Private Colleges do cost more than Puiblic. If your kid has the grades and class rank, there can be some good scholarship money to help defray the private cost - for us the private ones were more aggressive in this area.
But a critical factor is how long it takes to get the degree. I think private schools are very good at getting the kid done in 4 years..that's been the case with my three. I hear 6 years at big public schools is not that unusual. So four years at private with hopefully scholarship and grant money vs. maybe 6 or ? years at public with perhaps not so much incentives. The cost difference shrinks, plus I think a small private school that is a good fit for your kid and endeavors to educate the whole person, has a supportive environment provided by the administration and faculty is worth the premium if you can swing it. Not to say public can't do the same, but that wasn't my experience at the state school I went to in Illinois.
But a critical factor is how long it takes to get the degree. I think private schools are very good at getting the kid done in 4 years..that's been the case with my three. I hear 6 years at big public schools is not that unusual. So four years at private with hopefully scholarship and grant money vs. maybe 6 or ? years at public with perhaps not so much incentives. The cost difference shrinks, plus I think a small private school that is a good fit for your kid and endeavors to educate the whole person, has a supportive environment provided by the administration and faculty is worth the premium if you can swing it. Not to say public can't do the same, but that wasn't my experience at the state school I went to in Illinois.