In a huge victory for Pennsylvania’s environment and public

2006 Weekender  Model Of The Year  Amber Nebesky

FOR THE 2006-2007 school year, Dickinson College&rsquo;s total cost, which includes tuition, room, board and all fees, is $42,284, and Dickinson is not alone among private colleges and universities in the United States.
According to the New York Times on Dec. 13, &ldquo;tuition and room and board at private four-year colleges now add up to more than $30,000 a year on average.&rdquo; Not surprisingly, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education, &ldquo;the percentage of students at private institutions has dropped from about 32 percent in 1966 to 25 percent&rdquo; today.
Despite the shock of many private colleges&rsquo; sticker prices, however, parents and students should not assume these colleges are beyond their economic reach. In fact, if parents and students do not explore private colleges along with public universities, they may end up paying more for college than necessary.
First of all, allow me to confess that I am an advocate of small- to medium-size colleges, which tend to be found in the private sector. Small classes taught by professors devoted to teaching undergraduates provide stimulating environments where students are challenged beyond their comfort zones. So often at large universities graduate students teach underclass courses, professors are more focused on research than teaching, classes are large (some even beyond 200 students), and the really expensive and intriguing facilities are off-limits to undergrads.
At small colleges, undergraduate students often can conduct research with a professor and graduate from college having presented papers at conferences and published results in professional journals. While these opportunities may be present at large universities, they often are available to only a few students out of the thousands who attend. These are just some of the reasons I favor small colleges over large.
While the benefits abound, the question of affordability still lurks. The urban myth that thousands of scholarship dollars go unused each year is not true, but many private institutions provide need-based aid in addition to the aid from the state and the federal government. Low-income students often receive incredible financial-aid packages to these colleges. For example, last year Dickinson College awarded $36,675 a year of need-based and scholarship aid to one of my students who was of high need and a great candidate for the college. That brought the cost of Dickinson down to $5,609 a year, less than what it costs to attend a Penn State school.
Many small- and medium-size colleges also offer merit scholarships, awards for a special talent or simply for being an exceptional candidate to that particular college. For these scholarships the family&rsquo;s &ldquo;need&rdquo; is not considered. Last year another one of my students received an academically based scholarship of $33,000 a year to Villanova University. For a middle-class family who does not qualify for financial aid, this type of scholarship lowers the &ldquo;sticker price&rdquo; per year to $12,715. 
Families need to look beyond the published cost of a college and explore sources for need-based aid (if they qualify) and scholarships at the colleges themselves. A tremendous resource for this information can be found at the Web site, The Center for College Opportunities College Center ( http://www.csocollegecenter.org/).

Look Beyond High Cost Of Private Colleges College Countdown Karen Mason