That's a pretty interesting article Terry - thanks for the link.
It is interesting that the schools may raise their tuition to give a look of being a better school, then turn right back around and award that difference to the students in the form of need/merit-based scholarships.
I'm still on the hunt, however, for some research discussing the effect of federal loans on the cost, even if it were only relative (b/c of this false price inflation mentioned in the article).
This was something else interesting:
Quote:
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Schools award need-based using a calculation known as the expected family contribution (EFC), which is the amount they think a family can pay each year. Buck recommends parents estimate their EFC during their kids' junior year of high school, which they can do for free at Thomson Peterson's and other sites.
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This EFC has always kind of irked me a bit - on a personal level. My father makes a good living as an attorney but he has always made it clear that we needed to provide our higher education (whether you agree or disagree with
that is another topic). So a school will evaluate my
expected family contribution - not the actual. Wish there were some way to get around that. They don't seem to care when you say that you actually don't receive any assistance from parents.
I guess I'm glad to be graduating in a year
