Students are buzzing about "the four year experience." The fact that the phrase is repeated verbatim by our students indicates to me that it is the buzz around high school hallways; maybe even in the classrooms. My question to we parents is, "How much do we want to spend to give our students an "experience"?
Here's a quick run-down:
- Even at the better colleges, only about 6 out of 10 students graduate in 4 years. There are some notable exceptions, but no college I know of reports better than about 90% 4-year graduation rate.
- At $20,000 per year cost of attendance (N.C. residents, in-state rates), and a good chance of the "four year experience" taking 5 years (or longer), $100,000 is reality. [more info]
- Cost of Attendance = tuition, fees, room and board, books and miscellaneous expenses. Between our students and ourselves all of that will be borne as some combination of cash outlay and education loans. If a student gets some merit grant-in-aid (scholarships) to reduce the sticker price, good for them, and for us. But . . .
- Remember, in nearly every case scholarships (merit grants-in-aid) are based on four years, are dependent on maintaining an eligibility GPA, and may be lost if a student encounters any disciplinary issues. In addition, if the grant-in-aid is tied to a particular degree program, a change of majors may result in the loss of some or all of the scholarship.
Come back next week to read my concluding words [http://www.succeedwhereitcounts.com/blog], answering the "So what shall we do?" Question.
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