![]() “But we’re also an exceedingly generous one.”Ĭolleges and universities may also have more practical reasons for broadening their appeal and making sure families know that they can be affordable, Lanza-Cosgrove said. “We’re an expensive college,” Fretwell said. That initial price at Amherst - including tuition, board, travel, and health insurance - is estimated at $73,250 to $75,700 annually, and it can bring a family’s interest in the school “to a dead halt,” Fretwell said.įamilies don’t always understand that financial aid can lower the cost of an education significantly, she said. Many elite colleges still struggle to attract students of modest means, however.Īccording to the Equality of Opportunity Project, a collaboration between several leading economists who study income mobility, the share of students from low-income families at the country’s elite colleges changed little between 20, despite tuition reductions and outreach efforts.Īt Wellesley, nearly 10 percent of students came from families whose incomes ranked them in the top 1 percent, compared to the 5.5 percent of students whose families were in the bottom 20 percent of income earners, the Equality of Opportunity Project says.Īt Amherst College, nearly 17 percent of students came from top 1 percent of income earners, compared to 4.2 percent who came from the low-income families.Īmherst, which joined MyinTuition in April, is hoping the calculator helps the school draw more applicants who may need financial help, said Katie Fretwell, its dean of admissions and financial aid. In 2016, the unemployment rate for Americans with a bachelor’s degree was 2.7 percent, but 5.2 percent for those with just a high school diploma. “And that may not be the case.”Ī college degree has increasingly become a marker for job security and a ladder out of poverty. ![]() “As much as there is a danger that students and parents can overextend themselves financially with too much debt to attend their dream school, there’s an equal danger that they will rule out applying to certain colleges because the perceived cost is too high,” said Alle Lanza-Cosgrove, a spokeswoman for American Student Assistance, a Boston nonprofit focused on college affordability. ![]() Still, cost confusion can lead qualified students to go to less prestigious colleges that offer fewer grants and may ultimately be more expensive because families have to take out more in loans, university officials say. But the average annual financial aid grant is $50,000, and about half the students receive some economic help, say college officials. “This is part of broader strategy in clarifying some of the misconceptions.”Īt Williams, tuition, room and board, and fees total nearly $68,000 for the 2017-18 school year. “The sticker price can be overwhelming for families,” said Liz Creighton, dean of admissions and financial aid at Williams College.
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