South High School in Darien, Illinois, Palmasani is also the originator of the Financial Fit Method, a program that provides families with a step-by-step process for figuring out affordable colleges, how to file financial aid documents, how to pay for college and how to analyze award letters. His guide to choosing and paying for college, Right College, Right Price, was published in January.

Palmsani spends his days at Hinsdale South, a comprehensive high school -- and a magnet school for the deaf -- with a diverse population -- socioeconomically, ethnically, and academically -- of approximately 1800 students. One of nine counselors at the school, Palmasani is charged with assisting students with personal, social, and academic concerns, as well as college counseling and selection and career/vocational plans.

Seniors: Too Many Colleges on Your List?

Posted on Tue, 10/30/2012 - 17:03

Some students have a hard time ruling out prospective colleges. You may have fallen in love with multiple campuses or be afraid you will miss something by taking a school off your list. Try this exercise to arrive at a manageable list of schools that meets your priorities:

Identify one college on your list— let’s call it College A— where you are fairly sure you can be admitted and would be excited to go. Then compare that school to every other college on your list, one at a time, and ask yourself, “Would I rather go to this college or College A?”

If your list is too large, in any case where the answer to that question is “College A,” then the other school can come off your list. After all, why would you have any colleges on your list where you like College A better?

If your list is too small, you can use this method to expand your list. If you need more choices, use College A as a benchmark and find more colleges with the same characteristics.

Just be careful to use the most specific, objective, measurable criteria available to determine that you are admissible at the school that fulfills the role of College A. A public university with more transparent admission criteria may be a safer choice for your College A, but some private colleges can fit this role as well, as long as you have up-to-date information and it is a solid on your list.

Nancy Meislahn, Wesleyan University, Answers Five Questions

Posted on Mon, 10/01/2012 - 11:48

Nancy Hargrave Meislahn, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid, at Wesleyan University of Middletown, Connecticut, joins us this month and graciously answers -- not five -- but six questions.

Wesleyan was founded in 1831 by leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church and began with 48 students (all men); the president; three professors; and one tutor. Tuition was $36 per year.

Today, Wesleyan’s 316-acre campus located in central Connecticut hosts about 2,900 full-time undergraduates – both men and women -- who choose among more than 900 courses offered in 40 departments and 44 major fields of study, taught by 375 faculty members. Its student/faculty ratio remains at 9 to 1, with two-thirds of classes enrolling fewer than 20 students.

Named for John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, the college was never a seminary, but offered a liberal arts program from its inception. Unlike most college curriculums at the time of its founding which were steeped in the classics, Wesleyan set out to put modern languages, literature, and the natural sciences on equal footing. That orientation continues today with students pursuing a self-directed curriculum, numerous undergraduate interdisciplinary programs, and broad research opportunities.