Читать книгу Paying For College For Dummies - Eric Tyson - Страница 18

Now, time for some better news. Despite having dropped a bunch of respected college names on you earlier in this chapter that most people believe are “top” or “premier” colleges, I’m not suggesting that you need to attend a brand-name college and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for your child to get a great higher education. You and they don’t have to do that in order to find a fulfilling job or career with good compensation.

Even if you do aspire to a costly private college for your offspring, you should know that the average price that colleges typically charge and collect from each family equals about half of the stated full cost of attendance. So, for example, with private colleges charging around $60K per year the average family is actually paying about half of that or $30K. This happens due to “financial aid,” which is another way of saying that a college or university will charge you and your family less the less able they deem you to pay the full retail price. High-income and affluent families generally pay full price or near full price unless their son or daughter qualifies for some sort of athletic or merit-type scholarship (price reduction). Some colleges, for example, Ivy League colleges, don’t offer these types of scholarships and only offer so-called need-based scholarships (price reductions). Check out Chapter 11 for more on scholarships.