One of Tom Woodbury’s sisters went to Vanderbilt University, the other to Boston College. But they didn’t choose those pricey private colleges during a financial market meltdown that took a sizeable chunk of the family’s college savings.
So the younger Woodbury, a senior at Arlington High School, is leaning toward the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which costs less than half as much as many of its private counterparts. The more the Dow Jones industrial average declines, the more the state’s flagship university seems to come up in conversation, he said.
“I’ve been hearing ‘UMass, UMass’ around the house for a while now,” he said dryly, after attending a UMass recruiting visit Thursday afternoon with 30 classmates. “I’m getting the hint.”
Cost, always a major factor in choosing a college, has taken on paramount importance this fall as high school seniors decide where to apply.
Many parents, gun-shy over plummeting retirement funds and home values, are recoiling at the prospect of a high-priced college, and urging their children toward more affordable alternatives in what higher education specialists refer to as a “flight to price.”
