Looks like West Virginia U might be cutting its world languages department:
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Thank you. Good to know. I have heard of several mid to small size universities cutting German language. 
Iām not sure how small you mean when you say that youāre looking for smaller schools (than U. of Wisconsin). So some schools are small with around 2k undergrads, others are mid-size with about 4-8k undergrads, and then some are larger but not necessarily huge (except for U. of Minnesota). Below are schools that might your family might want to look into. When the links and more detailed descriptions stop, itās due to my fatigue and not the worthiness of the later schools.
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Augustana (IL): This school of about 2300 undergrads is in the Quad Cities area where Illinois and Iowa meet. It has two different study abroad programs in Germany that allow the full use of all financial aid from Augustana. It offers a German Studies major and offers a concentration in international business within its business administration degree as well as a separate major in international business. The school offers generous merit aidā¦perhaps enough to get to your price point.
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Bowling Green State (OH): About 14k undergrads. Offers a major in German with study abroad options in Salzburg, Austria but also in Germany. In the business school students can do a concentration in supply chain or in international business.
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Butler (IN): This school of about 4400 undergrads is in Indianapolis. It offers several study abroad programs in Germany, a major in German, and several different business majors, including international business.
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Creighton (NE): This Jesuit school in Omaha has about 4300 undergrads. It has two Creighton-In Germany programs, a general one and one focused on business. It offers a major in German Studies as well as several business degrees, including one in international business. There are competitive scholarships here, including up to a full ride.
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Grand Valley State (MI): This school of about 19k undergrads offers majors in German and supply chain management, and has related study abroad opportunities.
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Marquette (WI): This Jesuit school of about 7500 in Milwaukee offers majors in German, operations & supply chain management (that advertises that U.S. News ranked it as the 16th best such undergrad program in the U.S.), and international business. It even has its own office for business majors wanting to study or intern abroad (in addition to the one for non-business majors).
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Moravian (PA ): This school of about 1900 undergrads offers majors in both German and German Studies, and students can even get credit for an internship in the foreign language. There is an exchange program in Germany as well. There are majors in supply chain management and in international management, too.
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Getting tired, but some other schools you may want to consider include:
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Rhodes (TN): About 2k undergrads
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Saint Louis (MO): About 11k undergrads
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U. of Arkansas: About 26k undergrads, offers all the desired majors, and gives very generous merit aid.
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U. of Cincinnati (OH): About 30k undergrads, and there is a strong co-op culture here, in case that interests your D.
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U. of Dayton (OH): About 8400 undergrads
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U. of Minnesota ā Twin Cities: About 39k undergrads and I believe thereās a tuition reciprocity agreement with Wisconsin, so this should be similarly within budget.
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U. of Nebraska ā Lincoln: About 19k undergrads
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U. of North Carolina ā Charlotte: About 23k undergrads and German is a more popular major here than at about any other college I was looking at.
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U. of Rhode Island: Seconding this school of about 15k undergrads
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U. of St. Thomas (MN): About 5900 undergrads
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I know. And not only German. Very sad.
I sent you a pm.
Thank you for this long thoughtful list. All of these look like schools where she would get easily admitted and with great potential.
Is there any German/business/supply chain school that would be more of a reach/prestige that would be worth researching?
Trying to have a list with some reaches, safety and targets.
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In general, the more selective the school, the lower the merit. My kids needed merit to go OOS, so pretty much applied to safeties/matches. My daughters had a 3.9+, 33/34 act, 7/9 APās. I have no idea about German, but UDel, UMASS Amherst, and UCONN came in under $40,000, SUNY Bing anc Saint joes came in a little under $30,000.
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A school that is a reach or that has āprestigeā will be less likely to give merit (merit might not exist or will be difficult). You may want to run the NPCs for these schools to see if you might qualify for FA (you mentioned that possibility).
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You might want to consider St. Olaf, in Northfield MN. Has a German major and three different study abroad programs in Germany. Has a German choir (itās big choral music school). Beautiful school in quaint college town (Northfield, MN) about 40 miles south of the Twin Cities. Doesnāt have a business major, but has a Management Studies minor. Itās tuition starts a bit lower than some good private schools, and they give out great merit aid. Would probably come in under $50k even with no need based aid. Itās a larger small LAC (about 3000 students). Plus Carleton College is also in Northfield, and I believe students can take classes at Carleton as well.
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Getting significant merit means that the student is among the most desirable in the collegeās view. At a reach college, even if the student is admitted, this is much less likely.
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Honestly - the reach/target/safety thing is sort of - overplayed.
What you need are good safeties. Thatās it.
For example, IU is one of the best language and best business schools in the country and for her itās a safety. Itās the school that kids who apply to Penn, Cornell, etc. use as their just in case.
In the case of supply chain, for example, your top 3 have always been - since I was in grad school - ASU and MIchigan State #1-2 no matter how you rank and UTK #3. Today they rank MIT #4, Penn State (not worth an app based on budget #5) and Ohio State #6 (worth an app) with Michigan #7 (no), Penn #8 (no - unless you have demonstrated need), and Georgia Tech (no) and Arkansas (yes but itās not in your geography) - tied for 10th.
In the situation you bring up - Penn, Michigan, MIT, GA Tech, etc. are reaches. But they are also - a) unaffordable and b) while they are leaders in the field, they are not the leaders and never have been. When I graduated ASU in 1989 with my MBA, they had more companies recruit for supply chain than students - in multiples. I got an offer from Fed Ex - and I had just a single elective.
So you have the best of both worlds with safeties. No one needs reaches - they just think they do because they hunt ānamesā.
But you have you safeties that are unreal for business in supply chain (if youād open your geographical palate a bit) - and if you want to tie it to German, there are great language schools like IU. And then Iāve showed you a few regional ties in to German businesses although you didnāt click on the Alabama one (itās dirt cheap for your student, Iāll say that).
In your case, there really is no need for reaches - because those reaches arenāt going to get you to budget.
I mean, if you want to spend $50K (which is a big difference from $30K) - then you can add a UMD as a high target, maybe low reach) but you will be over a tad, a Rochester (high match) that doesnāt have a supply chain specialty in business that i see and would be hard pressed to get enough merit to make it $50K. Case Western has both - but would be tough to get to $50K but itād be a match/reach depending on interest shown. UF is a high match/low reach but itās not in your geography. Itās under $50K. Lehigh has a German minor and a Supply Chain major - but $50K - nope - unless you have need. Itās a match. Purdue a likely - has a German certificate and a well respected operations/supply chain program and costs less than IU.
But frankly - you donāt need reaches.
Your student earned you the chance to save by being an academic stud.
Youāve now been given smaller schools - a Charleston (10K), URI, Miami, Nebraska and @AustenNut gave you a few more.
But your top schools in supply chain arenāt your āreachesā and Iām not sure top matters for that major - which has long been super hot. I think kids get hired from anywhere.
But frankly, you need a safety - and if you really wanted to but you have to be open geographically, you could potentially cut that $50K in half.
Take it from a full pay dad who set a $50K budget and isnāt even spending that between two kids - your kids can do just fine - if they have the grit and persistence to make it happen. My turned down a top engineering school with merit for Alabama (wanted his own dorm room) and couldnāt get his phone to stop ringing for interviews in the Fall and is in a work cohort with kids from the same school he turned down. And my kid at Charleston interned for our state (Tennessee this summer) and is in the DC program in the fall and is going to work for one of the leading think tanks). And she chose it over 16 other acceptances and this school ranked 16 of the 17 she got intoā¦she just loved the city.
So you donāt need reaches - you need to hit your goals - and the first goal is financial - and youāve got lots of chances to achieve or even crush that goal.
And you can thank your daughter for allowing that to happen!!!
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I love it - St. Joes - smaller school and has supply chain + a German minor. My neighbor doctor who works or worked for Vanderbilt went there and speaks of it with reverence, more than his Vandy medical experience.
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It looks like Rutgers NB has a major in supply chain management as well as German. Itās a huge school (might be too big) but if she makes honors (not sure) it would feel smaller.
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Rutgers honors college is pretty competitive.
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Thatās what I thoughtā¦.
But it does have the majors so it might be worth investigating
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So many great ideas on this thread. We have many more options to consider and NPC to run.
Seems like the midwest Big10 schools fit the part, but she really enjoys her relationships with teachers and I worry that she would get lost in a crowd.
thank you to everyone!
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My daughter attended a public flagship and still maintains strong relationships with her professors.
Big does not have to mean impersonal or getting lost in the crowd, but I do know that some prefer smaller schools.
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URI has been mentioned and seconded above, but I wanted to highlight their dual-degree international programs:
They also have an International Engineering Program with the same structure, and Industrial & Systems Engineering is one of the eight engineering majors that can be combined with German. If she would be up for the heavier STEM load, this would also be a great way into an international business career.
Students in these programs get great internships in Germany, and many are hired by those companies after graduation. https://www.uri.edu/news/2016/12/bmw-brings-cars-excitement-to-uri-engineering-and-business-students/ URI is also particularly strong in foreign languages. Itās a relatively smaller flagship (<14K undergraduates) and seems to have great student quality of life. It should be a safety acceptance-wise, so hopefully getting enough merit is a reasonable possibility.
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My son had very similar criteria (stats, small budget, and wanting to study German including abroad), but was looking for engineering. We found this E3 program to be quite intriguing. There are several US and German institutions that participate. While itās engineering-focused, I noticed that they do some other disciplines as well. There might be enough overlap between management and supply chain with industrial engineering that this could be a helpful resource.
https://globale3.studioabroad.com/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ListAll
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James Madison University (JMU) might be worth looking into. OOS tuition, fees, room, and board is currently approximately 44K but with potential scholarships ā Freshman Scholarships & Financial Aid - JMU ā CoB Fifty to Infinity Scholarship - JMU ā it could possibly get closer to the 30-35K.
JMU has an International Business Major ā College of Business - International Business - JMU ā with study abroad opportunities in Germany ā Study Abroad: International Business - JMU ā and German Business ā Program: Business German Minor - James Madison University - Acalog ACMSā¢ ā and Global Supply Chain Management ā Program: Global Supply Chain Management Minor - James Madison University - Acalog ACMSā¢
JMU does not have a huge number of scholarships to offer, but if the programs are of interest it could be worth looking into. The undergraduate student size is just over 20,000 ā About JMU - JMU
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For a reach, look at WashU in St Louis. They offer supply chain in the business school, and German in the school of Arts and Science. She could choose either as her primary major and the other as secondary major or as a minor. My kid is a student here and was accepted RD with ACT 34 and UW GPA 3.97. Run the NPC - they have been exceedingly generous with financial aid, but also offer a few merit options. They offer ED1 and ED2 and your daughter would have a very good shot if she applied ED2 if the NPC showed it within budget.
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