My son is trying to decide for Finance! He fell in love with Scranton campus, was accepted into Leadership Scholars Program at Salve, Marist is close to NYC and we are going to Fairfield on Friday (we toured with older brother in 2018 and were impressed, but he ultimately chose Bentley. The construction of Dolan that was going on back then is complete). Any insight into these four schools with regard to future internships/careers would be greatly appreciated.
I know it’s a biased/small sample, but in 35 years on the street, I’ve worked with a number of people from Fairfield, zero from the other 3.
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Simply for that field, I’d say Fairfield, then either Scranton or Marist.
Can you list the net cost, calculating
(tuition, fees, room, board) - (scholarship, grant) =?
for each, and listing below so we can evaluate value for money?
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He applied to 20 schools, was denied 2, waitlisted to 1 and whittled the remaining 17 down to these four due to vibe he got when he toured campus (did drive by of Fairfield, but will do accepted business student’s day on Friday). Out of pocket cost after merit awards:
Salve: $31,000
Scranton: $35,710
Marist: $45,810
Fairfield: $48,680
All are within our $50,000/yr budget.
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We have a couple of younger family members who did well at Fairfield (CPA, nursing and teaching). Seems to be fairly pre-professional. Not sure of the academics there but the job placement for them was pretty good. All came out with staggering student loans, however. I think their price tag is high in terms of college ranking/academics but probably fine in terms of ROI.
I have a co-worker who went to Fairfield, she’s from that area. She teaches high school history. She enjoyed her time there and thought it was worth it. That said, she had wealthy grandparents who paid for college and she could’ve gone to any school. Cost was not a factor.
The son of a college friend of mine went. He is from Long Island. He had some debt, but not a ton. It was enough debt where if he had gone to a public university debt-free, he would’ve had more discretionary income right out of school and so on. He loved his time there, but he said it probably wasn’t quite worth the debt. That said, he paid off his loans and is doing well.
As far as I know, our school hasn’t sent any graduates to Fairfield. It doesn’t seem like the kind of school one would come from across the country to attend. But I could be wrong.
I don’t know enough about the other schools to offer any feedback on them.
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Thank you!
Thanks for the detailed reply!
If Fairfield is within budget, then it’s a good investment for Finance (as long as he’s got good math skills, time management, and resilience). They are especially solid for business and their finance program places well, but isn’t easy so your child would have to commit to working hard, no partying during the week even in September and managing time well with one athletic activity (recreational 100% fine) and one other club, since leadership and fitness will also be expected.
If you want to save the money but still select a solid school, Scranton. Same skills required but students would be less competitive in spirit than at Fairfield. Same activities should be scheduled.
(The difference in cost between Marist and Fairfield makes Fairfield a better investment).
I recommend “The naked roommate” BTW, for your son to read through before leaving.
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Many catholic high schools do send students to catholic schools all over the country. They all have a lot of connections to the administration and the faculty. I know parents who require their kids to go to a catholic school, so the kids look for schools where they want to live, or play a sport, or just get as far away from mom and dad as possible.
One friend (from years ago) told me “Mom and dad required a catholic school. I required an 18 year old drinking age. Marquette it is!”
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Agree with this. Am on the east coast and see our local Catholic schools sending kids to Santa Clara as well as BC and Holy Cross.
Good point! Our school is private, but not Catholic, so that may be why we don’t send many, if any kids there. We do send kids to some Catholic schools though…