WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--It’s come down to the last four teams. This coming weekend, teams from the University of North Carolina, University of South Carolina, University of Oregon and Gonzaga University will face off in the semi-finals and finals of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. But forget the basketball. What parents and graduating high school seniors really want to know is: Which of these four schools offer the best value when it comes to striking a tuition check?
That’s not easy to determine. Colleges and universities are notorious for hiding their real costs by using “premium pricing” in the form of high tuition costs to create “value” in the mind of consumers. But those advertised prices don’t usually reflect the real costs, which are offset by scholarships and other aid meant to attract students. An analysis performed by Nitro, an online source to help students and parents pay for college, found that on average, schools in this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament discount their advertised price a whopping 40 percent. That holds true even in the semi-finals, though some schools are more generous than others. North Carolina discounts an average of 54 percent off its advertised tuition and fees, while South Carolina’s discount of 28 percent is only half that.
Nitro’s analysis started with the advertised annual costs of each school’s tuition and other expenses. Then, dug deep into publically available, but hard to access data, on school scholarships and other financial aid to determine the absolute best deals in college education. For simplicity, we used in-state tuitions—figuring many alumni stay close to home.
In the semi-finals, South Carolina handily beats Gonzaga. As the only private school in the final round, Gonzaga is at a huge disadvantage. Gonzaga might offer a 36 percent discount, but with a starting advertised cost of $48,530, that only brings its average net cost of college down to $31,269. A year at South Carolina is over $13,000 less expensive than at Gonzaga.
The second semi-final match-up pits North Carolina against Oregon. Since both are public universities, it was a much closer match. Oregon’s 42 percent discount is above average, but North Carolina comes into the game leading the field with a 54 percent discount. Does that give North Carolina enough of an edge against Oregon to deliver a lower net cost of a college education?
To see how the match-ups play out, in terms of net cost of college, for both the semi-finals and the finals, as well as a look at the entire 64 team bracket, click here: https://www.nitrocollege.com/blog/what-school-is-the-best-value-in-the-ncaa-mens-basketball-tournament.
We already know South Carolina is in the final. Does the number one seeded North Carolina also make it into the final game and who will end up being crowned the Champion for Best Value?
About Nitro
Based in Wilmington, DE, Nitro is committed to lowering the $1.2 trillion in student debt nationwide by offering students and their families a variety of resources to help them finance their higher education and minimize debt. With free, accessible information about the FAFSA, scholarships, grants, and student loans, Nitro addresses the many issues students face in funding their education and paying their debt post-graduation.
For more information visit, https://www.nitrocollege.com/
