College Students Shopping For Cheaper Schools

And rightfully so, college costs are absurdly high and in many cases universities are cash factories where hundreds of thousands in student-loan money flow into these schools. College loan money is not a bad thing, but clearly universities have taken advantage of this never ending supply of cash to inflate their costs.

By Oliver Staley and Janet Frankston Lorin

March 5 (Bloomberg) -- Denise Corsini transferred in January from the private University of Tampa in Florida to the public Rutgers University in her home state of New Jersey, saving as much as $10,000 a year.

“It was a really good time” to make the switch, said Corsini, 20, an English major from Bridgewater, in an interview. “My dad is in construction and, with the economy falling apart, not many people are building homes.”

Students across the U.S. are making similar choices as Corsini, who is saving on tuition and transportation, and on meal costs by eating at home. Applications to Rutgers from students at private colleges and at public schools outside New Jersey have risen 52 percent, to 632 this year from 416 in 2008. State universities in Indiana, Texas and Florida are also seeing more transfer requests as families cut costs in the recession.

“Students appear to be price shopping,” said Barmak Nassirian, the associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, a Washington-based trade group. “People are hedging their bets financially. There is a real economic motivation.”