Calculating college costs adds to application anxiety 1/8/2009 2:57 PM By: Karina Kling
The cost of attending college is a major factor for students now.
As with any campus college tour, students and parents are inundated with plenty of numbers. From average grade point averages, student enrollment, student acceptance rates, and where the university might be ranked nationally in terms of value.
However, there's a good chance that in light of a struggling economy, the cost of one year's tuition in college is the most impressionable number to most parents and students.
The college-application anxiety pit is difficult enough, but now students and parents are forced to factor in annual tuition, fees, room and board, while trying to figure out how they will afford it.
Many parents of high school students have been saving for college for years, but as college-savings plans melt away, parents worry about job security and price becomes a major factor, it's safe to say the approach students take to the college admissions game might be slightly different now.
Getting in is only half the battle in college applications now.
"It's another reason I chose to go to [Texas] A&M because it's pretty cheap compared to private schools where they're up to $40,000 a year," Round Rock High School senior Michael Meltzer said.
Meltzer's decision is not unlike hundreds of other students enrolling for colleges in the midst of a shaky economy.
Private schools like Southwestern University in Georgetown fear that there will be a dip in enrollment because of spiked tuition costs. However, school officials say you shouldn't rule them out completely because private schools tend to be in a position to offer more financial aid to prospective students since more money is available to private schools.
"Private colleges, unlike public colleges, tend to have more resources to help out with paying the cost," James Gaeta, director of student financial aid at Southwestern said.
Gaeta said the school's endowment has definitely taken a hit, but they've prioritized the budget and tapped into other funds to make more financial aid available to keep student enrollment numbers up.
Competition to get students has helped increase some financial aid packages, Ward said.
"We have seen that interest is there, and how we've responded to that concern has at least kept the interest up. What that means for final enrollment has yet to be seen," Gaeta said.
College planner Bryan Ward, of College Authority, said competition to get students has helped increase some financial aid packages.
"If we have their finances set up right and their academics, we'll have a very good opportunity to go to a private school for a public school cost," Ward said.
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Affording college High school seniors have a a lot on their mind as it is when filling out college applications, but money is now a major issue.
But college is an investment -- public or private, good economy or bad -- and high school seniors like Meltzer said even with an acceptance letter in hand, he still has some work to do.
"I'm in the process for applying for scholarships," he said.
Apart from public and private schools, Austin Community College reports enrollment is currently running far ahead of where it was this time last year.
Given the nature of the economic constraints, the Texas Higher Education Board made a long list of recommendations to the 81st Legislature. Those include increased funding for the Texas Grant so more than the current 50 percent of eligible students can benefit.
The list also calls for an expansion of work-study programs to leverage state money.
Katherine Cohen, co-founder of ApplyWise.com, an online college counseling program, says students might consider finishing college in three years instead of four by using credits from Advanced Placement exams or by taking community-college classes during the summer.
Voters' Guide For Central Texas Election Information, including a list of statewide candidates and links to county voting locations, click the link. Primary election day is March 2. The general election is Nov. 2.
Tuesday morning, a judge agreed to hear a divorce case between a same-sex couple. This is the second case heard in Texas. Do you agree with his decision to hear the case?
