Dad of first kid through the admissions process for undergrad class of 2020. S accepted to state U honors & biz school with merit aid, good private with merit aid, and top LAC with no merit/aid. State U is 20 minutes from home, not especially distinguished, very familiar, and ~50 kids from HS class will attend.
Between savings, HE, and cash-flow (requiring significant tightening of household budget), S is looking at taking on significant debt with exception of State U. Obviously many families are in a similar funding situation, but am I alone in feeling that telling a kid that has worked really hard and excelled academically/athletically/service that, "sorry, to attend where you've worked so hard to get accepted, you're looking at ~$100K debt", is a pretty tough reality to digest? Meanwhile there are those fortunate enough to pay full cost with no assistance and those fortunate enough to be in a financial situation to be offered a much more affordable (much less or no debt) package. In between, it seems, families of qualified kids are being told they should be able to afford ~$250K for undergrad, which is outrageous in my opinion.
Interested to hear others' perspective.
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