Absolutely, two of my DD are CU grads as am I (engineering), but that doesn’t change the reality of public vs private schools. BTW I am a huge advocate of paying in state tuition, its a smoking good deal, just not sustainable.
CU123 - I LUV IT!!!
We have a 4.0 Student in CU Engineering now. MIT lost out.
I do wish State Gov’t would fund more, but seems to be a losing battle. Colorado is stuck between a rock and
a harder rock, since the voters restricted funding. Even the highway projects are in need of more funding, but
they won’t get it from the taxpayers.
The State of Colorado’s contribution to CU for its annual budget is about 4.5% of CU’s total operating budget. If CU has to make up the difference with increasing the number of OOS students (which reduces ISS applicant acceptances) to generate more revenue then perhaps CU should look at cutting construction projects and renovations. They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past 10 years constructing and renovating some facilities that were not entirely necessary. Yes they are beautiful, but was it worth it by penalizing State of Colorado residents with ISS applicant restrictions due to budget overruns ? I attended a well known Top National 25 East Coast Flagship State University for Engineering back in the early 90’s. The state contribution there for the universities’ budget is 24%. The facilities were older, functional, I was well educated and have been fortunate to have been very successful. I prefer practical and functionality over superficial and beauty, afterall that’s what an education is supposed to be about.
MIT can’t take everyone, to CU’s benefit. Go Buffs! BTW, my last DD is at UChicago and its night and day compared to any public university.
@cu123 If you don’t mind, what are some of the differences you are seeing in the private school experience versus the one you had with a state school? We may be deciding between those two options in the near future, assuming any of the private schools my daughter has applied to make the cost anywhere comparable to the state schools into which she has been accepted.
In the 1990s I attended a top 25 public state university and received a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Throughout my career I’ve worked with graduates from ivy league schools. I even hired some of them to work for me (Duke, Stanford, Yale). What I can share with all of you is that they were no different than the individuals who graduated from state universities. They were compensated in a similar manner, their skill sets, efficiency and profitability was no better. What I realized in all of this is that it doesn’t matter so much what school you go to, it’s what you do with your degree after you get out. Something to consider…
@ChazRink I’m from Colorado (S19 is looking at both CU and CSU) and I agree with you that CU’s perception is a lot of out-of-state students, rich kids - which I know probably isn’t fair, but a lot of times perception is reality.
@4highkers, I’m in complete agreement with a student choosing a college/university where they feel
comfortable and safe.
My objection to ChazRinks statement of there being 55% out of State Students, mainly CA, and TX
was overblown and fact less. As well as, further statement implied - that a beautiful campus was where
it ended. The facts and figures I gave were based on the Freshman Class enrollment from Sept. 2017.
If ChazRink had bothered to checked further, it would have shown that the TOTAL enrolled for same
period had Instate students at 58.9%. While the 3 States referred to where even less…CA. at 9.5%,
IL at 3.0, TX at 2.7. Yes, their totals increased in 2017, but no where near 55% for all out of state, and
mainly CA and TX. Which CU Statistics show would equal 41.1% for all OOS.
I’m not contradicting myself, CU has a number of Wealthy CA. students with an attitude, as for TX. I
have no personal knowledge. (There is a party scene at CU and Frats are not part of the University.
This was all covered in earlier post). The campus does not allow marijuana, even if you are 21, it is
a “Smoke Free Campus.” Do they break the rules, yes! If you are caught, even the smell from a dorm
room. Can get you in trouble, tequiring classes and/or fines. Repeated offense involving others can
result in charges by COPD of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and/or get you kicked out of
school.
I took exception to ChazRink blowing his figures out of proportion. As well as, the misrepresentation of
Colorado Taxpayers burden. For CU it’s minuscule at 73 million for building and repair, compared with
a Total Budget of 1.69 Billion.
I hope this clarifies my position to all.
ChazRink…Congratulations on your son’s decision. My son was in a similar boat one year ago. He was accepted by CSU in a flash, but waited on CU for a long time. I think part of the reason for the delay is that CU has made the decision to decrease the number of students in the College of Applied Science and Engineering so that they can better serve them. Thus, they are being more selective, which takes longer.
When my son compared CU and CSU, for him, CU was the better choice. There were a few key factors for him. One of the primary considerations had to do with academics. While State has a strong engineering program, it did not have the recognition and rigor of CU. Also, he is majoring in Architectural Engineering, of which CU is considered one of the best in the nation (there are less than 20 accredited programs in the US). While CU has a party and ‘entitlement’ reputation, I don’t feel that it is representative of most engineering students. Only those that are serious about their studies are going to survive in engineering. It probably is more accurate in some of the other colleges on campus. Yes, CU does have a lot of OOS students, but that helps to keep costs for in-state students lower. The other key deciding factor was that intangible - fit. He never quite felt at home on the CSU campus, but did at CU.
I wish your son the best at CSU. My son has a ton of friends up there, and they love it.
wow, I take exception to OP’s statement. CU Boulder outranks CSU in mid-career earnings and nearly every undergraduate ranking. In fact, CU Boulder is 39th for public colleges and CSU is 58th. Moreover, CU Boulder is 30th in engineering and CSU is 70th+. CU Boulder also has a way better business school by many metrics.
CU Boulder is drawing students who would otherwise go to Berkeley, UCLA, USC or UT and other elite schools. CU and CSU largely compete for entirely different caliber students.
I wouldn’t consider Berkeley, UCLA, USC, CU, etc… as elite schools. Many professors at these schools, while quite competent, often teach Liberal opinion verses fact. The situation has worsened over the past 10 years. The Liberal Fallacy sweeping across this country in our far-left Universities results in them turning out more and more students with a jaded Anti-America foundation which over time will undermine our society or lead to something even worse.
Some interesting facts here: 4 year Engineering Degree (in-state) at CU is $ 124,784 (tuition/board), at CSU the in-state cost is $109,200 (tuition/board). A difference of $15,584 more to attend CU for 4 years. Now looking at salaries for new Mechanical Engineering Graduates from both institutions, CU = $61,200 and CSU = $60,000. The ROI of attending CSU appears to be much better than CU. Also, most students need the 5th year at both colleges so the ROI would only increase for the CSU grad. Source: http://engineering-schools.startclass.com/l/175/Colorado-State-University
@UTSquared, the first and foremost difference in the student body (cohort). Interesting that this thread started exactly on this subject. Everyone at a top private brings something to the table (and some are just flat out remarkable and sometimes students may not think they belong with those so accomplished, but that is another thread), but the more important thing is that they all value a top notch education. They share that in common, not true at publics just due to the sheer size of the class. The amount of opportunities is not even comparable to publics. Two of my DD attending CU (engineering and finance) had internships that they literally had to go out and find themselves and only after their sophomore year. At UCHicago my other DD had multiple offers of internships after only 1 QUARTER there. The college will also offer to pay for internships through the Metcalf internship. so if you find something you really want to do but the organization cant pay you the college will. Don’t know of any public unis that do that. I felt like I was the guidance counselor for both my older DD at CU, not the case at UCHicago at all. The mandatory meetings at CU were superficial at best vs the in depth counseling my younger daughter gets at UChicago. This is just a few of the major differences and there is a ton of smaller differences that add up. @ChazRink is typical in that he equated all graduates of both privates and publics as equally proficient, and in some cases that is true. However the opportunities at a private college far outweigh those at a public university and those that take advantage of them are probably not going to work for @ChazRink. In no way does this mean that someone graduating from a public university can’t go on and do great things, as well as someone graduating from a top private really not do anything, its all about opportunity.
I still love my alma mater and think its a fantastic school but it has financial realities it has to deal with as a public university.
@CU123 Thanks for the detailed reply. That’s consistent from what I’ve heard from others with regard to the guidance counseling and placement advantages from a private school. The alumni networks that privates have seem to be better established for job opportunities, and they can give more personal attention to the individual students, if nothing else just due to the smaller enrollment than most Big State U’s. Of course, if the private school COA is going to be $20k+ more a year than the Big State U, that’s probably going to make the decision for us. That cost differential may also be the case with CU vs. a couple of other flagship state universities to which she has already been accepted, but we’ll see what we can get from CU, assuming she gets in. Thanks again.
My son is considering CU engineering, and the private vs. public issue regarding internships and jobs is really not a concern for me. I have another son attending a private that has a great alumni network, as well as on campus recruiting, but he still had to hustle to get the internships and jobs he wanted. Perhaps CU123’s daughter had an easier time because she is female in STEM? I don’t know, but I do know other students attending top private universities, and they have all had to work hard to find quality internships.
Privates do offer some advantages, but I don’t think you say that the benefits are always worth the extra cost if that is a concern. Also, we just went to a CU event in Los Angeles, and the impression I got was that the university is trying to emulate the alumni networking of privates, as well as raise their national profile.
@stardustmom I will say that the Leeds school of Business does a far better job with internships and alumni networking than the college of engineering.
The average CU Boulder graduate will make $90,000- $100,000 mid career while CSU graduates net less than $79k.
CSU: https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2015/04/29/colorado-state-graduates-salaries/26605955/
CU123 You’ll be happy to know, things have improved considerably at your alma mater. Our experience
has been, 2 experiments freshman year, one near space and the other a concept experiment thru LSU
to 120,000 ft. sent up last Sept. - both ideas successful.
On CU Campus, had Lab Manager Job for Special Projects 1st semester, 2nd year.
Job Fair, 1st semester Soph. term…2 job offers for Summer Internship OOS -
1 accepted with Security Clearance included.
There is a lot of interest by Professors to help their students. They fill out needed forms, LOR, including
Private Scholarships, and refer employers to students that fit their needs. If anyone needs an incentive
to achieve, this should be it! Hard work pays off!
Had 4 AP’s, with 5’s in STEMS, transferred none. Did all 4 at CU, freshman year. After coaching by 2 Prof.
applied for APPM minor, since only 3 more courses required.
liberalarts2018, Thanks for the link to the CU PDF you provided. It doesn’t look like you bothered to do the math, but I did :-). After calculating the number of degrees at their respective Median Mid-Career Salary for the data set listed in the PDF provided by CU, the Median Mid-Career Salary for a CU grad is $77,092. Not even close to what you stated (90-100k).
As for CSU, the Median Mid-Career Average Salary is $90,327. Source of Data is below: https://www.payscale.com/research/US/School=Colorado_State_University_(CSU)/Salary/by_Degree#by_Years_Experience
Frankly I tend not to believe any of these, however I imagine the two schools are comparable. Major is going to determine mid career salary more than anything else. There is also a wide discrepancy between these data sources which means who knows what they were basing it on. CU and CSU definitely have a different feel to them, so whatever your more comfortable with is the school you should attend.