Private Education Now More Affordable Than Ever for Lower-Income Students

By Cristina Carreon

For students who want to work in a more specialized field like behavioral neuroscience, which is a major that is not available at Texas State University, it is important to utilize the right resources.

Dr. Byron Kerr is a financial aid supervisor at Texas State from Florida, who has extensive financial aid experience working at several colleges in the past.

Kerr said student demographics, selectiveness, and financial need are the main factors that account for differences between public and private institutions. Private schools can help make up for the difference in attendance costs between public and private universities through grants and scholarships, he said.

“St. Edward’s University will offer scholarships from their endowments, adding up to actually make the overall attendance cost comparable to a public school like Texas State,” said Dr. Kerr.

“So if you can afford Texas State out of pocket, you could then afford a nonprofit private school like St. Ed’s. Common at Baylor as well. It brings parity to students,” Kerr said.

For comparable private and public sister universities in Texas like Baylor and St. Edward’s University, or Texas State and The University of North Texas, the average lower-income bracket shows a significant difference in income between the two types of schools.

College ScoreCard is a dataset compiled by the U.S. Department of Education over the last 20 years and features items like cost, retention and post-graduate salary of all state-funded public colleges and many private universities.

The data provides some insight into the disparity in cost between public and private universities in Texas.

According to the data, the average cost of attendance at public 4-year universities in Texas is at least $8,000 less than the average cost of attendance at private universities in the state.

Ginger Gossman has been working for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board since 2011 and has worked in education and health research for over 12 years, with organizations such as the Austin Independent School District and the Texas Department of State Health Services.

Gossman said low-income students have many grant and loan opportunities that can supplement post-secondary education costs.

“These state and national opportunities can greatly reduce net prices, many are need-based. Students have these opportunities at both public and private institutions. The need-based opportunities at both privates and publics include grants and federal loans,” she said.

• The Texas Public Educational Grant
• TEXAS Grant
• Top Ten Percent Scholarship
• Federal Pell grant

With state grants, students who can afford a Texas State education can transfer to a private school like St. Edward’s, which costs double, by using various additional educational and research grants.

St. Edward’s in Austin, TX, is a private university and renowned for its science, medical, and business programs, with an emphasis on science and technology.

Texas State is an emerging research university as of 2015, with renowned business, engineering, and emerging science programs like conservation and cancer research.

Ryder Nicholas, 20, is a former Texas State student who transferred to St. Edward’s to pursue a behavioral neuroscience degree.

Nicholas transferred to St. Edward’s University because her major was not offered at Texas State.

She said she would not have been able to transfer if not for various forms of financial assistance.

“I claim myself as an independent. I have not been financially dependent on my parents for a very long time. I’m fortunate enough to be living rent-free right now with my sister and her fiancée,” she said.

Nicholas took out loans at both Texas State and St. Edward’s, but has saved over $7,000 living at home while attending the private university.

Although financial aid covered her tuition at Texas State, Nicholas had to pay for living expenses and school supplies, which amounted to several thousand dollars.

When Nicholas applied to St. Edward’s in fall 2016, she received nearly full funding.

Nicholas has spent less money out of pocket at St. Edward’s because her tuition is covered by various grants and loans.

“I got a $13,000 transfer scholarship, another scholarship for good academics, grants, and a $2,000 unsubsidized loan, which will grow about $80 in interest when the school year is over. I decided to take out those extra loans because the quality of education was worth it,” she said.

Nicholas worked as a cashier at a local Sprout’s grocery store to supplement her expenses because she had no money to put towards her education outside of loans.

“I am spending about $3,500 dollars more than I am at Texas State including loans and out of pocket payments, but it’s worth it,” Nicholas said.

Because schools like St. Edward’s rely heavily on scholarships and grants to supplement student costs, when annual overall attendance cost at St. Edward’s is supplemented with financial assistance, students attending the university end up paying $11,880 dollars.

Freshman students at St. Edward’s received academic scholarships amounting to an average of $26,946 dollars per person last year. This makes the annual attendance cost after financial assistance at St. Edward’s comparable to Texas State University’s annual cost.

Nicholas said that although there is less diversity in terms of minorities, there is a more international culture at St. Edward’s University.

At Texas State, racial and ethnic minorities account for over half of the student population, yet Nicholas said the student culture is not as diverse as it is at St. Edward’s.

“There is a more international perspective. It’s easier to immerse yourself in the different cultures of students at St. Edward’s,” Nicholas said.

At St. Edward’s, 58 countries are represented, and 38 different languages are spoken.

“There is a more international perspective. It’s easier to immerse yourself in the different cultures of students at St. Edward’s,” Nicholas said.

Nicholas said the larger student population at Texas State made her feel like a number.

“They want you to sign up, be on the e-mail list, show up. But at St. Edward’s I found it a lot easier to get involved for the same reason I found it easier to get involved in class. I felt valued and needed. There’s not a large population there, so every person counts,” she said.

Quynh-Huong N. Nguyen is a graduate student working with the Student Diversity and Inclusion organization at Texas State University. She works specifically with the LGBTQIA community on campus.

Scorecard data does not currently include statistics relating to sexual orientation of students, which presents a difficulty to LGBTQIA students utilizing the data to decide on schools.

Nguyen said the LGBTQIA community is not very well represented at Texas State, due in part to the larger student population.

“For the average student who attends the university for four years, we might see a small percentage of support. In any case, I don’t think (Texas State) is representing these students as much as we could,” Nguyen said.

Overall, public and private universities differ in many ways. St. Edward’s costs nearly twice as much, but its student population is only 12 percent that of Texas State. And many of the university’s students seek majors that are not offered at public schools like Texas State.

To compare public and private sister universities in Texas, check out this sample enrollment comparison.

“The quality of education is worth it. If you try hard and work with the school, ask the questions that need to be asked and cover all of your bases, St. Edward’s will do absolutely everything they need to, to help you,” said Nicholas.

The College Scorecard does not currently include sexual orientation or percentage of students receiving scholarships, which can indicate greater affordability at private universities.

Nonetheless, there are many factors to consider when applying to colleges, and it is up to the students of tomorrow to pave their own ways to success.