Helping your children decide on what colleges to apply to can be a fun, yet trying, process. Finding a good academic program, in addition to an appropriate social environment, makes sifting through college catalogs both rewarding and tiring.

Once those acceptance letters start rolling in, an even more difficult process begins. Many times, money plays a large role in where a student will spend their college years. State schools offer an education in numerous fields, and allow your child to earn a degree at relatively low prices. Private schools typically boast more specialized, recognizable and renowned individual programs, but often at a far greater financial burden.

The debate over public or private college has been going on since higher education became the norm. But with costs now escalating rapidly on both sides of the fence, comparing potential debts between public and private schools is like comparing six of one and a half a dozen of another.

One common misconception is that public schools will always be cheaper. If your child stays instate while attending public school, then, yes, tuition is almost always cheaper. But if your child is thinking of going to a public institution outside of their home state, expect tuition costs to be nearly as expensive as if they were attending a private institution.

The University of Michigan, for instance, one of the most highly regarded public colleges in the nation, nearly triples its tuition for out-of-state students. Also, since instate students attending public schools are often awarded significant financial aid, students hoping to attend public schools outside of their home state can expect a far smaller offer.

State schools are dependent almost entirely on state budgets, which fluctuate on a constant basis. Unfortunately, when budgets decrease, school funding typically takes the biggest hit.

While this won’t necessarily lead to a decrease in your child’s financial aid package, it will affect the quality of their education. In order to keep up appearances, many public schools, when hit with a drastic decrease in budget, will not remove programs entirely, but will greatly reduce the number of courses offered in a particular program.

This will not only deny your child certain courses that will further their education, but the courses that are left will likely have more students, meaning there is less individual attention per student.

Private schools don’t face these problems, as the funding for private schools comes entirely from alumni donations, endowments and tuition, meaning state budget cuts will have not effect the quality of your child’s education.

In the 2002-03 school year, the average cost, including room, board and books, for undergraduate students at public universities was nearly $13,000 per year, while private colleges were about $28,000.

But with greater financial aid available, over the past decade, it’s far easier for middle class students to attend private universities, even with the greater cost. In the 1990s, funding for Federal Pell Grants rose just 23 percent. Meanwhile, institutional aid, which colleges have traditionally set aside for middle class students, grew 84 percent.

A slew of private universities now offer significantly more grant-funded aid to prospective students than ever before. For example, the University of Dayton, a mid-sized private institution in southwestern Ohio, offers five different types of state-funded grants, some of which value up to $7,000 per year, for Ohio residents.

Such a shift in financial aid funding has done a lot to take the emphasis off of choosing schools based on cost alone. Students and parents alike can now focus more on the issue of utmost importance – finding a college that will allow a student to maximize their academic and social growth.

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