disparities in tuition

[stwei]

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Can someone provide a general idea on how to assess tuition fees? What makes a school want you to pay 60,000$ as opposed to 12,000$? Are the best value schools really so according to US News and World Report? How so?
And is it feasible to ask the schools to give an accurate breakdown of the fees students have to pay during the admissions interview?

 

[dhoonlee]

.

 

[EvoDevo]

Most schools will give you a pretty good breakdown on financial issues during the interview day. It usually comes in the form of a handout listing the estimated budget per year for the "average" student. Some will also have a powerpoint presentation in addition to the packet that goes into more detail.

Also, keep in mind that private schools are generally more expensive, and that they usually have fewer dollars available in scholarship/grant money (note that I said generally). Keep in mind that the calculated "average" student budget also includes loans taken out for living expenses as well. So, for example, the TX schools have ~10K year in tuition and fees (I'm guesstimating) plus students can take out around $20,000 in living expenses tuition. Therefore your cost would equal ~$30,000 per year.

Finally, "value" is completely subjective and it depends on what you personally consider most important. If you "value" an Ivy education then $30K+ per annum (tuition only) is going to seem like a bargain, while it's going to seem outrageous to someone else who doesn't care about prestige.

 

[stwei]

What is an ivy education?

 

[bigdan]

Ivy = Ivy League school (Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, etc.)

Tuition can also be driven up by desire to keep out-of-staters "out", like seeing Univ. of Colorado's ($60k).

dc

 

[stwei]

I know what the ivy league schools are, but what makes their profs and quality of education so special?

 

[bigdan]

Are you being serious?

If so, reputation, research money, legacy come to mind.

dc

 

[mikedc813]

Obviously the schools that only have $12-15k tuitions are almost exclusively your state schools. They're subsidized by the states, which makes them cheaper than private schools. Many private and public schools are more or less the same, other than the price tag. Obviously the goal is to keep doctors in state after med school, so the state is willing to pay for some of the tuition to make state schools more attractive.

 

[mikeyboy]

What school asks you to pay $60000?

 

[kingcer0x]

What school asks you to pay $60000?

Colorado does, but im relatively sure you qualify for in-state status after a year.