Costs weigh heavy as families plan for college

September 24, 2009

By Mary Beth Marklein, USA TODAY

USA TodayGRAND BLANC, Mich. - Watching daughters Jessica and Nicole fret over college financial aid forms has been bittersweet for Geri Baudoux, a mother of five who quit nursing school when she and her husband started their family.

"I always told them, 'Get your schooling,' that I wish I would have just completed" mine, she says. But encouragement is all she and husband Art have to offer. Plans to help pay for college vanished last year when Art was laid off from his job in the auto industry.

"I'm excited to see what they want in their life," Geri says of Nicole, 18, who aspires to a career in culinary arts, and Jessica, 20, who plans to major in accounting. "And I'm devastated that as a parent I can't help."

Cost has increasingly become a deciding factor in where students enroll in college, but the economic downturn has made this back-to-school season tougher than usual for many families. Job losses and dwindling savings aren't the only factors.

Michigan lawmakers did not include a state-funded scholarship program in its budget this year, and future funding is shaky for similar programs in several other states, including Illinois, Utah and Georgia.

The University System of Georgia already suspended a program for entering freshmen this fall that guaranteed no tuition increases over four years. And the University of California System, facing a 20% drop in state funding, has proposed raising fees 30% and cutting enrollments.

And yet, the downturn "may be strengthening the resolve of American families to pursue higher education," says a survey of 800 college students and 804 parents conducted in the spring by student loan provider Sallie Mae and Gallup.

While some parents and students struggle more than others to cover costs, and some rethink priorities or make other tradeoffs as they decide where to enroll, the survey found that most families "expressed unexpected confidence in their ability to continue to pay" for college. And as families across the USA balance fears about the economy with their hopes and dreams for their children's futures, they are sounding a familiar theme.

"You pay the price to get a college education for your kids," says Jay Grove, whose son Cody, 18, just entered Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. "That's kind of the American dream, right?"

Public or private?

Like many families, the Groves, of Carlsbad, Calif., sought to avoid high sticker prices by limiting their search to public universities - "a good value," says Jay, who found that many midpriced options stacked up favorably next to some of the most prestigious private institutions.

Likewise, Talal Akbar, 17, was accepted by two private schools, Davidson College in North Carolina and Emory University in Atlanta. But the University of Georgia, where he benefits from the honors program and the state's Hope scholarship, and is eligible for a federal work-study program, was just too good of a deal to pass up.

"When I got the financial aid packages, that was kind of like the make-or-break factor," Akbar says.

A drift toward public colleges is no surprise; enrollments there typically rise when the economy tanks. Even so, fears this year of a widescale abandonment of private higher education didn't pan out.

Some private schools saw drops, but overall enrollments at private institutions remained steady, a survey of 350 member schools by the National Association for Independent Colleges and Universities suggests. Davidson, for example, enrolled 491 students, one more than last year. Many others, including Emory, exceeded their targets. Emory enrolled 1,309 freshmen, 24 above its goal.

Officials at many of those schools that beat the odds say they dug more deeply into their applicant pools, recruited aggressively and kept the cost to families as low as they could. Schools in the survey of private colleges increased institutional aid by 9% - more than twice the average tuition increase, 4.3%, the smallest average annual increase since 1972-73.

And it worked, even for some of the most affluent families, says Lisa Jacobson, founder of Inspirica, a 26-year-old tutoring and admission support company based in New York. Families that in past years may have considered only schools ranked at the top of U.S. News & World Report's best-colleges list also applied to a few state schools this year - "just in case," she says.

But "what was fascinating was there was so much merit money out there this year" among private colleges, particularly those a little farther down in the rankings. The students "were so flattered and the parents were so happy."

It remains to be seen whether colleges that saw enrollment surges this fall will be able to sustain high levels of aid next year, says Kathy Dawley of Maguire Associates, a consulting group based in Concord, Mass. But "we made it through this cycle. Schools stepped it up just a little bit and the families stretched."

Playing the aid game

Some families also were luckier than others.

Dave Fiore, of Pendleton, Ore., says he "would have made it work" had son Mike been wowed by his alma mater, Santa Clara University in California. But he adds that he "breathed a deep sigh of relief" when Mike, 18, decided Carroll College in Helena, Mont., was the better fit.

With Carroll's lower tuition and more generous scholarship, the total annual cost is about $21,000 - a closer match to the $80,000 in a college trust set up by Mike's grandfather, and about half what he estimates he would have paid to his alma mater.

"I can't imagine owing nearly $100,000 in college debt just for him to be educated at SCU," he says.

For other families, the decision-making was choppier.

Ben Myers of Springfield, Va., had already accepted an admission offer from the University of South Carolina when his dad, Peter, broke the news that the financial aid wasn't as generous as he had figured.

Today, Ben, 18, says he is "totally happy" at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where tuition is lower, housing is cheaper and he has a federal work-study job. Most of all, LSU is a big school with a football team - one of Ben's priorities.

His mom, Mary Myers, understands that, which is why she didn't insist that he live at home and attend a local community college. "It's not the college experience," she says. Still, she, her ex-husband, Peter, and son Ben have taken out loans, in some cases big loans, to pay for his education.

"It's all very daunting," she says. But "a degree will open doors."

Nobody tracks how many students delay or decide against college, but some evidence suggests higher education remains a priority even for those who are least able to afford it.

Idalia Fernandez, president of the non-profit Hispanic College Fund, which provides scholarships to low-income students, said all of its 477 scholarship recipients this year have similarly managed to enroll full time, despite financial hardships. One recipient, Jaysee Mojica, 18, of Linden, N.J., says he has thought about putting off college, but never seriously.

"I know where I want to go and I know that college is going to take me there," says Mojica, who wants a career on the business side of the entertainment industry, perhaps managing nightclubs.

Still, he scaled back his dreams. He was admitted to Hawaii Pacific University and Florida International University in Miami, but ultimately stayed home, living with his mother and grandmother and pursuing a degree at DeVry University, a 30-minute drive from home. His $5,000 from the Hispanic College Fund helps, as does state and federal financial aid and other smaller scholarships. Still, when he isn't studying or working at one of his three part-time jobs, Mojica is applying for more scholarships.

For Jessica Baudoux, loans appear to be her best option.

Like many students, she started her coursework at a two-year school. After she graduated from high school in 2007, she lived at home, worked and enrolled part time at Mott Community College in nearby Flint, where tuition assistance from her dad's job as a machine repairman at American Axle covered most of her costs. Her mom went back to work about the same time, as a nurse's assistant, with the intention of putting her income toward college expenses for all five children.

But when American Axle workers went on strike in 2008, priorities changed. Jessica took a semester off and picked up extra hours in her job as a bank teller. Her mom's paycheck went toward household expenses.

When her dad took a buyout in late 2008, the family not only lost his income but also fell behind on the mortgage and other bills. And that meant his applications for loans to help his kids pay for college were denied.

'You feel like a loser'

"Once you start making late payments, no one wants to give you credit," says Art. "Not to be able to give (your kids) what they want, you feel like a loser."

There have been other ups and downs, too, mostly caused by what Jessica describes as the "long and painful" financial aid process. Nicole, who tried to keep her hopes in check all summer, learned Sept. 12 that she will get the financial aid she needs to start a culinary arts program at Baker College in Muskegon. Classes start Monday; she moved to campus Wednesday.

Jessica had hoped this fall to enroll at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, but by midsummer realized she couldn't make it work. She is sticking out another semester at Mott, another semester of living at home.

But she dreams of living on campus and experiencing student life. "I'm kind of getting impatient," she says. "I feel like I'm missing out."

Contributing: Kathleen Gray, Detroit Free Press

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