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| Crunch time: Ayo Yayo (foreground), on a campus tour at the University of Massachusetts Boston, is considering transferring
in to cut tuition costs. Dylan Begin (center) is also considering transferring in from a private school, which would reduce
college loans, says his mother, Alice Gentili (right). Sarah Beth Glicksteen/The Christian Science Monitor |
Students eye cheaper colleges as crisis deepens
Nearly 6 in 10 are considering less prestigious schools in order to trim costs, a survey finds.
from the October 23, 2008 edition
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Reporter Stacy Teicher Khadaroo discusses how college-admissions counselors are finding a new maturity among applicants as the economy sours.
Ms. Johnson touts the university's small classes and says more Harvard-educated professors teach here than at any school other than Harvard – all for about $9,000 a year for tuition and fees.
That's a big part of the appeal for people taking a tour at the sun-dappled campus center overlooking the ocean.
Ayo Yayo, a Boston native, is considering transferring to UMASS after 2-1/2 years at nearby Northeastern University, a private school with a sticker price of about $45,000 a year for tuition and room and board.
Even with a substantial scholarship and financial aid, he and his family have taken out loans, he says. "My father, he's a real estate broker, and you know, with the market struggling as it is … I just felt that I needed to make a change." He still intends to work, possibly full time, while in school.
But if students limit their search to public universities, they might miss great opportunities, Mr. Sapp of Claremont McKenna says. "[As private colleges], we know we have to have significant financial aid budgets or we're just not going to be an appealing option."
Uncertainty over the future value of college endowments and other sources of financial aid makes families cautious. Mr. Begin has scholarships at his current private university, his mother says, but "we can't help but wonder if those would decrease. Colleges invest as well … and [now] they have less money to spread around."
College-admissions counselors say it's too early to speculate what schools' endowment situations will be when financial aid packages are offered next year.
It is clear that many colleges are under more pressure to cut costs. Boston University, which is private, recently announced a hiring freeze and a pause on new construction plans. Public higher education systems in Massachusetts and a number of other states are facing the loss of more than 5 percent of state funding. But leaders of both private and public institutions in Massachusetts have said they'll find cuts that don't directly affect core functions and financial aid.
For high school seniors like KC Martin of Englewood, Colo., even a four-year public university feels out of reach. She says she'll probably go to a community college, a decision she reached with her parents. "It's a tough one, because I want to go to a four-year school, but it's expensive," she says.
Community colleges typically swell during economic downturns, but with the financial crisis and the loss of state revenues, it will be daunting for some to accommodate what could be unprecedented demand, says Norma Kent, spokeswoman for the American Association of Community Colleges in Washington. Without funding to hire more faculty or build labs, "there's a de facto cap," she says, despite their mission to be accessible to everyone.
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