Private colleges offer affordability

By Gary Steinke

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President Obama highlighted the issue of college affordability in his State of the Union address. Iowa legislators are now debating the issues of cost and tuition at state universities.

Meantime, Iowa's private, non-profit colleges are actually doing something about affordability.

There are 29 private, non-profit colleges and universities in Iowa enrolling more than 48,000 students, including tens of thousands of Iowans. To illustrate how these institutions work to make college education affordable, one of these schools has analyzed its own real data to come up with what is the average financial aid package provided to the average student at this particular mid-sized private college. This student comes from an Iowa family, is a B-plus student in high school and has an ACT of 24.

First off, the sticker price for tuition, fees, room and board at this college is $31,370, almost twice the price at a state public university. But what's the real cost?

Start with the Iowa Tuition Grant. That's a state program that gives money to Iowa students who want to go to a private school in the state. The average grant to this average student is $3,452. So subtract that from the $31,370. Now the cost is $27,918.

Then, subtract the amount this college gives to the average student in grant aid. That's a whopping $12,040. Now the cost is $15,878.

Then subtract the amount of private scholarship money the average student gets at this college. That's $1,877. So now the cost is at $14,001.

All of that is below the $16,487 it costs for tuition, fees, room and board at Iowa's largest state university. State schools, of course, also offer aid and scholarships but there's another important part of the equation to consider. The average student at this private college is more likely to graduate in four years than at a state university. So stop the calculation of costs for the private college student at four years instead of keeping the calculator and the checkbook running into a fifth year and sometimes a sixth year. Every extra semester at a state university can add another $8,200 to the bill in tuition, fees, room and board.

What about federal financial aid? The student in our example happens to come from a family that is not eligible for a federal Pell Grant. But in Iowa, a private college student is much more likely to be a Pell Grant recipient than a student at a state college. Since Pell Grants are only available for lower-income families, it tells you that families with lower income are finding out it really is possible to send their children to an Iowa private college.

On top of that, students with good ACT scores or with additional academic, athletic, musical or artistic talents receive hundreds or even thousands of dollars more in aid.

Students at both public and private colleges and universities borrow money to pay for what grants and scholarships don't cover. It's true the average graduate of a private school in Iowa may have more debt than her sister at a public school but, remarkably, the difference on average works out to be just over $350 per year over four years.

Also consider that students at Iowa private, four-year liberal-arts schools learn in smaller classes than their cousins at state schools, are taught by professors and not teaching assistants, get more one-on-one attention and are more likely to graduate in four years and start their careers.

State universities clearly are the right place for many young Iowans. Private schools are the right places for lots of others. Every student and parent should figure out what's best for them. But affordability is clearly not a barrier to choosing an Iowa private college.

Gary Steinke is president of the Iowa Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. Comments: president@iaicu.org