Parent Topic: College “Sticker Prices” Can Be Misleading

Privates often look expensive on paper, but they can be as affordable as state schools. Grants, financial aid, and scholarships more frequently come into play at private universities which can help cover a good portion of your child’s tuition fees if your student is applying to the right colleges! The “fit” of the college to the student, and visa versa, are key drivers when it comes to racking up big financial packages.

Our best advice for the preliminary college search? Keep your mind as open as possible, for as long as possible. Have your student research and visit private AND public colleges to help them consider size, location, academic programs, campus atmosphere and opportunities that each school affords. Students are wise to at least consider a wide variety of school “types.”

Many students love the prestige and/or “school spirit” more closely associated with larger public schools. With generally larger, more diverse student populations, public universities can also offer perks like big football programs and multiple greek life & social
opportunities. Public schools in the state of California come at a low annual cost, but students can linger for 6 or 7 years on campus due to lack of class availability. If you factor that into the cost of an education, things starts to get very expensive. Out-of-state public universities can charge expensive out-of-state fees, so it’s wise to identify schools where your student may line up for scholarship assistance. Having said that, there are some out-of-state public schools that come with a reasonable price tag for California kids (www.wiche.edu). Check them out!

We research schools far and wide to come up with a creative and well-matched list. Our goal is to find ideal schools for your student based on their academic profiles, interests, goals, and personality. With our help, your student can contemplate a list of colleges that include both public and private institutions. We often suggest schools our students have never even heard of—a key factor in broadening their college lists.

We visit campuses year-round to be able to give our students a first hand account. College research can provide you with helpful statistics and information, but it won’t give you a clear idea as to the “personality” of the school. Having toured hundreds of universities, we can provide you with first-hand accounts of colleges we’ve seen. We can sense whether a particular college would be worth your student pursuing–that’s our strong suit!

Call us at (818) 207-0263 to further discuss the differences between public and private
universities.