Financially Responsible to go OOS or Private?

Living in the state of Texas, I am planning to go to The University of Texas. Without touching on scores or chances of getting in, are there any schools that will have a better return on investment than going to UT in state? The cost after room and board is about 100k. My parents are willing to pay that, or 100k towards an OOS or private program as long as I am able to justify why I should go there.

Are there any schools out there in mechanical engineering that would be worth taking out 80-100k of student debt in the long run? For example, UT Austin vs Georgia Tech. Assuming I could not get a scholarship to go to either, does the fact that Georgia Tech has a better mechanical engineering program (2nd in country vs 10th) justify the 80k~ student debt I would have to take on.

Thanks! And if there are any schools that would actually make sense financially to go there instead, please let me know! For example if by going to Georgia Tech, the average starting salary would be 10k higher (hypothetically).

Thank y’all!

The average starting salary at GTech is higher, because GTech graduates proportionately more engineers.

With FA or merit scholarships, some privates or OOS publics could cost less than UT. But all that depends on your family’s income picture or the competitiveness of your status/profile.

No financial aid and I do not think I’m competitive enough to shave off 20k from major OOS tuitions. So you would say the average engineer from any college makes about the same amount? So whats the point of going to a better school? University of Alabama-Birmingham is pay 100% of my room and board and tuition, but their engineering program is ranked 137 compared to UT at like 10 and Tech at 4.

It is quite likely that UT will be your best option in the end, but it would be irresponsible not to apply to at least a couple other schools in case you aren’t admitted. Your other schools could be elsewhere in your state system or be schools where the net price calculator seems promising.

Employers don’t pay engineers more based on the school they graduated from. But employers do traditionally recruit from certain schools, often because the schools are nearby.

Ignore the USNWR overall college rankings. It has nothing to do with engineering. Tulane, for instance, is ranked #41, but it doesn’t even offer MechE.

So would I have similar job opportunities getting an undergrad from anywhere?

Having been married to an engineer for years and being around engineers (who work for large nationally known defense firms) for years I can say most of the IEs and MEs we know make roughly the same salary…within 10-15K. Of course they don’t talk about it in detail but they do hint. Some went to major state flagships (UT, A&M, Purdue) and some went to no name schools. All doing the same work at the same level for probably the same pay. When there are layoffs…they are all equally laid off, lol.

The ones who have pulled significantly ahead are the ones also with an MBA and Six Sigma certifications and they are now at the director level at major defense firms. I think it was the MBA and their quality work ethic that got them those positions and not the name on their undergrad degree.

UT has a fantastic engineering program that is highly regarded. If you get in and your parents can pay, then go there. The alumni connections are super strong, you will get a great education and you will have good job opportunities if you work hard and do well.

If you are trying to be fiscally conservative with your parents $$, then do consider the merit you could get at schools like UAB or UA. The STEM MBA program at UA has always sounded like a great deal…graduate with your engineering degree and MBA!

Go to an ABET accredited engineering program. Your salary will be based on your engineering degree,mand any relevant work experience. It won’t be based on the college you attend.

My husband graduated in engineering from a VERY low ranked university. He has worked alongside of grads from some very high powered schools…and his salary has never been less (he knows this because he is the company VP).

I wouldn’t go as far as saying “anywhere”.

The bottom line is that if the particular employer you’re interested isn’t visiting that school to recruit, then that makes it difficult for you to get your resume noticed.

If you want to go OOS and go to a highly ranked engineering school and maybe have a chance at merit then why not apply to schools like Purdue, Clemson, etc. and see how it all plays out? You could end up with enough merit to make it basically the same cost as UT.

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Are there any schools out there in mechanical engineering that would be worth taking out 80-100k of student debt in the long run? For example, UT Austin vs Georgia Tech.
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NO

2nd vs 10th

Lol…no!

I come from a family of engineers. Their undergrads range from bigger-name schools to CSUs. All of them have high incomes.

Companies do not pay you more based on school name.

You’d be foolish to take on big loans. You’d be very upset once you’re employed and found out that your fellow new-hires from much-lower ranked schools were being paid the same as you…and they didn’t have your debt. You’d become even further upset once you saw that they were able to buy homes and move on with their lives while you’d be burdened with big debt payments.

If you are wanting to spread your wings outside of UT or TAMU, depending on your stats, you may want to examine schools/programs where you would have great OOS merit for your stats.

Just as TAMU and UT are different campuses and have differences with city surrounding (TAMU being definitely all campus town), there are differences in places like UA, UAH, AU (Auburn not being as generous with the scholarships).

UAH gets placed nationally for ROI largely because the number of engineers graduating (and their accompanying salaries) and the cost of the education.

My DD loves her engineering program at UA and is loving the campus - currently is a junior.

Do apply to privates if they are a better fit and you are in their upper 75% for stats as you may be awarded merit aid to make it the same price as your instate public.

My DD turned down UT to go to UT Dallas for CS. It is turning down a school that was ranked 9th for a school that is ranked 70th. Other than that, there is no downside. UT Dallas is giving her a great merit scholarship, she is in both university honors as well as CS honors, there is flexibility for minors, and has huge potential for internships both in Dallas/Ft Worth or Austin. UT, now, is also limiting the number of CS classes students can take to 2 a semester with only exceptions for Seniors. I personally think her education will be as good or better. With the money we are saving, she is going to have a very nice graduation present!

You can’t borrow $100k, and if your parents will only pay whatever UT would cost you, which sounds like ~$25k/year, they’re extremely unlikely to cosign another $25k/year in loans. You need to find a school that will give you enough merit for your stats that it brings the cost down to your budget ($25k from parents + ~$5500 federal student loan + summer work earnings). At most, that seems like the net cost of your target schools needs to be ~$30-35k/year.

What is the matter with UT? It’s an excellent school.

There will be recruiting differences, in that many employers have neither the need nor resources to recruit everywhere for new graduates. For engineering, bigger employers do tend to recruit more widely, due to greater needs and resources, but smaller employers may recruit more locally/regionally and/or go to only a few distant schools to recruit.

However, it is not like UT Austin or Texas A&M are lacking in recruiting attractiveness, so paying $100,000 more for a different school is unlikely to gain you anything in terms of seeing more recruiting for engineering employment.

@thumper1, UT is an excellent school but too many families in Texas believe if you are an automatic acceptance to UT that of course you will get your major in engineering. They treat it as a safety and it is not. I know of many kids who were top 5%, over a 4.0 weighted average, high SAT/ACT scores, lots of ECs, had leadership but did not get accepted to engineering. It is always a shock to them and their parents. There are many discussions about I want to go to a high ranked school but will go to UT if I have to. That’s not the question, the question if whether you can get accepted to engineering at UT.

If your goal is engineering, then getting the certain acceptance into engineering is the key. I agree with @mom2collegekids, that Georgia Tech is not worth the OOS tuition. UT engineering is comparable to any engineering at any big public. You might consider applying to some OOS publics like Clemson or less elective flagships in case UT does not pan out. But if you get into UT for engineering, that seems your best economical bet. Some OOS will give merit but I doubt none would be a better school.

There are also private colleges like Lafayette in Pennsylvania where admission to the college insures you are in engineering.

ABET accreditation will ensure that the degree will meet the mark.

Some students excel better where they really enjoy the size of school, size of town it is in, etc. Also w/o financial stresses.

Do apply where you can enter engineering and also keep costs down. You can sort out after campus visits after acceptances.