221.Unstack the Odds--Cost, Part 3

Unstack the Odds: Help All Kids Access College—and Graduate!

by

Joe Rottenborn

Executive Director, Mahoning Valley College Access Program (MVCAP)

11. Cost, Part 3

To keep a student’s cost for college as low as possible, they may want to consider the option of matriculating to a community college before transferring to a four-year school. Sometimes, financial incentives make this route hard to pass up. In the state of Massachusetts, for example, a transfer program for community college grads offers a most reasonable college cost. According to an Associated Press article, “A new program is aimed at making it easier for graduates of two-year community colleges to attend--and afford--the University of Massachusetts flagship Amherst campus. Community college students with a grade point average of 3.0 or better would be guaranteed admission to UMass-Amherst with free tuition. Those with a GPA of at least 2.5 percent would also be guaranteed admission and would be eligible for financial aid and other services. The current in-state tuition at the university is $1,714 a year.” ("Umass woos community college grads,” The Boston Globe, March 23, 2011.) http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/03/23/umass_woos_community_college_grads/

Another financial alternative to consider is attending the regional campus of a state university; these local campuses can often have lower costs. An illustration of this approach can be seen in the case study I collaborated on regarding Kent State University in Ohio. According to that analysis, students with an expected family contribution (EFC) of $0 on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) could attend the regional campuses of KSU at Salem, East Liverpool, or Trumbull at no cost, based on the full federal Pell grant of $5,350 in 2009-10. (That full Pell amount of $5,350 annually would be split between the fall and spring semesters, for $2,675 in financial aid per term.) Given tuition at KSU regional campuses for freshmen and sophomores at $2,469 per semester, students would not only get their entire tuition paid by the Pell Grant but also get money back--that could be used to buy books. (“EFC of $0? Go to College in the Valley for Free—or Almost,” MVCAP blog post, November 29, 2009.) http://mvcap.blogspot.com/2009/11/21-efc-of-0-go-to-college-in-valley-for.html

Interestingly, when it comes to student views on cost, it was not their most important consideration in choosing a college. According to a survey of 21,000 high school seniors, done of its registrants by Fastweb.com with consulting firm Maguire Associates in January 2011, “total cost” was the fourth most frequently-cited factor (by 87% of respondents)--and tied with “Availability of need- or merit-based scholarships” (87%)--after “quality of major” (94%), “’value’ of education, including quality and cost” (92%), and “employment opportunities after college” (91%). (Jacques Steinberg, “Economy Is Growing Factor in College Choices, Poll Finds,” The New York Times, The Choice: Demystifying College Admissions and Aid, March 23, 2011.) http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/economy-2/