Private or public college?

There have been so many discussions about what type of colleges to go for our kids. However, it seems that most of the discussions focus on money ( cost) issue. Really, cost is just one of the issues we should pay attention to. Following are what come to my mind at this moment.

1. The cost is not a big issue to go to a private college for most parents if their annual family incomes are low. If you do the EFC calculation, you will find out that the payment for a private college is about the same as for a public college for families with annual income under 100K. Parents should really do their homework before they make decision. I know Amherst gave need-based financial help to a family with annual income of 190K in 2006 (likely more than one kid in college at the same time.).

2. There are so many different colleges, how to choose is a big issue for parents and our kids. Money is just one of them. There are more for panrets and their kids to consider: location, academic programs (even a university is famous, how about the major your kid is interested in?), kid's personality--Can she/he survives in a huge class, such as a class with 300 students? What type of students fit in a certain college? (Anybody can tell me the difference between Smith college and Mountain Holyake College? )

3. When you limit your kid's choice, your kid easily loses his/her motivation for working hard. I have constantly dealed with my daughter on this. She is a typical teenager girl. If I told her that she could only go to a state university, she would stop any test preparation now--she is qualified for any major in our state university according to her SAT I score. With the permission that she could go to any private school as long as it's better than the state university, and with the same or close cost from my pocket ( considering merit based and need-based), she is working hard on her coming test. She also wants to improve her GPA, too, since there is a space for her to do so..

We should really sit down with our teenager kids and discuss all possibilities for their future. Don't limit their future because of our limited vision. If they have to carry some debt, it's ok. I told my daughter very frankly that she should consider this possibility, too. It's not bad since it's a good preparation for real life--managing her personal finance.

(3/18/2007)