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When I was in high school I was told there’s not really any such thing as “can’t afford MIT” as in, if you get in, they will make sure you can pay for it throug

When I was in high school I was told there’s not really any such thing as “can’t afford MIT” as in, if you get in, they will make sure you can pay for it through grants/loans/etc. Was that never true? Has that changed? Or by “can’t afford” do you mean “unwilling to take on debt” which is valid ... I’m just trying to understand that part of your story.

NeutronStar 8y ago
> The annual full price of an MIT education is $70,240. > As a result, last year the average total price paid by an MIT student receiving need-based aid was $23,000, which is less than the cost of attending the average public university as an in-state student. Overall, we awarded nearly $120 million in scholarships, and 72% of students graduated debt free. > Those who do borrow have debt at graduation considerably lower than the national average. Nationally, in 2017, graduates of four-year colleges who borrowed owed an average of $28,699 in loans. By comparison, members of the MIT Class of 2017 who took out loans graduated with an average debt of $19,819, way below the national average. Looks like MIT might be cheaper than the average university.
rhino369 8y ago
I'm not sure if it's still true, but that was a development that occurred in the mid-to-late 2000s. Before then financial aid was aimed at poor students. But if your family was middle class, you'd get virtually nothing (but loan options). I know several people who attend UIUC with me who got accepted to MIT, Stanford, etc, but their parents couldn't afford private school. But by the time my sister went to school, all the elite schools offered better terms.
chickenfries 8y ago
Moving to Boston and living there is expensive. Some people can’t just leave their family behind for 4 years. There are more costs to College than tuition. There’s also the opportunity cost of going to college instead of working and earning a salary now.
raziel2701 8y ago
I can share my story. I am a first generation student that applied to in-state universities in CA. When I got the acceptance package I got sticker shock when I saw the cost of attendance nearing $40,000. I didn't know how things worked and I didn't know how to navigate the system nor who to talk to. My reaction was one of aversion, I can't go into such large debt. Loans can cover anything, but I don't know how to be in debt, I always paid for everything up front. So I went somewhere cheaper that I felt I could afford. In retrospect, someone that knew about this stuff would have told me that I could have received better financial aid, and I was probably misinterpreting some of the financial numbers. I mean, I was on my own, an 18 year old kid that was jumping into a scary world of getting into debt. I don't want none of that, give me something affordable.
bigjimmyk3 8y ago
From personal experience I can say that there was such a thing in the early 1990s. I was accepted to and attended an "elite" university, but left after one semester. I was not offered financial aid, and student loans were such that I could not have borrowed enough under Stafford or any other normal loan program to pay my tuition. I wound up transferring to a less expensive in-state public university and experiencing the best of serendipity so it ended well.
xj9 8y ago
depends on what your definition of "afford" is. i was accepted into MIT, but there was no way my family was going to make their contribution amount and the total debt i would have had to take on was way too high. there's a large gap between people that get enough aid and those that can just pay out of pocket. i got bored at the university i could afford, dropped out, and ended up in the tech startup world. MIT would have been great, but they way they assess need means people in my position (middle class) can't/won't attend. it sucks, because i would have loved the challenge and the atmosphere, but it didn't make financial sense.
itslennysfault 8y ago
I think that is a very out of touch thing to say. If you're poor you can probably get financial aid. If you're upper middle class you can either afford it or get approved for a loan, but the median household income in the us is $53k. From there to about $100k is too poor to pay out of pocket for an elite school, and to rich to financial aid. Plus, you have to get approved for loans, and have parental co-signers. For me personally my parents had no interest in co-signing a $100k loan. For others their parents may have really bad credit. If you want it enough there are probably ways, but as an non-rich 18 year old (or parent of an 18 year old) it's a a HUGE gamble to take on that kinda debt for a degree that you might not even finish and if you do it might not pay for itself.

NeutronStar 8y ago

> The annual full price of an MIT education is $70,240. > As a result, last year the average total price paid by an MIT student receiving need-based aid was $23,000, which is less than the cost of attending the average public university as an in-state student. Overall, we awarded nearly $120 million in scholarships, and 72% of students graduated debt free. > Those who do borrow have debt at graduation considerably lower than the national average. Nationally, in 2017, graduates of four-year colleges who borrowed owed an average of $28,699 in loans. By comparison, members of the MIT Class of 2017 who took out loans graduated with an average debt of $19,819, way below the national average. Looks like MIT might be cheaper than the average university.

rhino369 8y ago

I'm not sure if it's still true, but that was a development that occurred in the mid-to-late 2000s. Before then financial aid was aimed at poor students. But if your family was middle class, you'd get virtually nothing (but loan options). I know several people who attend UIUC with me who got accepted to MIT, Stanford, etc, but their parents couldn't afford private school. But by the time my sister went to school, all the elite schools offered better terms.

chickenfries 8y ago

Moving to Boston and living there is expensive. Some people can’t just leave their family behind for 4 years. There are more costs to College than tuition. There’s also the opportunity cost of going to college instead of working and earning a salary now.

raziel2701 8y ago

I can share my story. I am a first generation student that applied to in-state universities in CA. When I got the acceptance package I got sticker shock when I saw the cost of attendance nearing $40,000. I didn't know how things worked and I didn't know how to navigate the system nor who to talk to. My reaction was one of aversion, I can't go into such large debt. Loans can cover anything, but I don't know how to be in debt, I always paid for everything up front. So I went somewhere cheaper that I felt I could afford. In retrospect, someone that knew about this stuff would have told me that I could have received better financial aid, and I was probably misinterpreting some of the financial numbers. I mean, I was on my own, an 18 year old kid that was jumping into a scary world of getting into debt. I don't want none of that, give me something affordable.

bigjimmyk3 8y ago

From personal experience I can say that there was such a thing in the early 1990s. I was accepted to and attended an "elite" university, but left after one semester. I was not offered financial aid, and student loans were such that I could not have borrowed enough under Stafford or any other normal loan program to pay my tuition. I wound up transferring to a less expensive in-state public university and experiencing the best of serendipity so it ended well.

xj9 8y ago

depends on what your definition of "afford" is. i was accepted into MIT, but there was no way my family was going to make their contribution amount and the total debt i would have had to take on was way too high. there's a large gap between people that get enough aid and those that can just pay out of pocket. i got bored at the university i could afford, dropped out, and ended up in the tech startup world. MIT would have been great, but they way they assess need means people in my position (middle class) can't/won't attend. it sucks, because i would have loved the challenge and the atmosphere, but it didn't make financial sense.

itslennysfault 8y ago

I think that is a very out of touch thing to say. If you're poor you can probably get financial aid. If you're upper middle class you can either afford it or get approved for a loan, but the median household income in the us is $53k. From there to about $100k is too poor to pay out of pocket for an elite school, and to rich to financial aid. Plus, you have to get approved for loans, and have parental co-signers. For me personally my parents had no interest in co-signing a $100k loan. For others their parents may have really bad credit. If you want it enough there are probably ways, but as an non-rich 18 year old (or parent of an 18 year old) it's a a HUGE gamble to take on that kinda debt for a degree that you might not even finish and if you do it might not pay for itself.