1. Riverside Brookfield High School Tuesday, September 26, 2017
College Planning Tips for Senior Parents: Quality College Education at the Best Price
Riverside Brookfield High School
Tuesday, September 26, 2017

2. Goals of Presentation
What needs to be done and when it needs to be done
Helpful resources for exploring cost
Suggestions for reducing cost
Evaluating educational quality
Tips for getting the most out of a college education

3. Timeline September October November December January
List of colleges and what they need
October
Work on application
FAFSA – Available October 1 – File by early app deadline below.
CSS Profile - Available October 1 – Northwestern University
November
First round of deadlines (UIUC, UIC – 11/1, ISU – 11/15)
December
Many schools have a scholarship deadline of 12/1.
January
Second round of deadlines (UIC – 1/15)

4. Timeline
February – Applications for RB local scholarships available on RB website
March – Deadline for RB local scholarship applications
April – Compare financial aid awards and visit colleges.
May 1st – Reply to colleges with response by this date.
Summer of 2018 – Still colleges accepting applications, Summer school class?

5. Deadlines When is the application due? Get materials in early.
Personal Essay(s) if necessary
Teacher Recommendation(s) if necessary
ACT Scores – actstudent.org. Report all scores.
SAT Scores – College Board
Transcript
FAFSA earlier better than later.
Deadline for a decision is May 1st.

6. Cost Net Cost vs. Published Cost Net Cost is the key.
Net Cost determined by income and merit.
Good to have public schools on the list
Net Price Averages* (Tuition, Room, Board):
4-year In-state Public: $14,210
4-year Private: $26,080
(*According to College Board in 2017)

7. Cost
Out-of-state public colleges can be cheaper than in-state public colleges.
Published Total Costs on College Navigator
In-State Public Schools
Out-of-State*
UIUC - $30,064
University of Nebraska-Lincoln - $22,322 (24 and 3.0)
UIC - $30,034
Kansas - $27,445 (w/24 and 3.25)
NIU - $28,964
Wisconsin-Milwaukee - $27,674
ISU - $28,197
Ball State (IN) - $25,833 (w/3.3)
SIUC - $27,708
Central Michigan - $22,922 (w/2.75 GPA)
WIU - $25,045
Winona State (MN) (w/25 ACT) - $21,427
EIU - $23,343
Murray State (KY) - $20,035 ($17,000 w/26 ACT)
SIUE - $23,827
Northern Michigan - $20,064**
University of Kansas - $21,500 (w/24 and 3.25)
*Approximate
**Some GPA and ACT/SAT minimums

8. Cost - Midwest Student Exchange Program
Collection of private and public colleges offering discounts to IL residents
Public colleges offer tuition at no more than 150% of the in-state rate
Private colleges offer at least a 10% discount
Example of Ball State

9. Cost
Public colleges are not necessarily cheaper than private ones. Published prices usually are higher, but private colleges can be more generous with financial aid.
Income and merit are prime determinants of aid.
Example: University of Chicago tuition, room, board, fees, expenses
Published Price: $68,942
Family with income of $85,000 cost is about $8,842
Family with income of $120,000 cost is about $16,742
Example: Monmouth College (Monmouth, IL)
Published tuition, room, and board: $46,550
Income of $85,000, 28 ACT & 3.75 GPA, cost is $15,240
Income of $85,000, 22 ACT & 3.3 GPA, cost is $16,650

10. Cost Cast a wide net. Apply to about five to seven schools.
One or two in-state public schools
Four or five private schools
Research what schools have more generous financial aid. (collegenavigator.gov)
Use a college’s Net Price Calculator. (All colleges have one on their websites. Around 125 schools use College Board’s calculator.)

11. Cost – College Navigator
Valparaiso (IN)
Loyola (Chicago)

12. Cost – College Navigator – Hope (MI)

13. Cost – Net Price Calculator

14. Cost - Award Letters
Consumer Finance Protection Bureau Example

15. Award Letter

16. American Opportunity Tax Credit Lifetime Learning Tax Credit
Cost – Tax Benefits
American Opportunity Tax Credit
Lifetime Learning Tax Credit
Tuition and Fees Tax Deduction
Student Loan Interest Deduction

17. Evaluating Educational Quality
Rankings?
Forbes
Gallup Poll
National Science Foundation
Daily Beast*
US News
WSJ #1
Williams
Harvard
Cal Tech
Columbia
Princeton
Penn State #2
Stanford
Harvey Mudd
Amherst
Texas A&M #3
Yale
MIT
Davidson
Illinois #4
West Point
Reed
Dartmouth
Purdue #5
Berkley
Swarthmore
Arizona State #6
Notre Dame
Carleton
Chicago
Michigan #7
Georgia Tech #8
Grinnell
Barnard
Duke
Maryland #9
Claremont McKenna
Rice
Penn
Florida
#10
UCLA
Middlebury
Carnegie Mellon
*According to Daily Beast’s 2012“Most Rigorous Colleges” List

18. Evaluating Educational Quality
Selectivity ≠ Quality
Dale and Krueger (2011) - Comparison of Lifetime Earnings Between Similar Students Attending Highly Selective Schools and Those Attending Less Selective Ones
Student’s personal qualities have most significant impact on lifetime earning potential.
Pascarella and Terenzini (2005) - Student’s work ethic may play a larger role than a particular college’s quality.
Gladwell (2008) - Last fifty Americans to win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry or Medicine? Over half earned their bachelors’ degrees at large state schools or smaller, lesser-known schools.

19. Evaluating Educational Quality
Nobel Prize Winners in Last Thirty Years
Chemistry:
UCLA, (2) Michigan, Nebraska, UC-Riverside, BYU, Georgia Institute of Technology, City College of NY (2)
Augsburg, Lawrence, Berea, Ohio Wesleyan, Dayton, Rollins,
Harvard (4), Chicago, Brandeis, Berea, Dartmouth, Rice, M.I.T., Grinnell, Stanford, Columbia
Medicine:
UC-San Diego, UC-Santa Barbara, UC-Berkeley, Minnesota, Texas, Washington (2), North Carolina, Illinois, Hunter (NY), Brooklyn, McGill (Montreal)
Antioch, Gettysburg, Union (KY), Holy Cross (MA), Washington and Lee, Oberlin, Case Western, DePauw, Hamilton
Brown, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Yale, Columbia (2), Cornell, Dartmouth, CalTech, M.I.T., Amherst

20. Evaluating Educational Quality
Quality is difficult to define, but here is some other data to explore.
CollegeResults.org
Graduation Rate (collegenavigator.gov, collegeresults.org)
U of I – 84%, ISU – 71%, NCC – 68%, DePaul 68%, NIU – 55%

21. Underrated and Overlooked
Illinois Wesleyan (Average ACT 28)
Hope College (26)
Kalamazoo College (28)
University of Minnesota – Morris (25)
Elmhurst College (24)
Lewis University (23)
SIU-Edwardsville (23)
DePauw (27)
St John’s (MN) (26)

22. Fit Certain programs that are necessary? Location?
Majors?
Co-ops?
Location?
Philosophy of Education?
Religious Orientation?
Size?
Setting?

23. Alternative Credit – AP, CLEP, Online
AP Credit
Marquette
CLEP (College Level Examination Program)
DePaul
Community College (summers, online)
Triton
MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses)

24. Helpful Resources College Board College Navigator
College Solution (collegesolution.com)
College Results (collegeresults.org)
RB Student Services
Midwest Student Exchange Program (MSEP)
FinAid.org
Edvisors.com

26. Tips for College* Consider working.
Visit multiple classes during the first two weeks of classes.
Visit all your professors during office hours at least once.
Learn how to write well.
Write papers in three sittings.
Don’t succumb to the “Two Cultures” by focusing on either humanities or science. Become proficient in both.
Study abroad – the more foreign, the better
Get to know at least one professor well.
Make your bed.
Learn outside the classroom.
*Adapted from The Thinking Student’s Guide to College by Andrew Roberts

27. Thanks and Questions