There have been a number of articles recently in the world of college admissions news about the increasing sticker prices at elite universities. The good news, is that financial aid packages are also on the rise. Read on for more details.
- “Cost of Penn education to rise 3.9 percent” – This Daily Pennsylvanian article highlights the fact that alongside Penn’s 3.9% tuition increase, from $51,944 to $53,976, there will be a 7.7% increase in Penn’s financial aid budget to $161 million, a record high. Also, while a 3.9% increase in tuition may seem exorbitant when prices are already sky-high, the article notes that this will actually be the second smallest raise in tuition in 43 years. (For more financial aid news, see the Wall Street Journal article “Buying Your Way Into College.”)
- “To Get Into College, It Helps to Be Rich” — College applicants who come from families that can afford to pay most or all of tuition stand a better chance of gaining admission to some colleges, reports this Wall Street Journal article. Therefore, advises the article, “if you can afford to skip the aid applications, it may actually boost your child’s chances of getting accepted.” This applies to schools that take financial status into account during the application process, as well as state schools that are more likely to accept out-of-state students who pay higher tuition. Some top schools, however, like Dartmouth, Stanford, and Yale, may actually charge families with higher incomes higher tuitions to match–in these cases you may not want to forgo the financial aid application. You should note, that some schools that claim to be “need blind” are only such at the early stages of admissions, as the admissions process moves forward, they may start to consider an applicant’s financial status.
- Yale Shifts Its Student-Aid Generosity From Richer to Poorer Students – As mentioned above, Yale has gained a reputation as one of the more generous schools when it comes to doling out financial aid. This Chronicle of Higher Education article highlights some of the school’s updated financial aid policies. Students from families with a combined income of less than $65,000 will need to contribute from summer work and work-study jobs, but pay no further tuition fees. Families in higher income brackets should expect to pay about 15% of income towards tuition.
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A lot of students are in need of financial aid and although it may be a bit tricky to get admitted to a good university, this information will really be useful to students applying to one.
I also want to share this link I have read about how you can stay away from certain financial aid providers.
http://privatestudentloan.org/the-three-worst-student-loan-providers/
The problem with articles like the second one by the Wall Street Journal is that it discourages students who are planning to go to need-blind schools from applying for financial aid. They don't clarify in their headlines that the situation like that is only for certain schools, and that there are many more who don't take financial need into consideration when determining admission.