at what point is paying for the name not worth it?

Paying for College
1

<p>ive discussed my...malcontent i guess...on the wisconsin message board several times, but i figure ill get a broader perspective.</p>

<p>im in my first semester at UW-Madison, after spending 3 semesters at a smaller public school on my home state (western illinois university). i transferred thinking that i would recieve some financial aid (NOT in the form of loans, the last thing i need is another loan) but to my surprise, i did not. in order for me to graduate here, it will require i take out atleast 100k in student loans, all to achieve a degree in exercise science, which doesnt pay nearly enough to justify the cost, am i right?</p>

<p>so im at another line here...same one i was at when i was deciding if i stay at WIU or if i transfer to UW, well now im deciding the opposite.</p>

<p>WIU i would request about 5000-5500 in loans every semester. its triple that at UW. at WIU i would likely graduate with a 3.6 or 3.7, at UW im not even gauranteed to get into the exercise science program, as its very competitive.
UW is a MUCH better school, i like it here much more as the amount of things i can do is endless, WIU is in the middle of a cornfield and has pretty much nothing going for it except the cost.</p>

<p>but i dont want to ruin the rest of my life to have 3 years of fun, but wind up leaving with atleast 100k in debt, more when you add on grad school, all to get a job that pays 40k a year.</p>

<p>so i dont know what to do. how much is the name UW on my degree worth paying to get?</p>

<p>also, financial aid for out of state students is an absolute joke. not only do i pay an additional 7,000 per semester over in state students, the majority of all grants available to students goes to those same in state students. to me thats absolutely disgusting, hell why even make them pay at all? they raise tuition every semester while decreasing the amount of money available to us (if i here from one more person "well youve qualified for a perkins loan.." im gonna snap, the LAST thing i need is to be qualified for another loan that will take me 40 years to pay off)</p>

<p>so can i get any opinions?? i dont know what to do</p>

2

<p>Aren't there some better state schools in your home state than WIU? Take a gap year to earn some money, and then apply to your flagship U in your homestate where you will pay instate tution. No, it is NOT a good idea to graduate with a huge amount of debt like that!!!</p>

3

<p>out of state public schools are rarely a bargain for students , unless you have been recruited with merit money by a dept.</p>

<p>Public schools are subsidized by tax dollars by state residents who are not charged the full price to attend. </p>

<p>Many students who don't realize that they won't be considered residents after a year of attendance or who think they will be able to find large scholarships find themselves transferring out of an out of state school because of finances.</p>

<p>There are opportunities however to attend an OOS school, for reduced cost.
Schools with reciprocal agreements, allow students from neighboring states to attend at 150% of instate tuition for example.
While Illinois has not participated in this agreement previously, as of late last year, they did join the contract and as soon as an Illinois school agrees to accept MSEP students, students from Illinois will be able to attend other MSEP schools in other states
<a href="http://www.mhec.org/index.asp?pageid=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.mhec.org/index.asp?pageid=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

4

<p>I would say that $100,000+ in debt with a potential earnings of $40,000 is already way way way beyond the point of the name not being worth it. I think you already realise that but don't want to accept it because you are enjoying the place. To convince your head to overule your heart run one of those loan calculators to see what your monthly payments would be then factor in other living expenses - rent, insurance, food etc and remember this will be how you will have to live for years.</p>

5

<p>don't go into that much debt just for a name. you think your job prospects will be better becasue of the name, but you won'tbe able to enjot life becasue of so much debt.</p>

6

<p>Why not UIUC?</p>

<p>100k in debt is not worth it for the name.</p>

7

<p>because if im gonna go back to illinois i might as well finish at WIU...i would be done in prolly 4 semesters with a double major (econ+kinesiology) and i dont wnat to keep flip flopping to different schools. </p>

<p>i really just dont want to leave this place at all :/</p>

8

<p>Why in the world did you transfer without checking out the financial aid situation first?? Contact a home state school and see how many of your classes they would transfer. Then do the math. Figure out what it would cost to graduate at all of the institutions.</p>

9

<p>when you have little to no guidance coming from anywhere, you dont exactly know what to look for and what not to look for. i knew it would be expensive but i didnt know that i would be expected to pay literally 3x what my EFC is.</p>