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Comment by tptacek | Hacker News Reader

The in-state university is private? UIUC is a high-ranked state flagship (both my kids went, my daughter's still there) and in-state tuition is less than $20k.

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Flagship public schools in some states can approach $40k in costs if you don’t qualify for aid:

https://admission.ucla.edu/tuition-aid/tuition-fees

The article above is referring to UCLA.

"California on Thursday became the first state to guarantee free health care for all low-income immigrants living in the country illegally..."

https://apnews.com/article/health-california-immigration-gav...

Billions of dollars are being spent on health care for illegal residents instead of spending the money for California residents at California Universities.

There is plenty of money in California. The problem is that the leadership doesn't prioritize affordable university education, preferring instead to fund people living in the country illegally. California residents are taking out student loans to subsidize people living in the country illegally. It is tremendously unfair.

That's a bit misleading though, even if I can see why they do it.

The in-state UCLA tuition there is ~15K, which while high, isn't terrible.

My child's elementary school bill is higher than that!

The larger line item they list is food & housing. That's expensive, but you're paying those whether going to school or not so it is not really a cost of going to the university. Also, there is a lot of leeway to vary those costs if you need to be very frugal.

Sure, but UIUC total sticker price is $32K-ish. And approximately 36% of students pay that full cost if only 64% receive any financial aid based on:

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/q=illinois&s=all&pg=2&i...

Something I have found interesting (as the first of my two kids rolls over into the college age group next year) is that most "brand name", well-known private schools clearly expect our family to pay the full $80K+ total sticker price.

While I share the same feelings of not being particularly wealthy as OP, it is clear that some colleges disagree with my personal wealth assessment . . .

University of Virginia all-in for in-state: $36,314

University of Michigan all-in for upperclassmen in-state: $37,612

All-in includes living expenses, meals, room and board, activity fees, books, etc.

But how much do students actually pay?

If the parents (like OP) have had a couple of small exits, the students (or their parents) pay the full amount.

Sure, but having a couple exits makes them extreme outliers. The entire point of the article is that quoting public tuition prices is an illusion obscuring the true cost. What is the average or median student paying?

Edit: At least according to one source, the average student pays 19,000 per year, including fees and housing. And they receive 22,000 in financial aid. Ie, the average student gets a larger discount than what they actually end up paying. https://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/virginia/university-o...

Similarly, Michigan is 18,000 per year with 22,000 in "aid".

Also, both schools are top 100 schools in the US. So even at elite schools, the average student is paying a fraction of the "price".

Financial aid = loans.

They get the opportunity to take out more loans, the poorer their parents are. I got a small pell grant a few years, but most of my college was all loans from the student aid office.

Uh no, scholarships are counted under FA. I was given a 75% scholarship under FA. Smarter peers than me were granted full rides under FA scholarship since their family income was so low.

> Financial aid = loans.

Financial aid also includes grants, both school-issued and outside (public and private), and it includes both merit-based aid and need-based aid.

You're right that there are some loans included in that number, but it looks like it is not even half of it:

"27% of students received Federal Student Loans averaging $4,835 and 10% of undergrads took out private student loans averaging $11,058."

Without need or merit breaks, the in-state tuition at UIUC really is the tuition.

Those breaks are massive. The average UIUC student pays 13,500 per year and receives 15,000 in "aid". That is less than half the sticker price.

https://www.collegesimply.com/colleges/illinois/university-o...

Edit, you're right, this includes loans, but grants make up the majority of that figure. It's not entirely clear to me how each number is weighted:

"Grant and scholarship aid does not need to be paid back. 36% of students received Federal Student Loans averaging $4,863 and 9% of undergrads took out private student loans averaging $6,819."

Hold on: 60% of students get aid, and that "aid", scarequotes yours, includes things like Pell grants. Pell grants aren't an accounting scheme! That's real money.

Is tuition even the majority of the cost anymore? Not that it's cheap, but fees are atrocious, and they go after every bit of revenue that they can without regard for the strain it puts on the students and their families.

But then, they're not even really in the business of secondary education, so I guess that figures.

It depends. Private universities it certainly is but at state schools it is more like half. Here is this years prices at my daughters school:

Tuition $61,260 Room & Board $21,310 Student Activities Fee $308 Health Insurance. $3,148 Total per year $86,026

In my case, this is UNH. As we have very little taxes in NH things like this are higher than in other states. I am counting the room and board obviously in this total and may have rounded up from somewhere in the high 30's.

mid 30s for my child heading to UNH as well, despite major "scholarship" award.

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