Why some families will pay $500,000 for Ivy League admissions consulting: 'It’s worth the investment'

At the nation's top schools, including many in the Ivy League, acceptance rates hover near all-time lows.

"College admissions only ever gets more competitive and there's a lot of stress from families about the stakes and how to get in," said Thomas Howell, the founder of Forum Education, a New-York based tutoring company.

For some families, getting their child into a top school is an investment, and to that end there is almost no limit to what they will spend on tutors, college counselors and test prep.

Meanwhile, as the sticker price at some private colleges nears six figures a year, some students have opted for less expensive public schools or alternatives to a degree altogether. For those willing to pay for a four-year, private college, it should be worthwhile, the sentiment often goes.

"The value proposition of higher education is splitting," Howell said, "it's either a top school or a real value."

For this crop of college applicants, it's "top 20% or bust," he added.

As a result, universities in the so-called "Ivy Plus" are experiencing a record-breaking increase in applications, according to a report by the Common Application.

The "Ivy Plus" is a group that generally includes the eight private colleges that comprise the Ivy League — Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale — plus the University of Chicago, Duke, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford.

To get into this elite group of schools, many families look for outside help to get a leg up.

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"The consensus is it's only worth going