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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Apr 12, 2022 7:08:10 GMT -6
Yes, I believe it includes total aid, including reported loans students take out. So, ACU's after aid figure of $26,809 could include substantial loans, which would have to be repaid. Yet, if the formula from the Dept. of Education is consistent, then it would stand to reason we could reasonably compare these figures. If so, it would look like this from most expensive to least expensive. I do not know how to explain our lower retention numbers. I wonder what these look like historically? Could some of this connect to our more recent attempts to broader the recruiting net and bring in many more non-CoC students and students that do not have a strong family or denominational loyalty? TCU $36,811 SMU $36,222 Baylor $36,039 Wheaton $26,809 ACU $26,809 Calvin College $26,647 Lipscomb University $24,749 Grand Canyon $21,020 HSU $19,509 TAMU $19,057 UT Austin $18,023 UNT $15,086 Sam Houston $14,617 SFA $13,723 My point was these figures don’t say how much if the after aid cost is in the form of loans vs scholarships/grants, which varies a lot between schools. I’d like to see the average debt for graduating seniors for each institution.
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Post by OscarWildeCat, Admin on Apr 12, 2022 7:12:33 GMT -6
Just study hard and get a job in NEXT Lab, the pay is good and the resume' is better. You have indirectly raised an excellent point— the ability to repay loan debt varies widely depending upon field of study. Elementary ed majors will have a much harder time repaying debt than those who choose accounting, for example.
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Post by bucfan on Apr 12, 2022 9:07:17 GMT -6
I've heard more than one person say "Why would you choose a private school if you are going into education?". I think that is a short sighted view but it is true that educators (and some other fields) are not going to make the large salaries after graduating that makes paying back student loans easy. I don't like it when loans are included as part of a financial aid package. Having to pay back a loan is not anywhere close to the same as receiving a scholarship or grant.
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Post by wildcats0075 on Apr 12, 2022 10:19:20 GMT -6
I've heard more than one person say "Why would you choose a private school if you are going into education?". I think that is a short sighted view but it is true that educators (and some other fields) are not going to make the large salaries after graduating that makes paying back student loans easy. I don't like it when loans are included as part of a financial aid package. Having to pay back a loan is not anywhere close to the same as receiving a scholarship or grant. Well, I am sure I have asked why go to ACU for elementary education degree many times. My wife and I are both ACU Alum and I got a Masters in Accounting and she got an Elementary Ed degree, so this has been a real question in our household.
You have to really want what ACU has to offer beyond the money to make that choice as an elementary ed student. In the 6 years my wife taught (before the cost of daycare for our 2nd kid made the return on her working effectively negative), she never was able to grow her salary to what mine stated at in accounting. That was back when ACU was much cheaper as her all in cost per year in the late 90's was about $17K a year vs the $50K today. In the same time, starting teacher salary in our suburban Houston district has gone from $36K when she started to $53K today. So 4 years of ACU used to cost about 2 years of gross salary and now is cost about 4 years of gross salary. Apply some tax effects and other required cost as a teacher and pretty quickly it will take 5 to 6 years of working just to cumulatively make more than your school bill, which is a large pill to swallow.
I know I calculated the time when my wife made more in total earnings than we had to pay in student loans, so I at least knew she was in the black so to speak on going to ACU. Under the current pricing and salary, she never would have made it to the black unless we waited even longer to start having kids.
All that being said, I think ACU was a tremendous place for her individually and us as a couple, but it has to be about more than just the money.
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Post by bucfan on Apr 12, 2022 11:21:09 GMT -6
"All that being said, I think ACU was a tremendous place for her individually and us as a couple, but it has to be about more than just the money."
Exactly. If a student is looking for the school with the cheapest price to get a degree they will never choose ACU. I've always said I was willing to pay more for what ACU offers but that is a decision each student and parent has to make.
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