There may be components of cost that I hadn’t considered and I may have assumed something to be true about college expenses that may not be so. |
While State or Public Schools usually have a lower “sticker price” than their Private School alternatives, there is more to the story than meets the eye. First, it is important to understand that the cost of a college education is the sum of components beyond just tuition. In order to understand the TOTAL COST OF ATTENDANCE, it is important to include tuition, room and board, books, transportation, fees, and other miscellaneous costs including spending money (for laundry, personal hygiene products, etc). Further, it is important to understand that the conventional thinking of a “four year degree”, is no longer applicable. In fact, an undergraduate degree can take 5 years, 6 years or even longer. Public schools have a national average of graduating the majority of their students in 5 years, while the private schools average about 4 years. Without taking this into consideration, it is easy to assume that a state school is automatically less expensive. Something else to consider: every additional year the student spends in school represents a year of lost opportunity of income not earned. Regardless of how the expense is determined, there is no misconception that the cost of college will be a significant one. The cost of college for most parents, will be more expensive than their first house. They’ll also be incurring this cost over four years, rather than 30, the traditional house loan period. |
No math presented on this screen. |