Addressing the High Cost of College

There has been a lot of talk lately about the expense of college and questioning whether it is worth it or not.  I’m hearing the arguments for either no college or community college followed by a public college or university.  However, I’m not hearing the arguments from the families that have chosen the expensive, be in debt until you’re dead, private colleges.  Well, as the mother of a daughter who has chosen an expensive college that will keep her in debt for all eternity, I thought I would share why – despite everything- I believe that this is the right decision for her.

There are a lot of issues to consider when the time comes to apply to college.  Two major requirements for my daughter was that the college she attends have no math requirements and be SAT optional.   I’ve learned that here is where a lot of people want to jump in with remarks like – well, she just can’t have it her way or that’s not how this works.   We’re talking about a girl who designed her high school curriculum on her own. She took suggestions from me and from some Charlotte Mason reading lists, but the ultimate decision on everything was her own.  Good luck telling this girl that she HAS to take a math class in college or that she just can’t have it her way.  She’ll find a way out of it – and she did. Her college has no math requirements. 

Next is the issue of the SATs.  The fact that more and more colleges are becoming SAT optional indicates to me that we are not alone in our opposition to these tests.  More and more research is proving that these tests are not the almighty predictor of college success that they have been touted as for decades.  In my opinion, the SAT is a scam.  Honestly, I love that my kids don’t want to go to any college that is being taken in by such a scam. 

But, here’s the caveat – all of those SAT optional and math optional schools are the ones that charge the exorbitant fees.  

So, let’s address the issue of debt.  Do people think that these college students are too dumb to realize that they will be graduating with large amounts of debt?  These students are intelligent people who do understand what they are getting into. They also have the intelligence and wherewithal to pay their loans just as they would pay for a car, rent, insurance, etc.  I’m not about to tell my daughter that I don’t think she is capable of creating a budget after college.  As it is now, any spending money that she has while she is away at school is money that she has earned being a dining server during her school breaks.  That money has to last her, so she does know how to plan and budget. 

The expensive colleges are not without a heart.  The majority of students at X receive financial aid.  X College has also provided my daughter with an extremely generous amount of tuition-forgiveness since the federal loans won’t cover the full cost of tuition.  We knew she couldn’t afford X when she applied, but that wasn’t going to stop her from at least trying.   We had faith that somehow it would work out and so far it has. 

Then there is the issue of the culture of the college.  Schools like Hampshire, New College, Global College, Naropa, etc have such a unique culture that is so different from mainstream colleges.   Yasmeen calls X College a transcendentalist’s dream come true.  These colleges have a campus culture that is much more aligned with the culture of many unschooling families and progressive families.   If you’ve spent years cultivating a family-culture so different from the mainstream, why wouldn’t you be interested in at least considering a college that fits well with your ideals?   I don’t know if maybe many unschooling/progressive families are just not aware that there are colleges out there that don’t fit into the mainstream mold. 

I’m not saying that all unschoolers/relaxed homeschoolers/progressive homeschoolers should go to an expensive alternative college.  What I am saying is that there are logical reasons why some may choose to go this route.   

Why am I defending my family’s choice so much?  In large part, it’s because I worry that with this shift in public opinion towards college, it will result in grants and other financial gifts to colleges drying up and students who need the help won’t be able to get it.  Ask yourself if – assuming you had the means to do it- you be more likely or less likely to contribute a large sum of money to a private liberal arts college after watching some of these videos warning on the high expense of colleges and claims that a college degree is not that useful.  Also, as these videos circulate, elected officials may be less likely to support legislation to either grant more aid in the form of a gift or to extend loan forgiveness programs. A lot of what these videos do is put the blame on the student for going to an expensive school and ASSUMES that the student has no foresight to plan for repaying the loan.  Why don’t these videos ask why the government can’t provide more financial aid in the form of a gift rather than a loan?