1) Look at the tuition and fees. Do not get side tracked by scholarships.
School A tuition for Fall/Spring $7,000
School B tuition for Fall/Spring $50,000 with a $25,000 scholarship for smart kids.
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School A is less expensive. Do not fall into the trap of thinking too much about the scholarship. Many schools come up with great names like Presidential Scholar, Excellence Award, etc.
2) look at the other costs and think if they are realistic? A very popular school in NYC has on their educational budget and expenses for food 10 meals per week to compare. I do not know about you but my kids eat more then 20 meals per week. That school uses a deceptively lowball figure to appear more reasonable when a parent or student compares them. Another popular NYC school uses a very low room expense. In reality you may be able to camp in NYC for the price that school wants to be compared to.
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3) Why is it important? Am I getting better quality for the higher price? Remember this, five years after you graduate college your resume drops the college to the bottom and your career has more to do with your work history then the college you went to.
4) In the example of #1 if you have to borrow the tuition that is $28,000 for School A, while it is $100,000 for School B. That is a huge difference and you are very very very unlikely to make enough when you graduate to pay back $100,000 in loans.
