college costs

20 Stories

More Colleges Crack the $90K Threshold
Some Colleges Cost
$95K This Year
Apr 7, 2024 4:50 PM CDT

Some Colleges Cost $95K This Year

Wealthy families face a hefty bill, though lower-income students are getting bigger breaks

(Newser) - As more than 2 million graduating high school students from across the United States finalize their decisions on what college to attend this fall, many are facing jaw-dropping costs—in some cases, as much as $95,000. A number of private colleges—some considered elite and others middle-of-the-pack—have exceeded...

Raising a Kid Today Costs an Eye-Popping Amount

Research by Lending Tree says it costs nearly $240K to raise children up until college

(Newser) - The cost of raising a kid up until college in the US has reached nearly $240,000, and that amount includes just the basics, according to CBS News . They broke down research from Lending Tree that found parenting costs from birth to age 18 averaged $237,482. These expenses covered...

Their Daughter Wanted a Pricey College. They Said No

Slate essay suggests parents have a duty to help their children avoid a costly mistake

(Newser) - In an essay at Slate , Melody Warnick writes how she and her husband made the difficult decision to quash their teenage daughter's hopes of going to a fancy—meaning expensive—art school out of state upon graduation. Warnick feels like a "monster" for doing so, but the middle-class...

Colleges Warm to Deals: Buy 7 Terms, Get One Free

Or, get $2.5K cash back if you apply now!

(Newser) - Purchasing a four-year college education is starting to sound a lot more like buying a car. Liberal arts schools throughout the country are offering new deals to win over families with less cash on hand, the Wall Street Journal reports. You might get $2,500 cash back if you apply...

Florida May Vary Tuition Depending on College Major

Governor's task force recommends change

(Newser) - Anthropology majors in Florida may have to pay higher tuition than science majors if a new task force on college costs gets its way. The panel set up by Gov. Rick Scott recommends that state schools give a break to students who major in math and science because related jobs...

Texas Colleges Agree: We'll Offer $10K Educations

Gov. Rick Perry challenged schools to offer budget programs

(Newser) - Rick Perry's solution for soaring education costs: get public universities to offer 4-year degrees for $10,000 or less. The Texas governor challenged state schools a year ago to create budget programs, and ten have responded—including Angelo State with a $9,974 degree and Texas A&M University-Commerce...

Student Covers Most of Tuition With Mail-In Rebates
Student Covers Most of Tuition With Mail-In Rebates 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 16, 2012 12:10 PM CDT

Student Covers Most of Tuition With Mail-In Rebates

Auburn doctoral student has it down to a science

(Newser) - Here's a new strategy for covering tuition fees: Use mail-in rebates. That's what PhD student Jonathan Hood has done to pay for most of this semester at Auburn—some $3,500, or more than 200 debit cards' worth, Business Insider reports. That leaves just $1,000 to pay...

America's Best Colleges
  America's Best Colleges 
Aug 1, 2012 4:02 PM CDT

America's Best Colleges

Princeton tops annual list from Forbes

(Newser) - Forbes is out with its annual list of the nation's best bang-for-your-buck colleges, with its rankings based on five criteria: post-graduate success, student satisfaction, debt, graduation rate, and competitive awards. The top five:

Private Student Loans Work Like Subprime Mortgages
Private Student Loans Work Like Subprime Mortgages
new study
Jul 20, 2012 9:21 AM CDT

Private Student Loans Work Like Subprime Mortgages

Lenders didn't check whether recipients could repay

(Newser) - Private lenders offered student loans without confirming that recipients could pay them back—then sold them to investors, thus protecting the lenders against defaults, a government study finds. Sound familiar? It should: It's a lot like the process that caused the subprime mortgage crisis. Some $8.1 billion worth...

Students Footing More of College Bill

In first, more than half live at home, too: Sallie Mae study

(Newser) - Sallie Mae is seeing a "major shift" in the way Americans pay for college, it reveals in an annual report released today. Regardless of income level, students are paying a bigger share of their educational costs than they have in four years, and mom and dad are paying less....

Houston Family's College Bill: $1.5M

Marc and Beverly Ostrofsky have five daughters

(Newser) - Good thing he wrote a bestseller. Houston dad Marc Ostrofsky has tallied up his family's college costs, and "we’re looking at roughly $60,000 to $70,000 per child per year," he tells KHOU . "A total of about $1.5 million after tax dollars."...

Student Loan Rate Hike Is Overhyped
Student Loan Rate Hike Is Overhyped
OPINION
May 10, 2012 11:33 AM CDT

Student Loan Rate Hike Is Overhyped

Congress is screwing college students in much bigger ways

(Newser) - Congress is up in arms over how to keep rates on Stafford student loans from doubling in July, but Mark Kantrowitz and Lynn Shaughgnessy have a question: Who cares? "The partisan posturing is a distraction from far more pressing issues that face students," the college experts write in...

Broke College Girls Find Dubious Job: Sugar Baby

With soaring tuition, crap job market, women find controversial way to pay debts

(Newser) - Amid soaring college tuition and a persistently terrible job market, college co-eds are increasingly turning to a thinly-veiled version of the world's oldest profession to get the bills and loans paid, reports the Huffington Post . Websites such as SeekingArrangement.com allow women to advertise themselves as "sugar babies"...

America's 10 Priciest Colleges
 America's 10 Priciest Colleges 
Oct 5, 2010 10:30 AM CDT

America's 10 Priciest Colleges

...that we definitely haven't saved enough for

(Newser) - Oh, sweet journalistic irony: Forbes releases its list of the country's most expensive colleges, and MarketWatch reports on a Sallie Mae survey released today that finds that, on average, families have saved $48,367 for school by the time their kid leaves for college. (Though, disturbingly, 24% of parents use...

7 Reasons Your Kids Should Skip College

It's a four year—or more—waste of time, author says

(Newser) - College is a must if you want to have a real career, right? Nope, it’s “a scam, a self-perpetuating Ponzi scheme that needs to stop right now,” writes James Altucher for DailyFinance.com . Here are his seven reasons you shouldn’t send your kids:
  • It’ll cost
...

Bargain-Hunting Students Swarm State Universities

Officials walk line between shoring up budgets, maintaining reputations

(Newser) - The unraveling economy is spurring a boom in applications to public universities as students pursue higher education at lower prices, the New York Times reports. But while increased enrollment may help offset the budget cuts that many public institutions expect as states trim budgets, it can also diminish the student...

Applicant Pool Down, Private Colleges Begin to Panic

Fears of high costs may be driving drop

(Newser) - Private colleges are receiving notably fewer regular applications this year, sparking widespread concern among the schools that enrollment will plunge, the New York Times reports. Reasons for the drop may include families’ worries about soaring tuition and a general decline in the number of schools to which each student applies....

Colleges, Universities Hit by Credit Crisis

Higher ed is heavily invested, needs to reassess plans

(Newser) - Watching their endowments go south, their fundraising slow, and access to credit dry up, many colleges and universities are in crisis-planning mode, the Boston Globe reports. Some schools may have to freeze hiring and halt new construction, as Boston University did Tuesday, or raise tuition. Pricier schools are predicting fewer...

Struggling College Students Turn to Food Banks

Soaring cost of staples drive students to charity pantries

(Newser) - With some groceries costing 30% more this year, food banks have surprising new customers: college students. About 150 visit a Seattle food pantry each week, up 25% from last year, while a Denver college food program has seen its numbers double. "With things the way they are, a lot...

Credit Crunch Ups Price of College Loans

Federal, private lenders will raise rates, increase rejections

(Newser) - Even as college costs soar, the credit crunch is about to make student loans more expensive—and tougher to come by. Fees for federally guaranteed loans, which offer below-market rates, are expected to rise, and some states have dropped out of the program. At least a dozen private firms have...

20 Stories