As more than 2 million high school students in the US are making decisions about which college to attend this fall, many are finding the costs to be surprisingly high, sometimes reaching $95,000.
Some private colleges, both prestigious and average, have set their yearly costs for tuition, housing, food, and other expenses above $90,000 for the first time this year. This means that a wealthy family with three kids could end up spending over $1 million for the youngest child's four-year degree.
However, the published cost doesn't reveal the whole picture. Many colleges with large amounts of money saved have become more focused on making college affordable for students who aren't rich. Families with lower incomes might only need to pay 10% of the advertised rate, and for some, attending a selective private college might end up being cheaper than going to a public college.
“Ninety thousand dollars clearly is a lot of money, and it catches people’s attention, for sure,” said Phillip Levine, a professor of economics at Wellesley College. “But for most people, that is not how much they’re going to pay. The existence of a very generous financial aid system lowers that cost substantially.”
Wellesley is among the colleges where the costs for wealthy students will exceed $90,000 for the first time this fall, with an estimated price tag of $92,000. But the institution points out that nearly 60% of its students will receive financial aid, and the average amount of that aid is more than $62,000, reducing their costs by two-thirds.
However, many potential students this year are experiencing significant delays and anxiety in determining how much aid they will receive from colleges due to major issues with the new US Department of Education online form for federal aid applications. Many colleges rely on information from the form to decide the aid offers for students.
“The rollout has been pure chaos and an absolute disaster,” said Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid expert.
Kantrowitz mentioned that if the significant decrease in aid applications under the new system continues, it could lead to fewer enrollments and even cause some colleges to shut down.
Some other colleges with prices exceeding $90,000 this year include the University of Southern California at $95,000, Harvey Mudd College in California at $93,000, the University of Pennsylvania at $92,000, Brown University in Rhode Island at $92,000, Dartmouth College in New Hampshire at $91,000, and Boston University at $90,000.
Harvard University in Cambridge is estimating its cost of attendance this fall to be as high as $91,000.
