Latest news with #Franek
CNBC
03-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
On Decision Day, more high school seniors choose a college based on cost
Ethan Bianco, 17, waited right up until the May 1 deadline before deciding which college he would attend in the fall. The senior at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston was accepted to several schools, and had whittled down his choices to Vanderbilt University and University of Texas at Austin. Ultimately, the cost was a significant factor in his final decision. "UT is a much better award package," he said. In-state tuition for the current academic year is $10,858 to $13,576 a year, which would be largely covered by Bianco's financial aid offer. More from Personal Finance:Is college still worth it? It is for most, but not allHow to maximize your college financial aid offerWhat student loan forgiveness opportunities remain under Trump Vanderbilt, on the other hand, consistently ranks among the best private colleges for financial aid and promises to meet 100% of a family's demonstrated need. The school initially offered Bianco $35,000 in aid, he said. With that package, "it would be about $40,000 more for my family to attend Vanderbilt per year." However, he successfully appealed his award package and leveraged private scholarships to bring the price down further — and committed to Vanderbilt on National College Decision Day. For most graduating high school seniors, the math works out differently. The rising cost of college has resulted in a higher percentage of students enrolling in public schools over private ones, according to Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review. "Currently, it is about 73% of the undergraduate population — but this year, with increasing uncertainties about financial aid and changing policies about student loans, it is very likely that number will go up," Franek said. Soaring college costs and looming student debt balances have pushed this trend, and this year, there are added concerns about the economy and dwindling federal loan forgiveness options. As a result, this year's crop of high school seniors is more likely to choose local and less-expensive public schools rather than private universities far from home, Franek said. Price is now a bigger consideration among students and parents when choosing a college, other reports also show. Financial concerns govern decision-making for 8 in 10 families, according to one report by education lender Sallie Mae, outweighing even academics when choosing a school "Choosing a school is a personal and individual decision," said Chris Ebeling, head of student lending at Citizens Financial Group. Along with academics and extracurriculars, "equally important is the cost," he said. "That needs to be weighed and considered carefully." On National College Decision Day, Carlos Marin, a senior at Milby High School, also in Houston, enrolled at the University of Houston-Downtown. Marin, 17, who could be the first person in his family to graduate from college, said he plans to live at home and commute to classes. "The other schools I got into were farther away but the cost of room and board was really expensive," Marin said. College costs have risen significantly in recent decades, with tuition increasing 5.6% a year, on average, since 1983 — outpacing inflation and other household expenses, according to a recent report by J.P. Morgan Asset Management. Deep cuts in state funding for higher education have also contributed to the soaring price tag and pushed more of the costs onto students. Families now shoulder 48% of college expenses, up from 38% a decade ago, J.P. Morgan Asset Management found, with scholarships, grants and loans helping to bridge the gap. Nearly every year, students and their families have been borrowing more, which boosted total outstanding student debt to where it stands today, at more than $1.6 trillion. A separate survey by The Princeton Review found that taking on too much debt is the No. 1 worry among all college-bound students. Incoming Vanderbilt freshman Bianco qualified for a number of additional private scholarships and even received a free laptop from AT&T so that he could submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and fill out college applications. He said he is wary of taking out loans to make up for the difference. "I believe that student loans can be beneficial but there's also the assumption that you'll be in debt for a very long time," Bianco said. "It almost becomes a burden that is too much to bear."
CNBC
28-04-2025
- Business
- CNBC
International students are rethinking U.S. study plans amid visa policy shifts, experts say
The Department of Homeland Security restored the legal status of thousands of international students who had their visas revoked, according to reports Friday. College experts largely applauded the move, which was prompted by court challenges and lawsuits filed by affected students and their lawyers, as a win for students and higher education overall, but the gains could be short lived. The Trump Administration's sudden change in policy, however, is causing some international college applicants to rethink their plans for next year and whether they want to study in the U.S. at all, college experts now say. More from Personal Finance:Is college still worth it? It is for most, but not allHow to maximize your college financial aid offerWhat student loan forgiveness opportunities remain under Trump "Overall, this is a very positive development," according to Robert Franek, editor-in-chief of The Princeton Review. It provides needed clarity for international students who have until Thursday, May 1, which is National College Decision Day — the deadline most schools set to choose which institution they will attend in the fall, he said. For colleges and universities, "international enrollment is an incredible value in the classroom," Franek said. To that end, college administrators remain highly focused on "having students with different experiences and a number of different voices represented," he said. But international student enrollment is also an important source of revenue for U.S. colleges and universities, which is why schools need a contingent of foreign students, who typically pay full tuition, Franek added. This financial reliance makes them a critical component of the higher education system, experts say. However, because of the U.S. government's recent changes to the student visa policy, which deactivated and then reactivated the immigration status of thousands of students, "there are a number of international students admitted to great colleges and really skeptical about whether they will come," Franek said of plans for the fall of 2025. One private college consultant, who works with a large share of families from abroad, said he has already seen a shift in priorities among college-bound clients, fueled by nervousness about further policy changes. "There's so much uncertainty and uncertainty is not good for long-term planning," said Hafeez Lakhani, founder and president of Lakhani Coaching in New York. Lakhani explained that he is working with families to "evaluate the risk" ahead of the enrollment deadline. Other high schoolers a year or more away from applying to college are rethinking their plans altogether, he said. "We are already seeing some international students showing more interest in Canada and the U.K. — and it's to those other countries' benefit in terms of recruiting talent and tuition dollars," Lakhani said. There are more than 1.1 million international undergraduate and graduate students in the U.S., mostly from India and China, making up slightly less than 6% of the total U.S. higher education population, according to the latest Open Doors data, released by the U.S. Department of State and the Institute of International Education. In the 2023-24 academic year, the U.S. hosted a record number of students from abroad, marking a 7% increase from the previous year. India surpassed China as the top sending country, with India sending more than 330,000 students. Altogether, international student enrollment contributed $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy in 2023-24, according to a separate report by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. "Foreign students present a unique challenge for the Trump administration's hardline immigration policy efforts," said Christopher Rim, president and CEO of college consulting firm Command Education. "On the one hand, international students account for a large portion of foreign residents in the U.S., and some of the most politically outspoken," Rims said. "However, they are among the most economically advantageous, as well." But according to Rim, who also works with clients all over the world, the U.S. is still the main choice among college-bound students applying to top-ranked institutions, and that is unlikely to change overnight. "I was in Hong Kong last week speaking to a packed audience of hundreds of students and parents about Ivy League and top-tier U.S. college admissions for expat and international families," Rim said Monday. "Despite global shifts, distinct and affluent families remain deeply eager to send their children to the United States for higher education," he explained. "They continue to recognize the U.S. as home to the world's leading universities."
