S accepted to engineering (mechanical) at Cornell (Ithaca, $49k yearly cost of attendance after financial aid) and University of Florida (Gainesville, $14k yearly cost of attendance, in-state, after scholarship). Trying to find data and empirical evidence (besides town, rankings and subjective opinions) to better analyze the choice and determine if Cornell is worth the difference in price. Money is an issue obviously and Cornell would imply debt. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Go to UF. That is a great deal for ME. It won’t matter for ME between the two. He can always go to a fancy school for grad school and hopefully that will be fully funded. You can treat DS to a summer or two abroad. Ithaca is a very cold place anyway. @miami1
For engineering, it won’t matter too much. For opportunities outside of engineering, it could, but yes, if he kills it at UF, he will have good grad school options and it may cost less than the cost differential to pick up an elite grad degree.
^Really he doesn’t even NEED to go to grad school. Just make sure he lines up internships. They don’t care where your went for ME.
@gearmom, as I mentioned, if he stays in engineering, it probably won’t matter much, but Cornell would offer better opportunities in other fields (like consulting/finance), and if he wants good opportunities in those fields, he probably needs an elite grad degree if he goes to UF.
I have my son at UF as a freshman (engineering), he love it, he es really happy.
If your son choose UF, I really suggest to apply to STEPUP program for summer B, it’s a great program for engineering students, he will have a family, just a small group of 30 students are admitted.
Hope this helps.
Data and empirical evidence? Did someone ask for Data? I love Data. 
The following link takes you to UF graduation survey results.
https://www.crc.ufl.edu/student-outcomes/
You can sort the results by ME (or any major). Keep in mind that this is based 100% based on a survey that’s taken before graduation. Other graduation survey’s take place months after graduation, or use other sources of information, like LinkedIn.
There is conflicting information out there on this question. There are many studies that indicate that an elite degree brings in more long term money. There are others that say it is not so. There are also different angles to the discussion: earning potential vs happiness vs shoulder rubbing vs whatever
Earning potential:
It is definitely true that an average graduate from a highly selective college earns more than an average graduate from a less elite school. Many articles you find online will find that. However, the average student that got to go to a highly selective college is stronger to begin with. The studies that attempt to adjust for that difference in strength of average student generally find a very small difference, if any.
For engineering in particular, the difference likely does not exist. E.g., google for a WSJ article with the name, “Do Elite Colleges Lead to Higher Salaries? Only for Some Professions”. There, they say, “Specifically, for business and other liberal-arts majors, the prestige of the school has a major impact on future earnings expectations. But for fields like science, technology, engineering and math, it largely doesn’t matter whether students go to a prestigious, expensive school or a low-priced one—expected earnings turn out the same. So, families may be wasting money by chasing an expensive diploma in those fields.”
Happiness:
It is hard to imagine that time at a more cut throat institution would bring more happiness. Though, there is not much data to back this up. Anecdotally, I think there have been articles on higher stress levels and suicide rates among students at more elite colleges. But that could also be a result of journalists chasing more sensational sounding stories.
With respect to long term happiness, there isn’t much out there either. I found this WSJ article, “Elite Colleges Don’t Buy Happiness for Graduates” that comments on Gallup poll on the subject.
I’ve known some very happy people who went to the most selective schools, so, your mileage may vary.
Shoulder rubbing:
Who you know and who your friends know will always matter in life. Having a more elite name on your resume will get you more interviews (once at the interview, you are basically on the same footing as others, but getting to one is easier). There is an interesting article with respect to who one is more likely to marry based on ones college choice in Forbes. Google, “Marital choices are exacerbating household income inequality”. So, one way to look at it is, it may not matter which school your DS chooses for his long term income. But it does matter, on average, with respect to future income of his future spouse.
(My two cents worth. If your DS is the grad school type, and can stand out at UF, I’d say UF. Else, I think it is a much harder decision. Though, if cost and debt vs future income is the main concern, again, it is UF.)
Best of luck deciding!!!
Fun fact, UF’s current President (Dr.Fuchs) previous spent six years as provost of Cornell University.
The ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) keeps updated online profiles on engineering programs. You can compare UF’s profile to Cornell’s.