Cost to Attend William Paterson is Low, Scorecard Shows
New website allows prospective college students to compare institutions of interest.
The cost to attend William Paterson University is low compared to its national counterparts, a new website that tracks college affordability shows.
The website, created after President Barack Obama called for colleges to be held accountable for “cost, value and quality,” gives families and prospective students critical information to make decisions on college choices.
The average William Paterson undergraduate pays slightly more than $11,000 a year to attend the state university. The cost of tuition for the average undergraduate increased 14.6 from 2007 to 2009, the website shows.
Families typically borrow $17,500 in federal loans per undergraduate student. Students pay back about $200 a month for the 10 years after they receive an undergraduate degree, which is almost exactly the average.
Less than 10 percent of students default on their federal student loans within the first three years they begin to repay them.
Nearly half, 46 percent, of full-time students earned a bachelor’s degree from the university in six years and a third of students transferred to another institution.
— Have a question or news tip? Contact editor Daniel Hubbard at Daniel.Hubbard@patch.com or find us on Facebook and Twitter. For news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
Flood Plain
6:11 pm on Thursday, February 14, 2013
More than half of the students fail to earn a degree in SIX years is an abuse of taxpayers subsidy for students. Willie P needs to have much stronger entrance requirements to increase completion rates. If the increased student entrance criteria result in reduced students on campus, then that will save taxpayers huge expenses and reduced resource waste.
maryanne
10:48 am on Friday, February 15, 2013
The professors and facilities at William Paterson are wonderful. A student can get a quality education at the undergraduate or graduate level at a fair price. Like in life, a student need to be determined and goal-directed to take advantge of all that WPU offers. Wayne needs to embrace William Paterson more than it does. Wayne never feels like a college town, but it could be. There is lots of potential here for Wayne.
Cathy Kazan
10:48 am on Friday, February 15, 2013
I think you overlooked the 1/3 who started at WillieP and moved on. I know of several students who started there and used that time to buckle down so they could move to a more challenging program at another university. Some HS students are not quite ready and WillieP offers them a great starting point. I know the university would prefer that they stay, but as long as they continue their education in some manner I would hardly consider it a waste. Our cost per student locally is higher than the tuition at this university, and that is for K-12.
Chicken Little
11:51 am on Friday, February 15, 2013
That's because there is no special ed costs, transportation costs, etc. You can't compare WPU and K-12.
Adam Smith
10:48 am on Friday, February 15, 2013
Yes, it's time for them to get serious about taxpayer money and don't take in those students who don't belong there. Cutting those students who don't belong will help raise the graduation rate.
Robert Pignatello
5:13 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
It would be great to see WPU and township community activities more connected and mutually involved. We are fortunate to have a university within our boundaries. They call this sort of program "town & gown". I hope we can do that in Wayne.
Justice
6:34 pm on Thursday, February 21, 2013
"town & gown"?? Is that what they called it in Essex County?