Most Affordable Private Colleges for Low-Income Families

Selectivity Can Lead to High Endowments

The report comes from HeyTutor.com and ranks the most affordable private, four-year colleges for low-income families in the United States. The research shows that despite having the highest list prices, the nation's most selective schools tend to offer the lowest out-of-pocket expenses for low-income students after scholarships, grants and cost of living are taken into account.

The analysis also shows that a third of the 100 most affordable colleges in the country are concentrated in New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. So if you're coming from a low-to-lower income family and are looking for a private college in the Northeast, then your chances of finding some candidates there may be the most favorable.

Much of this report comes from The Hamilton Project, part of the Brookings Institution, and the college costs referenced include tuition and room and board. “Low-income students" are defined as being in the bottom 20th percentile of family income.

From my personal perspective, having been involved in college admissions counseling since the late 1980s, I am happy to finally see some quantification of the fact that I have been preaching for decades. The fact is: There is evidence that the more selective a college is, the more likely it is to be “affordable" for qualified applicants coming from low-income families.

Another way to look at this is that there seems to be a positive relationship between selectivity and endowment strength. Of course, as with all subjective generalizations, there will be certain exceptions. However, since endowments fuel a large part of need-based aid, it's not hard to understand this relationship.

Getting right to an overview graphic, HeyTutor features a bar chart that shows the net-price relationship I mentioned.

As HeyTutor notes, this chart “shows a clear correlation between cost and selectivity. Tuition data from the National Center for Education Statistics and selectivity classifications from Barron's indicate that the most competitive schools have the highest comprehensive costs (including room and board), but also the lowest out-of-pocket costs for students from the bottom income group. This means that students from low-income families should not be discouraged by high sticker prices at selective schools. Often, these schools will be the most affordable option while providing more educational resources that will better prepare them for the future."

That observation makes me happy because, finally, information is available in graphic form to back up the contention I have been maintaining for so long. Many low-income families find the fact that a higher-selectivity private school can be less expensive for them, in some cases less expensive than state universities, counterintuitive. Understanding this concept can open up a much wider array of candidate schools for low-income high schoolers.

HeyTutor makes an important point:

The main issue is that many low-income families do not understand the financial aid process ... the complexity of the financial aid system is a strong deterrent for low-income students applying to college. The large amount of paperwork and the uncertainty about financial aid until the end of the application process disincentivizes even high-achieving students from applying to selective schools. Simplifying the financial aid application process is an important first step in addressing these issues.

That final sentence poses a significant challenge. When applying to a private college, in most cases three separate financial aid forms are needed: the FAFSA, CSS Profile and a college-specific aid form. As noted, this can be a daunting, sometimes completely overwhelming, task for low-income families and suppresses the desire to explore a broader selection of private colleges.

Getting to the specific schools related to this discussion, HeyTutor lists the 100 most affordable private colleges for low-income students. Looking at just the top five, we find:

2. Harvard University

- Average net price ($0-$30,000): -$230

- Average net price ($30,001-$48,000): $632

- Published total price of attendance: $66,609

- Percentage of students paying full price: 28%

- Undergraduate enrollment: 9,965

- Location: Cambridge, MA

Harvard University was founded in 1636, making it the oldest university in the country. Harvard is known as being one of the most selective universities in the country as well, admitting less than 5 percent of applicants. Many of the 50 fields of study at Harvard are interdisciplinary, like “History and Literature\" or “Chemistry and Physics.\" For low-income families making $30,001-$48,000, Harvard has the lowest average net price on this list at $632 per year. Harvard is also an Ivy League college.

Dave Berry June 13, 2019