The College Sticker Price is Irrelevant

Students and their parents frequently start our discussion with their most urgent question: how much will "it" cost.  They beg me to keep expectations realistic, and to cut colleges that are "too expensive" off their list.

I require everyone to ignore price until later.  By all means, I am happy to engage in discussions about how much cash a family can afford.  Normally, that is a fairly short discussion  a few of my clients can easily write a check for the full "sticker price" of any college; but most of us mere mortals can afford much less than the $20,000 - $65,000 per year that most four-year colleges list as their "sticker price."  Indeed, $65K is more than the 2015 United States median household income of $55,775.

I can feel your eyeballs popping out of your head.  Few families have $20,000 to spare for every year that their student goes to college.  But before you spend a lot of effort figuring out how you might possibly beg, borrow, or steal $80,000 - $260,000 for each of your children to attend college, give me a chance to assure you that such effort is unnecessary.  Because your most affordable option may be the college with the highest sticker price.

My research shows that, for a family earning the median household income of $55, 575, attending an Ivy League college would be less expensive than a year at community college.

There is an incredible online resource for families to get a sense of how much college may cost: The College Scorecard.  You should see it for yourself.  Here's how:

1. Do a name search for "Harvard University"
2. Click on the + to open the section detailing Costs
3. Look at the average cost by family income.  For families earning the median $55,575 per year, the average annual cost of attendance is $6,310 per year.

Now compare it to the local community college

1. Do a name search for your local community college (in my case, it is "Harper College".
2. Click on the + to open the section detailing Costs
3. Look at the average cost by family income.  At my local community college, for families earning the median $55,575 per year, the average annual cost of attendance is $10,107 per year.

At my community college, attending Harvard would save my family almost $4,000 per year.  This is despite the Harvard sticker price of $88,000 per year.

How does that work?  Stay tuned for a future post.