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Are Private Colleges Still Affordable?

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In last two years, the economy has caused all of us to tighten our purse strings. Many parents now assume that private college tuition is too expensive, impossibly expensive. And the raw numbers speak to that: the average cost of a year at a four-year private school runs about $36,000, rising much faster than the rate of inflation.

What many parents fail to understand, however, is that most families do NOT pay full tuition. In fact, the total out-of-pocket cost after financial aid is closer to $22,000 per year. Still high, I know. But when you begin to compare the cost of attending a state college, which is about $11,000 for one year's tuition at a UC, the numbers are getting surprisingly closer, especially when you consider many students at state schools cannot complete a degree in four years.

And did you know that many private institutions, including the Ivies, offer aid to families earning $180,000 or more? And at many selective private colleges and universities the average non-need based aid package is over $15,000 per year? And lesser-known private colleges often attempt to attract strong students with even more attractive aid packages. And remember, non-need based aid is NOT based on a family's income qualifications but on the quality of a student's application.

This year, so far, two of my students received Presidential scholarships, one at Southern Methodist and the other at Loyola in Chicago, each amounted to free tuition for four years. And yes, both of these students came from families that would not have qualified for any need-based financial aid. Because it is still on December, I expect many more of these packages to roll in over the course of the year.

What do students, like those above, share in common? High scores on standardized tests and high GPAs. To be offered non-need based aid you must have both. That is where preparing for the SAT or ACT pays off, literally. A small difference in scores, say a 31 on the ACT rather than a 29 can make a big difference in scholarship packages.

Below I made a list of schools that are committed to offering non-need based aid to students. When researching colleges or talking with your college counselor, make sure to target these types of schools if you desire a more affordable private education option.

Schools that Offer Non-Need Based Financial Aid Packages
(Averaging $10,000 or more)
Private Universities
  • Cal-Tech
  • Duke
  • Brown
  • University of Richmond
  • Emory
  • Johns Hopkins
  • Vanderbilt
  • University of Chicago
  • Boston College
  • Wake Forest
  • Brandeis
  • Trinity, San Antonio
  • USC
  • Lehigh
  • Bentley
  • Villanova
  • Rice
  • Gonzaga
  • University of Rochester
  • University of Miami (FL)
  • Clark
  • Emerson
  • Providence
  • Tulane
  • George Washington
  • Santa Clara
  • Pepperdine
  • Case Western
  • Drake
  • Carnegie Mellon
  • Northeastern
  • Boston Universityv
Private College
  • Swarthmore
  • Washington and Lee
  • Davidson
  • Claremont McKenna
  • Hamilton
  • Wesleyan
  • Holy Cross
  • Colorado College
  • Grinell
  • Lafayette
  • Bucknell
  • Scripps
  • Whitman
  • Kenyon
  • Occidental
  • Illinois Wesleyan
  • Denison
  • Rhodes
  • Harvey Mudd
  • Trinity (CT)
  • Furman
  • Oberlin
  • Smith
  • Lawrence
  • Skidmore
  • Franklin & Marshall
  • Union
  • Pitzer
Colleges and Universities that DO NOT Offer Non-Need Aid
  • Yale
  • Harvard
  • U Penn
  • Columbia
  • MIT
  • Cornell
  • Georgetown
  • Bates
  • Barnard
  • Pomona
  • Williams
  • Amherst
  • Haverford
  • Wellesley
  • Colgate
  • Middlebur
  • Vassar
  • Thomas Aquinas

*Above data from Kiplinger's Personal Finance 12/10

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