The Problem with California Private Colleges
In my last blog post, I lamented the long odds of gaining admission to the most popular UC schools, especially UCLA and UC Berkeley. In this blog post, I will address a common problem with a popular alternative to UC schools – private colleges in California.
California boasts many excellent, highly popular private colleges and universities, including the University of Southern California (USC), Stanford University, Santa Clara University, the Claremont Colleges, Occidental College, and Loyola Marymount University, to name just a few. While some are just as selective as most UC schools, if not more so (e.g., Stanford, USC, Claremont Colleges), others have (somewhat) higher acceptance rates (e.g., Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara University, Occidental College). Thus, a strong student who is not admitted to any of the UC schools may well manage to get accepted at one or more of California's many private colleges.
Unfortunately, admission is not the only hurdle that must be cleared to enjoy college life at a private school in sunny California. Thanks to the laws of supply and demand, the cost of attending a private college in California is reaching astronomical heights. Take a look at the following table showing the cost of attendance at some of the most popular, and thus more selective, private colleges in California (in no particular order):
Few students pay full fare at these private institutions. Selective private colleges and universities generally offer generous need-based financial aid, more than most public schools. IF a student is eligible for need-based financial aid – and this really is a big IF – this can bring down the cost of attendance to below the level of a UC school ($40,000) and even a Cal State school ($30,000). Meaningful need-based financial aid will generally be available if a family's household income is $100,000 a year or less. The lower the income, the higher the financial aid. That does not mean that no need-based financial aid will be available if household income is, say, $120,000. But the amount of aid typically will be much less than what a family with that income actually needs. If you are reading this, chances are that you are one of these families.
But what about merit aid, i.e., scholarships awarded based on academic performance? Surely, selective private colleges are highly interested in recruiting the very best students, aren't they? Yes, they certainly are. However, because these schools are located in California and thus attract talented students from all over the world, they receive more than enough applications from highly qualified, if not overqualified, high school seniors without offering meaningful financial incentives. Some don't offer any merit aid at all (e.g., Stanford), others offer merit aid that falls far short of making attendance affordable for most middle class families, averaging $20,000 a year or less (e.g., Occidental). And even this inadequate merit aid is typically available only to a small number of applicants due to the highly competitive nature of well-known private colleges in California.
In effect, this means that private college in California is affordable only if a family brings home $100,000 a year or less (though even then the cost of attendance may be prohibitive for many families) or is able to write a check for about $80,000 four years in a row. The rest of families has to cover the shortfall with loans – or look elsewhere.
In my next blog posts, I will introduce you to a different, less conventional college application strategy that makes attendance of a top-notch private college much more affordable, and not only for straight-A students.
