Boo! Frightening college costs

Here's something scary: The 10 most expensive colleges in the United States are all above $50,000 per year. For a four year education, you're looking at probably close to $250,000 by the time you've paid books and fees at these universities.

As we've said time and again here, there is no good reason to spend that amount on an education. There are lots (and lots!) of good, solid state colleges and universities. It's what you do with your education that matters. If you are wealthy and you can afford to send a child to one of these universities, hey, have at it. But do not mortgage your home or do anything scary to pay for college for your kids.

Have a look at the list here:

http://bit.ly/1AcvcF

And here's something REALLY scary. If you have a baby this year, and you want to send that child to one of the universities highlighted that's $50,000 a year now, you'll pay $518,641 for their education by the time they're ready for college. If college costs rise at 5 percent a year, your annual cost will be $120,331 (up from $50,000 over 18 years). The total cost for 4 year(s) will then be $518,641.

Here's the calculator we used to get those figures. Use it to look at the cost of your education or your child's education.


http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/college_cost.jsp