Any one else deciding on free tuition+ at UA vs full pay at GT? Would love insight!

my son has narrowed down to these two. His interests are Engineering, mechanical or aeronautical. He’s a NMF and a good HS student. He likes things about both schools. At Univ of Alabama he would get over $160k in scholarships for merit and entry to Honors College. No need based aid at either. We could use part of my husbands GI Bill for GT, so in state tuition would be covered plus a housing and book stipend. The more we use of that, the less there will be for #2 son.

I, as a parent, am worried about the rigor of GT and it being a tech school what if his interests change from tech fields? Does that even happen? He’s a math whiz and loves numbers, so I would think he’d stay in a science or math field.

We just had an amazing talk and tour about Alabama’s engineering program, the third oldest in the nation. Introduced to students who have been forging their own path. Seems tons of support. Not getting the same vibe from GT where there seems more of a cookie cutter approach and more of a “cold shoulder” at his first visit and being part of the “machine”. But I can’t ignore one of the best engineering programs in the country, their great coop program and very high job placement rates.

Please help us weigh pros/cons:-) All opinions welcome! CC has already been SO helpful to us!

I do not have time to type up a full response but a word of warning about GI Bill- Proposed for 2106 is to discontinue the living stipend. GT is a Yellow Ribbon school but only awards 40 per year ( the extra amount GT will kick in is limited to the 40 students who apply for it first, I think) so if you go that route, I would consider using the full GI bill for son #1 or you may lose the other benefit by the time son#2 is ready to use it. On another note: my husband employs CS and engineers, our friend at Lockheed Martin employs Aeronautical engineers, and another friend also at Lockheed employs electrical engineers: Hiring preference in this order: GT, UF and a distant third Auburn.

Thanks good stuff. I’ve read in a few places that committee recommendation is to do away with the housing stipend of the GI bill. That is huge!

We are in the same decision making process with my D as she was accepted into the CBHP at UA and would get the full NM and the engineering stipend. Has a full cost of attendance ride anywhere in Florida including UF where she will actually make money. She loves Tech, though. UF has gotten so huge!

DS has chosen GT (full pay OOS) over Alabama (full tuition scholarship). He wants industrial engineering, which is not offered at UA.

Number 1 school in the nation for industrial engineering! Daughter is till deciding…

My son is also a NMF deciding between Georgia Tech and UF in computer science. He only received a small scholarship from GT ($7500) and will likely have the FIS (close to full ride) from UF. He became interested in Georgia Tech late in the year and missed the early application period, which I think hurt him regarding scholarships. He prefers Georgia Tech but the financial difference is huge for us. He was also admitted to Middlebury and finds some appeal in a small liberal arts college and then going to GT for grad school. Middlebury gave him $35K this year and would likely give him more next year due to our financial situation and their commitment to meeting 100% of financial need. We have a daughter who is sophomore at Davidson and she loves it, but it is another financial stressor even though they have been great with financial aid. .I would love to hear thoughts and opinions.

The FIS is a full ride as long as he has fulfilled Bright Futures and is either named a scholar by NM or a corporate scholar or picks UF as his top choice on the OSA NM portal. He should be good to go! Congrats!!! We are going back to Tech this weekend for a College of Science open house. UF is not as invested in CS as Georgia Tech is.