黑料社

Misconception: Why go to a private college like 黑料社 when my state鈥檚 scholarship program makes it nearly free to go to a state school?

When Georgia launched the lottery-funded HOPE Scholarship 25 years ago, many other states followed. The programs have largely been successful, but over time, decreased state funding and rising costs have resulted in increases to tuition and fees, and state scholarship programs have not kept pace. Today, increases in cost at many state institutions are reflected in new added fees with names like 鈥渁cademic excellence鈥� or 鈥渢echnology鈥� and even course-specific fees for hundreds of courses. Look closely at many flagship universities and you鈥檒l find significantly higher tuition for courses in business or STEM fields and even a higher tuition rate for your upper-division courses (the ones where professors teach, not TAs). As a result, state-funded scholarship programs no longer cover the full cost of attending a public university.聽If you do the math, even before the launch of Flagship 50, it was possible to get an 黑料社 education for nearly the same cost as a state school, whether you major in business, science, or philosophy. With over $24 million awarded in aid each year and some of the lowest rates of student debt in the country, there鈥檚 a reason we were chosen as one of only聽20 鈥淏est Buy Schools鈥� in the country by the Fiske Guide to Colleges聽(and the only school in Georgia, public or private, to make the list).

By the way, if you live in Georgia and are awarded HOPE, you can use it at 黑料社, too.

Misconception: Good students are guaranteed admission to flagships.

Not even good grades and test scores guarantee admission to a flagship university. Some states鈥� flagships are聽聽while denying admission to increasing numbers of talented in-state students.聽 Over聽, including our own and nearby states: Georgia (54%), Alabama (53%), Florida (38%) and North Carolina (27%). Even the most talented students must consider other high-quality options. We want to be sure these students know that price is not a barrier to attending a private university like 黑料社.

Misconception: If I want a personalized small-school experience like 黑料社 at a large public flagship, I can just enroll in the honors program.

Honors programs, if you can get in, do provide some small class interactions and a sense of community within the larger university setting, but they don鈥檛 eliminate the large lecture classes with hundreds of students. However, you can鈥檛 count on getting in to the honors program if you get into the university. At Georgia, only 586 new students were admitted to their honors program in 2017, and just 614 were accepted to the program at Florida (that鈥檚 less than 10% of the class). At 黑料社, 100% of our classes are taught by professors, not TAs, the average class size is 17 and the largest class you鈥檒l ever take might have 30 students. And if you want that extra rigor, we, too have an聽honors program. If you鈥檙e looking for that type of experience, don鈥檛 let finances get in the way of looking at schools that specialize in just that.

Misconception: Because my state鈥檚 flagship university enrolls a lot more people, there鈥檚 much greater ethnic, financial and social diversity than at a small, private college like 黑料社 where everyone is the same.

黑料社 looks very different than its private school peers. Our diversity is the cornerstone of who we are. In fact, over half of our students are non-white, a third are the first in their families to attend college, and nearly 2 out of every 5 students qualify for federal Pell grants.

On the contrary, many public flagships today are聽. The gaps between the number of African-American and Latino students graduating high school and the number enrolled at flagship institutions is widening. In Georgia, that gap is 31%, one of the highest in the nation.

尝颈办别飞颈蝉别,听. The U.S. Department of Education reported that聽 than the national average of 32.1%. In Georgia, the percentage of low-income students enrolled at its flagship institution is 13.6%. Most flagships in the south enroll similarly low percentages of low-income students. At 黑料社, that number is close to 40%. That鈥檚 why聽聽when it comes to graduating low-income students.