Invest Now or Pay Later
Those are your choices when you recruit C
a student from an uninformed family By STEPHEN CLEMENTE
Colleges and universities have become cities and businesses unto themselves. As this transformation continues to take shape, one area in particular remains rather vexing: admissions and financial aid.
College costs rise four to six percent annually. The true
annual cost to attend a four-year institution is between $19,000 and $39,000, depending on public/private and in-state/out- of-state. When you split the difference, for example, you’re looking at a family paying an about $29,000 per year, totalling $116,000 in four years. Ask the family if they believe that they have saved enough
for college. Unequivocally most say yes. In actuality, most have sufficient savings for 2 ½ years, leaving them 1 ½ years short of their previously envisioned goal. What’s an even more unfortunate, most families don’t perceive this shortfall until it’s too late, and then a scramble begins. Should high schools and guidance counselors educate stu-
dents and parents about college costs more effectively? Should colleges assume a more aggressive role and become commu- nity educators? Should banks and financial institutions embed a college savings feature into checking or savings accounts? Should birthing hospitals have seminars about college costs for new parents? These suggestions and countless others war- rant greater consideration and discussion. However, the process that we have today is broken, and
families are increasingly frustrated by the college financing and financial aid processes.
And what does it cost? The financial impact of this fractured process on today’s cam- puses is alarming. Two facts help illustrate this. First, the aver- age cost to recruit an undergraduate student at a 4-year institution ranges between $1,800 and $2,200. Second, low- debt and debt-free graduates are many times more likely to donate funds back to the institution after graduation. A third fact is worthy of mention. A student who starts
at one school and leaves to attend another is 15 times less likely to donate to either campus after graduation. And fourth, the institution from which the student defected must recruit a more expensive non-freshman replacement the following year—at a much higher likely cost of $8,600 to $9,000. Campuses that decide to forego non-freshmen replace-
ments and instead attempt to grow their incoming freshmen class encounter hidden costs resulting from imbalanced class sizes. Those imbalances can affect facilities, faculty salaries and many points in between.
Today’sCampus 39
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68