<p>For those attending Northeastern, do you find it affordable? I was accepted into Northeastern as a transfer student with a $10,000 grant. I will be entering as 3rd year student and I believe that I will be paying close to $90,000 in loans by the time I graduate. Right now I would be paying for school mostly by myself. Is anyone else in the same boat as me or is this financial situation normal? Do you attend Northeastern because of scholarships or having the necessary savings to afford the school?</p>
<p>Everyone’s situation is different. I lived with someone who got full tuition and full housing, and my boyfriend’s roommate had full tuition but paid for housing. I got a 14k grant and my parents are paying for half my loans, so I’ll graduate with about 30k in loans. On the other hand, one of my roommates’ parents refused to cosign a loan with them (to teach them “how to live on their own”…), which prevented them from getting a loan, so they have to work 40 hours a week in order to pay for tuition on a payment plan each month. </p>
<p>I will say that the majority of people I know will graduate with loans, and it really just depends on personal situation for how much you will have. To me, it’s definitely worth it because I know I’m going to enter a career field that pays 50k starting pay straight out of college. However, someone passionate about… journalism, for instance, might want to reconsider.</p>
<p>Before our DS committed to NU, we spoke to two girls we knew who had just graduated the year before from NU (business & nursing). One had about 80K in loans and the other had $100K. Due to their co-op work experience, both had immediate job offers after graduation. Only one year later, both said they would go to NU again no question at all inspite of the financial obligations they faced. After 3 years at NU, DS has no regrets about his choice. He has finished two co-ops and finds the college environment, support and resources at the school everything that he had hoped for. Obviously not everyone can be as happy, but if it is the right school for you and you have a desire for an integrated co-op program, it may be worth the investment. </p>
<p>Remember at NU you only pay tuition for 4 academic years in of the 5-year program. In our public university system, it is often taking many of DS’s friends 5 years to graduate due to insufficient resources to provide enough seats in the required courses each semester which equates to 5 years of tuition payments and no co-op experience!</p>
<p>What’s the deal with the super high dropout rate: 66%. 35% of students don’t have degrees within 6 years of matriculating. That’s a lot of people trying to pay down several years of loans without a college diploma! </p>
<p>Why does NEU gave such a bad graduation rate that it ended up as #5 on the American Enterprise Institute’s list* of Worst drop out rate of Highly competitive colleges?</p>
<p>By those numbers every freshman has a 1/3 chance of carrying killer loans, but NOT having a degree. That’s not great odds.</p>
<p>*80 page report posted on this board</p>
<p>Is there any more information on those numbers? 66% dropout seems awfully high. 35% of students not earning degrees after 6 years also seems very high. I’ve been at this school for 4 years and have yet to meet ANYONE who just “dropped out” without a degree. I know a few people who had to take a summer session (2 classes) after graduation, but that’s it, and they’re few and far between. That’s all anecdotal, but I just think that if that number was right, I’d know more people with these massive student loans and no degree. I don’t know any.</p>
<p>That being said, in my major/situation, I would NOT take 90k in loans just to go to this school. Granted, I’m a science major, which gives me pretty limited options with only a bachelor’s degree. I definitely would not want to start graduate school (where I’d make about 25-30k stipend) or medical school (which will cost 100-200k for 4 years) with that much ugrad debt. Maybe if you’re planning on going into a field with decent starting wages, it would be ok. But that is a LOT of money.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information. I figure that the debt is actually going to be around $60,000 since I do not pay tuition during co-op semesters. I’m a criminal justice major and right now the job market is not looking very good for what I want to do. I believe if I go back to my current school next year I will be paying about $30,000 in student loans by graduation but not getting the experience and education that NU can offer. Another option is to go to a public school like Umass Boston or Westfield State where I can get the same degree. I believe that the education and experience at NU is going to be much more different than attending one of those schools. I’m thinking about contacting the Army ROTC department since I plan on doing a military career after college. If I meet the requirements, the Army can give me a scholarship that can pay for most of my tuition. I would really like to go to NU because of the education, co-op, and living in Boston. Any suggestions or advice about these options? Thanks.</p>
<p>Northeastern over the past years or so has really been turning around. Whereas before it was extremely easy to get it, now the school is getting more and more competitive. The reason why you have such a high dropout and malnutrition rate, as far as i know, is that NEU is still having the stragglers of this earlier “group” not able to handle the school NEU is becoming</p>