I’ve just gotten my college acceptances and I’m very conflicted. I can go to BU at a cost of 20k per year and graduate with 35k in debt or I can go to Florida State University at about 15k per year (maybe less) and graduate with minimal debt. I love BU but I want to be careful. I’m majoring in Finance so I worry if FSU’s lower ranking is going to hurt me in the job market if I do decide to go there. I want to eventually live in a big city like Boston, so I worry that my degree won’t be “prestigious enough” because FSU has a certain reputation.
In your experience, is the debt worth it?
I don’t recall BU’s undergrad b school ranking offhand – can you remind me?
My gut instinct – it won’t make that much of a difference to your career to go to BU vs. FSU. BU’s recruiting is probably stronger in the north, but I feel like if you went to FSU and did well – you could pick up a consulting job with one of the Big 4 consulting groups at least in the Orlando or Miami offices, get a few years of experience and then move up north to a similar job in a different location or a different job altogether. Being successful out of undergrad b school is ALL about having internships throughout school – getting summer internships with substantive experience may actually be easier down in Fla. than in Boston simply bc Boston is a very tough market due to Harvard students being right there. Who knows – if you have 2-3 substantive internships under your belt from your summers at FSU, you may directly be able to end up in a big city without having to do 1-3 yrs of consulting after graduation first.
I’m a student, not a parent, but I will throw in my feedback. I am currently a Junior at college.
If this gives you any idea how I am with money: My freshman year, the thing that stressed me out the most (not homesickness, illness, grades, classes, etc) was student debt. I freak out about money, I really do, but I have gotten a little better.
The sticker price at my small liberal arts college is about $55,000 for room, board, tuition, and fees. With scholarship, that is SIGNIFICANTLY less. One good piece of advice I got was that if your debt is about what you’d make your first year out of college/in an entry level position in your field, you will be o.k.
From what it sounds like, either option would be viable for you with a career in finance.
As far as school ranking and the job market goes, I have found that school ranking only does so much (and only if it is really elite or the employer is an alumni). If your GPA is good, you are involved on campus (accumulate leadership, service experience, network), and graduate with some internship experience, you will be fine no matter where you go.
So, to make a long story short, I’d go with whatever school you think you’d be most successful attending. Look at the professors, the campus environment, where grads end up (employed in their field? grad school? unemployed? underemployed? etc), and how well you’d be able to perform there.
It is a lot more expensive to live in Boston than Tallahassee,and from your home, probably to travel to Boston. I’d go for the minimal debt.
Are you saying FSU costs 15k and BU costs 20K? That is 5K per year difference. How does 5K per year for 4 years equal 35K in debt? It equals 20K difference so FSU would be 15K of debt? I am just trying to get the math straight.
The over-arching question is one that gets asked several times a day on CC- how do you put a value on prestige? You can read pages of threads on it and never get a definitive answer.
@cecil95 brings up another good question- how do you put a price on peace of mind?
One other nice thing about the less expensive school is that it allows you the ability to afford things like study abroad or living expenses in a big city during internships.
$35K isn’t a lot of debt, but the difference in prestige between BU and FSU isn’t huge either.
FSU costs about $15000 (I think a little more) for a resident for the year. Then you start subtracting grants and scholarships. what he’s saved, and this student thinks he can get the number down to a very small amount OOP each year and no borrowing.
BU, as we all know, costs $60k+, so I took it to mean he’d get enough to be left paying ~$20k/yr, that he has some savings, and that in the end it will be $35k borrowed.
The federal loans are $5,500 freshman year, $6,500 sophomore year, $7,500 junior year, and $7,500 senior year. The OP can’t borrow $35K without a co-signer for the difference. So unless the OP’s parents are up for that, BU is out.
To clarify: BU’s FA package includes $8500 in loans (Perkins and stafford unsubsidized and subsidized) and would leave us paying $20k out of pocket. We would pay the extra 5k each year out of pocket and the debt would come from the loans.
FSU gave me a small scholarship that puts the cost down to about 15k (including room and meal plan). I haven’t gotten a FA package from them yet so I don’t know about grants but I assume it will be at least a little cheaper after those.
Anyway, thanks for all the advice! I’m going to do a little more research but I think that if I can do well with a degree from either school then it just makes sense to go to FSU.
If you qualify for Perkins, it might be a good idea to keep debt to a minimum.
For FSU you should also get Bright Futures and a state need based grant.
I’m actually an OOS student that got a tuition waiver, so I’ll be paying in state tuition but won’t get bright futures.
And @jym626 what’s special about Perkins?
Its for students with exceptional financial need.
Daughter took out a $50K loan for grad school (we cosigned.) She had no debt from undergrad. Does she enjoy paying off the debt? Nope. Would she have her current job without the grad degree? Nope.
Sometimes you have to invest in yourself. In her case, it’s paid off, though not without a price.
I also believe that undergrad debt is a whole other issue, one to which I say “no”.
Not all colleges and universities have Perkins money available, and generally it is reserved for the students with the lowest EFC. At lots of places, only students who also get a full Pell grant are eligible for Perkins money. This means that when we parents see Perkins loans in a package, we automatically think that the student comes from a low-income family that may not have the resources to help that student cover educational costs.
You said it much better than I did, happymomof1. Thanks. If a student qualifies for a Perkins, it generally indicates something about their financial status. Under those circumstances, taking on more debt would most likely be ill advised.
@happymomof1 - your explanation was very clear and informative, thanks
Agree completely, katlia, that funding grad school, if one isn’t fortunate enough to be in a field or situation that funds their grad education for them, is a better investment if its necessary for their professional career, and they can recoup the funds and pay off the loans in a short period of time. Large undergrad debt is hard to justify, especially if a student is considering grad/professional school or is picking a major or career path that may make it hard to gt out from under that debt. Starting out life after school with a large amount of debt is very stressful, can affect ones ability to qualify for rent, a car note, etc. It can be very stressful.
Well, I got very far from the full Pell Grant so idk why they gave me Perkins then. We could manage BU but my efc is is admittedly fairly low, so I am leaning towards FSU.
They gave you the Perkins because you met their own criteria for who gets that money. Each place sets its own policy about that. Not all of them restrict it to students who get a full Pell.