What's exactly what I was looking at. Plus, even with out-of-state tuition, the top public schools are a bargain compared to comparable private schools! :)

I'm not so sure tuition varies by major, but by school. Some schools within large universities have more fees or different charges.

I got the numbers directly from each school's Web site. For Michigan, the site said it was for a traditional 9-month schedule...no indication it was for just one semester. But it would make sense if the number should be double, because my bf is always telling me how expensive Michigan was for a public school.

Also, as I noted, these costs were just tuition, not meant to be comprehensive costs.

It depends on the private school. Many have big endowments and give generous grants and scholarships. When all was said and done in my case, it only cost me a few thousand extra per year to attend my private school because I wasn't going to get anything from Univ. of Washington.

That was definitely for one semester at Michigan. They aren't real clear about that on their website! Room and board for a double, full year, is around $9000.

I've been making myself well aware of these things as my daughter is starting high school and I'm totally panicking. I hope she keeps that 4.0 going through high school. She has high aspirations, a dad who thinks kids should pay for their own college and a mom who would love to pay but doesn't have that kinda money to spare. She's got to get some good scholarships. Additionally, many of the student loan companies have stopped loaning money to students in this state because our economy is so crappy.

Exact tuition rates by major for Michigan: http://www.umich.edu/~regoff/tuition/full.html

They do say "full term" which would be fall or winter vs. half terms (spring/summer)

ETA: Our other 'flagship' school, Michigan State, is a bit more affordable at about $4000 a term.

But not every student receives that sort of financial aid....at my undergrad, which is private and pretty freaking selective, only about 40% of freshmen received any sort of grant. For the 60% who don't qualify for aid, yes, a public school--no matter which one--is a bargain. Also, keep in mind that the top private schools only offer scholarships to those who NEED the money--ie, no merit scholarships. :)

http://www.utexas.edu/business/accou...tf_flatsem.pdf

Just for grins, I looked up this on the UT website to see all the different tuition rates.

It is done by college within UT, with business being the highest. The thing I found interesting is that they have different measures of "non-resident" rates - Early, Intermediate, and New based on when you matriculated (before 2004, between 2004 and 2006, and after summer 2006).

The highest rate, the "new nonresident", is a whopping $15,385 PER SEMESTER for the business school!!!! YIKES!!! That is just for tuition, doesn't include any expenses like room and board. So, $30,770.00 per year for tuition - might as well be private...

Makes me wonder, who, in their right mind, would come to UT from out of state!

And it also depends on the student as well. Because when I applied to Pepperdine (it was my # 1 school) the scholarships that they had given me (which they said were "preliminary" because they hadn't had all my parents finanical information) were taken away because A) according to them I lied on the financial aid forms (which i didnt) and B) my parents made too much money for me to receive those "scholarships."

My mom works as a teacher, and my dad works for the post office---i'm not sure how they make "too much money" but whatever.

I'm curious, what did they say you lied about??

On some of the financial aid paperwork I received I was asked to list every person that my parents support financially. Well at the time that I was a senior in HS, my parents were supporting my brother (who was significantly older than me). He hadn't finished college, and so after a while in the "job force" he decided to go back and get his nursing degree. Well, my parents were paying for his schooling, and he was living at home. I called up Pepperdine to see if it was ok to list him, and the lady said that was fine, that as long as my parents supported 1/2 of his financial obligations that he could be listed.

So i put him on the list. About 3 weeks later, all my "scholarships" that I had received (that was going to cover more than 1/2 of my freshman year's tuition) were taken away. According to whoever was in charge, there was no feasible way that a early 30-year old man could be supported by his family. They told us point-blank that I lied so that I could get some financial aid money because they've never heard of people going back to college to get a Bachelors.

I'm sorry that doesn't happen in Malibu, but a mostly poor, largely Hispanic community (with many first generation US families), it happens.

My mom talked to the Dean of Seaver College, and he wrote her a note pretty much saying how we were SOL and for me to try again next year.

Wow, I'm surprised to hear you were treated that way, and have to believe there was some sort of misunderstanding. How long ago was this? My family has always been very impressed with the way the school conducts itself (financial aid office in particular) - it's a kind, classy place. The school was always very upfront with me and everyone else I knew about the financial aid process and they definitely understood the MANY types of families that apply to the school. BTW, only a few of the students are from Malibu, so that's a bit of a cheap shot you took; half aren't even from the state of California (students come from all states and more than 60 countries), and 9% are hispanic (36% of students are minorities). And about 75% of the students receive financial aid. Pepp was very generous to all of my friends there, and none of us were poor or extremely wealthy. I knew very few people there that did not receive some type of grant or scholarship. That school is really expensive, and they know it; therefore they try hard to make the school "doable" for the students they admit.

But getting back on topic, scholarships are different than grants. Scholarships usually are awarded based on merit or other qualifications; grants can be offered for any reason, but they're usually need-based. Parents need to realize this difference; some parents freak out when Pepperdine tells them that only a small portion of the students get merit scholarships. If they listened, they'd hear that the majority of students get grants, which are basically the same thing when all is said and done. It's money you don't have to pay back!

Granted, this was a long time ago, but a friend of mine in OT school was 30 and divorced, which was much less common back in the mid-80's. Non-traditional students were a relatively new phenomenon. When she filed for financial aid they wanted her parents financial information. She was outraged. She'd been on her own since she was 20 but they wanted to base her financial aid on her parents' income? Nuts.

When I was talking to a co-worker about financial aid issues, since my daughter has Ivy League aspirations, she said it this way "FAFSA says you can contribute a certain amount no matter what the cost of the school is" and I realized she was right. Of course, my daughter could end up with tons of debt in student loans, but if she becomes the next JK Rowling (as she hopes to), that shouldn't be a problem.. lol.

It was back in 2003.

I worked financial aid for years and people over a certain age are considered independents. So, unless the person was legally a dependent, our federal and financial aid investigations would render you ineligible to officially claim that your parents are supporting a 30 year old. We would've thought you were lying for aid, too, but the outcome would be the same even if we thought you were telling the truth.

That sucks because there are different circumstances but the regulations exist for a reason. There are exceptions to the laws and regulations but a 30 year old brother who decided to go back to school, but would otherwise be an independent, doesn't qualify as one. If he was a medical student who had to report his parents' information for certain institutions there may have been a way around the regulation (at some insitutions).

Looks like our would-be valedictorian obtained a scholarship from UT in the amount of $13,000 a year for four years.

Not bad.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcont...p.32e2e77.html

If your daughter is serious about going to an Ivy, most of them have changed their financial aid policies where students from families making below a certain amount (forget what it is offhand, but it's a pretty average middle to upper-middle class 2-family income) don't have loans as part of their aid packages. She's still a few years off from college, so more of their peer institutions will probably step up to the plate by then.