By Laurent Berstecher

It is no secret: going to college is becoming an increasingly expensive choice. NYU’s recent tuition hike for 2012-13 is simply following the trend, as the average cost of attending college in the United States has increased tenfold in the past 60 years. In 1950, a year at NYU would have cost a mere $496 (this represents about $4,500 today,) while the 2012/ 2013 tuition for Stern Business School, is estimated at around $51,562.

The phenomenon is not NYU-bound, and tuition has been steadily increasing in both public and private universities around the country. According to FinAid, tuition costs are raised by an average of 8% a year at the national level.  In retrospect, NYU’s 2012-2013 4% hike, the lowest in years, may not be that bad. But 4% of $50,000 is still a lot of money.

Seeing no realistic end to ever-increasing tuition fees, it may be tempting to ask where all the money goes. As far as NYU is concerned, the school depends on tuition for most of its expenses, since it does not benifate from large endowments like most of its competitors. Thus, NYU president John Sexton has constantly been reminding his students that their money is necessary to maintain the university’s standards of excellence.

While those tough financial conditions may discourage many from pursuing a college education, NYU has seen its numbers of applications steadily increase over the past few years. There is thus no real risk for the school to run out of students, and tuition does not look like it will be dropping anytime soon.

However, there is good news for those of you who benefit from scholarships or other financial aid, as they have been increased accordingly to match the new tuition costs. Meanwhile, national student loan debt is silently growing, reaching a record $1 trillion in April 2012.

At first glance, the email seems to be a 2000-ish words lyrical tirade praising the awesomeness of NYU while reminding students of the incredible, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities offered by the school. Among other things, Sexton heavily insists on the international character of the University, which has campuses in Abu Dhabi, Shanghai and London, and plans to open two new ones in Australia and Washington D.C. by the end of the year.

In case the true value of NYU’s international character escapes you, this quote from Albert Cotungo, chair of the Student Senator Council, should help open your eyes:

“I‘ve been to six countries since coming to NYU.  To really understand and know things about the world, I think it’s important to explore and learn about it from varying perspectives.  You can read all you want about world poverty and privilege, for instance, but you won’t understand it – feel it - until you drive by a neighborhood consisting solely of cardboard-box homes.”

Thankfully, NYU is here to open your eyes. How exactly remains a mystery, but it will. I can imagine that after spending a semester abroad in Abu Dhabi, anyone would come to realize that their parents’ three-bedrooms is in fact a “cardboard box” of sorts. Don’t you feel your tolerance levels rising already?

Oh, and they are going to need an extra $1,000 a year from you.

“When you are faced with multiple college admissions letters, first you have to honestly examine yourself as a prospective college student and decide what your priorities are to determine the best fit,” said Eric Greenberg, founder and director of the Greenberg Educational Group, Inc., an educational service center.

By evaluating different personal criteria, which can emphasize everything from academics and class size to social factors, tuition and distance from home, students can narrow down a more targeted group of potential colleges.

These remaining schools merit more scrutiny—and some mileage, whether real or virtual. Most experts agree that visiting, or revisiting, these schools will be hugely helpful in the decision process.

“Being in the school environment is the best way to determine where you will thrive over the next four years,” said Melissa Present, director of admissions at the Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies at The Jewish Theological Seminary. “Another bonus to visiting campus is that you can talk with current students and other accepted students. By meeting the people you will be sitting next to in classes, campus meetings and eventually networking with as alumni, you will get
a clear picture of what you will gain
from attending each university being
evaluated.”

During a second visit, accepted students usually see the school in a different light. Greenberg explains that factors like weather or even the enthusiasm level of the campus tour guide can color a student’s perception of a school. Tova Tolman, associate director of undergraduate admissions at Fordham University, echoed this.

“Every school is great when it is 70 degrees and sunny, but if you like a school when it is raining as well then you know it is right for you,” Tolman said.

If an in-person visit is not an option, Present suggested checking out online tours of campuses, or viewing student videos that provide a glimpse of student life. List College, for example, has a series of videos that highlight important student experiences.

In between visits, Tolman advises that the most important thing to do is make a deposit at a school that is one of a student’s top choices. These deposits are often only a few hundred dollars and will guarantee a spot in the freshman class.

Though acceptance letters are the goal, many students will find themselves on at least one waitlist. Greenberg says that a waitlist should be seen as an opportunity for the student to demonstrate their viability.

“A lot of the same ways that a student can show interest during the admissions process can be used during the waitlist process—the grades, awards, additional letters of recommendations, community service projects and other achievements since submitting the initial application should be outlined to the school,” he said. “If a student has been detailed and passionate in the application process, but remains passive during the waitlist process, that can be seen as incongruous and could be the difference between acceptance and rejection.”

Even as a waitlisted student, visiting the school is also a good idea.

“By visiting and then following up with a written letter, students demonstrate their interest and can find additional components of the school that they love,” Greenberg said.

If a waitlisted school is not ultimately selected, it is common courtesy to decline the waitlist as soon as possible.

“What we’re seeing is enrollment has remained steady,” said Myra McGovern, the association’s director of public information. “NAIS has looked at the past six recessions, and historically independent schools have been able to maintain enrollments. What’s changed is the amount of financial aid; they’ve increased financial aid in order to maintain enrollments.”

What’s less clear, though, is how long parents will be able to continue forking over money. For now, many are sticking it out, which seems partly due to a lack of alternatives. Parents fear government budget cuts will unleash havoc on the already-strained public school system.

“Those budget cuts come into many people’s thought process,” said Gabriella Rowe, head of the Mandell School, an Upper West Side pre-school that plans to expand through 8th grade. “We have some wonderful, wonderful public school options, but the neighborhood schools are already quite crowded, so what do you do?”

Columbia Prep, on West 93rd Street, plans to maintain programs like Prep for Prep, which connects students from low-income areas to independent schools. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

Some parents are doing everything possible to keep their kids in independent schools, including cutting back on expenses—a big change in a culture often marked by conspicuous consumption.

“I heard much less talk this year about, ‘Where are you going away for Christmas and spring break?’’” said Wendy Cebula, a mother of two private school students on the East Side, who asked that the name of her daughters’ school not be disclosed.

Eric Greenberg, who runs Greenberg Educational Group, a tutoring and school consulting service on West 86th Street, agreed.

“An increasing number of families I’ve seen are cutting back on travel, sleepaway camp, summer programs—anything but school when a budgeting decision has to be made,” he said.

Greenberg added that looking ahead to the college level, many families are exploring public universities and financial aid packages, where funds are more readily available, rather than taking their kids out of private school now.

Schools have also been renegotiating with families who are newly concerned about finances, increasing or redirecting fundraising efforts toward tuition assistance and earmarking more of their budgets for aid. At The Nightingale-Bamford School, on East 92nd Street, a portion of the annual senior gift was allotted toward scholarships for currently enrolled families.

“Schools are very sensitive to this,” said Dr. Shamir Khan, a West Side parent who runs a popular blog, http://www.nycprivateschoolsblog.com. “For many of them this is the priority because they know families are so stressed.”

East Side parent Cebula echoed that sentiment.

“Our school has been really careful about how they go about fundraising,” she said. “The school has always stressed participation over dollar amounts, and this year they really wanted to make that clear, and stress that any amount was welcome.”
For now, these measures allow schools to present a cheery face. But the future is not quite as certain.

“I never thought there would be an exodus this year, because it’s just the first year of it,” said Simone Hristidis, director of admissions at Columbia Prep. “More people will feel what the reality is next year, if bonuses are really not going to come through and jobs aren’t there.”

Indeed, if fundraising dries up and jobs don’t materialize, families in the vast middle who don’t qualify for extensive aid but who can’t afford skyrocketing tuition may leave the city or take their chances with public schools—options many are at least beginning to weigh.

“In the last two months I’ve had at least one family a week coming to learn about the public schools because they are still negotiating with private schools over aid,” said educational consultant Robin Aronow, founder of School Search NYC.

This trickle could turn into a more serious flow. Sources interviewed for this article emphasized that schools were stretching themselves to the limit, but that the supply of money might not be bottomless. Blogger Khan described a conversation he recently had at a screening for Nursery University, a documentary about the competitive admissions process for the city’s private pre-schools.

“One of the things we discussed is that this climate could lead to a decline in these schools’ economic, and potentially racial, diversity,” he said. “They just can’t hold the same types of fundraising auctions now. And I do think that if that trend starts to continue, there will be a bit more of an increase of this perception of the privilege and elitism of these schools.”

But schools are eager to reaffirm their commitment to diversity. Hristidis said she is fully confident that Columbia Prep has enough of a cushion to help current families and applicants. The school plans to maintain a strong commitment to programs like Prep for Prep, which connects students from low-income areas to independent schools.

“New York City stands strong,” she said. “And it has stood strong through many of these climates.”

One school that has a different approach is Manhattan Country, the only private school in New York City in which families pay proportional to income. Lois Gelernt, the school’s director of admissions, said Manhattan Country’s situation is similar to other schools’: enrollment is steady, with aid re-negotiations or requests on the rise. But, she added, the flexibility of the sliding-scale plan has meant that fewer ripples than if Manhattan Country had a specific amount of money set aside for aid.

“For us, we know what to expect even with a recession, because of the Family Financial Commitment Plan we’ve always had in place,” Gelernt said. “Our budget includes that understanding that we’re always going to maintain economic diversity.”

Manhattan Country hopes the current economy might push other schools to consider a tuition plan like theirs; at least one outer-borough school has already approached them about implementing such an arrangement, Gelernt said.

The Grace Church School, on Fourth Avenue, made a commitment to expanding financial aid even before the crisis hit. Families making less than $75,000 dollars per year now only pay $1,000 in tuition.

“Grace Church has a commitment to reaching a broad socio-economic swath and keeping our admissions need blind,” said Marjorie Stone, the admissions director. “We did have some families request financial aid for the first time this year, but our enrollment is up, our applications were up this year and we’re in good shape.”
For now, the biggest consequence of the changing economic climate seems to be more stress and uncertainty, from admissions onward.

“The single greatest issue that we have had to contend with is stress: not stress based on what has happened, but this free-floating anxiety about what might come to pass,” said Rowe, of Mandell. “Parents are asking for financial aid meetings not because they need money now, but just to have started up a conversation in case they lose their job. I say, ‘If you lose your job, come back and see me.’”

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