Loving a School You Can't Afford

Sasha Noble brought up a good point yesterday: North Carolina is full of great schools to visit. In fact, we started our tours there almost two years ago when we visited Elon, Davidson and Wake Forest. But I think North Carolina is also the perfect example of why you need to be prudent about your college visits. Schools like UNC, Duke and Wake Forest are first-tier, highly competitive and EXPENSIVE. 

A lot of my perspective on this comes from that book I recommended called Debt-Free U. Some important points from Zac Bissonnette:  

• It's more important that you ATTEND college than you attend a CERTAIN college
• How much work you put into school matters more than where you go to school
• It doesn't matter as much where you START college as it matters where you FINISH with a college degree 
• Parents shouldn't go into debt over college costs, and students should avoid loans as much as possible

UNC costs $45,806 in tuition, fees, room, board, etc...and to get a good perspective on the competition to get in, Fiske says "admission is next to impossible for out-of-staters who aren't 6'9" with a 43-inch vertical jump." Wake Forest is $58,260 and Duke is $61,404, and they both have enough highly competitive students getting in to make merit scholarships beyond the reach of your average student.

These are fantastic schools and deserve their excellent reputations. But if you're an average family who can't afford $50,000+ for college each year or you have multiple kids to send, and you don't want them drowning in loans, make sure you've got reasonable schools in your sights. This is especially true for Virginians who have many excellent schools available for reasonable tuition rates. 

Consider state schools that are known to waive out-of-state tuition rates for competitive candidates. The Universities of S. Carolina, Georgia, Connecticut and Florida all offer this incentive, just to name a few. NC State lists many opportunities for merit money on their site, and our admissions counselor at the information session there recommended that every student apply for three such scholarships the day they receive their acceptance. Don't assume expensive private schools are out of reach - those that are a little less competitive often have lots of scholarship money to give to good students (Elon and Miami of Ohio are eager to offer at least some merit money). 

While it's helpful to see as many schools as you can, consider the cost factor when you go. I've heard from many parents that it's hard on everyone when your student falls in love with a school that your family really can't afford.