When Did Paying for College Become Like Buying a Used Car?
By David W. Clark, Ed.M.
Only with a college education are you urged to look at price last.
We follow a logical step-by-step procedure with all high-priced consumer purchases except one, a college education. Why not start your college search that way? Because that is almost certainly where you’ll finish your search.
When you shop for any high-priced consumer product (for example, a car) you START with the price, make several “need vs. want” calculations from there, and arrive at a final decision that offers what you need at a price that is within your family’s financial resources.
But value is there for the savvy consumer. Examples include:
- co-op programs (Drexel, Northeastern) where valuable paid internships are a requirement
- five college consortiums (Amherst in Massachusetts; Claremont colleges in California) in which a student may take courses at five different campuses
- PG or “Gap” year programs for the student who may get little out of the college experience right now
- colleges for whom the SATs or ACTs are optional (more than 25 percent of four-year colleges)
- non-traditional college settings for those of us who learn in at a different pace
- service academies or ROTC programs where part/all of expenses are paid for by the U.S. taxpayer
When you visit a campus, work hard to find out the following:
Non-negotiable
- graduation rate within four years? within six years?
- job placement by major? for the previous year’s senior class?
- level of support services? academic? medical?
Nice to know and you’ll find it out soon enough if you enroll.
- who teaches freshman courses? full professors? TAs?
- percentage of grades that are A or B?
Be an educated consumer. If you view a college education as an investment, why approach the college search any other way?
Next week’s topic: Essential information that will help your entire family with the college search process.
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Mark your calendar!
An evening program for college bound high school students and parents:
*Become a savvy college consumer. So little time, so many choices. This workshop will include strategies for making the college search work for you and help in de-mystifying paying for college.
Sept. 9 at 7 PM: Newtown Public Library (201 Bishop Hollow Road in Newtown Square)
Reservations, please. Email Mr. Clark at david@collegesearchnow.net.
Need directions? Have a question? Call Mr. Clark at 610-304-719 (cell) or 610-642-4873 ext. 52 (office).
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David W. Clark, Ed.M. is an independent college admission consultant – with an office in Paoli – who has been working with high school students for more than 35 years. David is a graduate of the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. His website is www.collegesearchnow.net and he can be reached there.
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Top photo credit: COD Newsroom New Student Orientation Fall 2013 139 via photopin (license)
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