What’s even more expensive than college tuition?
The gold-plated tour.
Magellan Jets is trumpeting 10 hours of flying time on private jets – that start at $43,500. It also will arrange the itinerary and car services to get you and your budding college freshman from one campus to another. In its pitch, it says it wants to “take care of the headaches so you can concentrate on what is important … your child’s future.”
The price of that peace of mind and missing out on hours of driving time exceeds the average published cost of tuition, room and board for the just-ending academic year at a private four-year school, as compiled by the College Board. It puts that price at $40,917, before any financial aid and scholarships to cut the bill and before the bar tab and other personal expenses, including books. (Yes, Harvard is more expensive, at $56,407.)
The cost of going to your four-year in-state school averages $18,391, it says.
By comparison, Amtrak’s discount for taking the train to campus visits (50% off the second fare) seems like a steal. If, of course, Amtrak goes there.
Likely there are plenty of prospective schools on the list to visit. The College Board recommends having five to 10 schools under consideration by the end of junior year, and applying to five to eight.
For those who opt for the private jet, it leads to the next conundrum: How will your college student get home for Thanksgiving? A packed economy flight, or another private jet?