I have a extremely hard decision to make in the next 3 days and its whether to accept my offer at UIUC for electrical engineering. When i got in i was overjoyed and was really happy, but now looking at the cost both my parents and i are nervous that this debt is WAY too much for me to handle. As a little background i live in new york and wads lucky enough to get into many different schools for engineering that cost a lot less ( queens college (not engineering but they have a 3-2 program with columbia), GWU, Stony Brook, and U Miami. I dont know if this is a bad idea but i really need advice so im going to say how much each of these cost so that hopefully some amazing sole can give me advice because right now, i’m a lost 17 year old who doesn’t want to live in debt for the rest of his life. onto the costs:
queens columbia program: (3 years at queens college (~3k a year which my parents will pay) and 2 years at columbia (estimated probably at ~60 with financial aid
GWU (~30k a year); U miami (~28k a year); Stony Brook (~20k a year)
with UIUC i got 0 in FA so its 50,502 and most of that will be loans so will end up being around ~29k a year for 10 years if its going to be that every year ( i know i can make money from dorming off campus in an apartment to getting internships but regardless this is of course still a lot). I know this is probably the wrong place to post this and i will probably also post this on college confidential but my main choice right now is definitely UIUC because of the great reputation and rigor that the school offers in engineering which will lead to a better job. so if you can’t answer my questions if you could tell me where to post this so people could.
Thanks!
It’s way too much to borrow.
I think you should attend Stony Brook for $20K/year. Save UIUC for graduate school where they pay you!
Oh good heavens! Even @classicrockerdad wouldn’t agree to that much debt (I hope! 
)
I don’t know what Stony’s eng’g is like, but I’m guessing that it’s more than adequate for your needs. However, Stony won’t be a good plan if your parents won’t be paying for most of that $20k per year. WHO will be paying for that?
The 3/2 plan doesn’t’ sound too bad, but are you saying that your aid pkg at Columbia will leave you with $60k of debt for those two years?? How does the 3/2 plan work? What do you end up with ?? Just a BS? or do you get a MS as well? If you’re getting a MS with that 3/2, then the debt is ok.
What if you change your major and don’t end up with an eng’g degree?
Please clarify how much your family will be paying. The only mention of parents paying is the $2k per year. What is your EFC? Is $2k per year the most your parents will pay???
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UIUC i got 0 in FA so its 50,502 and most of that will be loans so will end up being around ~29k a year for 10 years if its going to be that every year
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?? What are you saying here??
In your title you ask about borrowing $200k+
So, what is the $29k per year?
Are you saying that your parents will be paying $20k and you’ll be borrowing $30k per year?
Please write more clearly so we can understand your situation.
If your parents will pay $20k per year, then go to Stony.
UIUC is totally unaffordable…and unnecessary. Go to an ABET accredited instate university in NY, where you have instate costs.
This is a very easy decision. No way is this debt worth it.
@mom2collegekids sorry for the confusion. Basically my parents are willing to give me around $10,000 a year for college so i would only probably have to pay around 9 thousand a year at Stony brook and i will hopefully get summer internships to cover some of the cost. for UIUC with the loans my parents would still give me around 10 thousand a year but since its much more expensive I’m going to take out a much bigger loan with interest racking up. My parents and i did a quick calculation and figured i would be paying around $29,xxx a year for 10 years which comes out to around $290,000 owed. Granted UIUC is a top engineering school and i would probably make more from a starting salary plus summer jobs then at other schools but as many people seem to conclude it probably isn’t worth it. About the 3/2 columbia and queens engineering program i would be getting a BA from queens (most probably in physics) and a BS from columbia (not so relevant but probably in EE). about the loans for this program; Queens is ridiculously cheap for me (less than 3 thousands which my parents will gladly pay for) and for columbia we used the net price calculator to determine it would be around 35 thousand a year so after my parents give me 10 thousand a year this would come out to around 50 thousand + interest which will round out to 60 thousand. If their are any more questions you have please ask. Thanks to you and everyone else for answering me i appreciate it immensely.
@thumper1 do you mind explaining what an “ABET accredited instate university” is?
ABET is the accrediting body for engineering college programs. You want to attend a school with this accreditation.
Instate? That means pick a school where you are an instate resident…and costs are less.
See http://www.abet.org/accreditation/why-abet-accreditation-matters/
Also see Undergraduate Program | Bulletin | Columbia Engineering
Are your parents willing to cosign those loans for you? If not, then you can’t borrow $29,000 a year for 10 years.
(For reference – the average college student debt is about $30,000 over four years – not ‘each’ year but in total).
@4kidsdad Thanks for the links!
@DmitriR My parents are willing to cosign. I have seen the average before and obviously do realize that i would be taking out a TON of money
ABET is the essential accreditation that engineering schools need to be considered up to snuff. It means that all uni’s that offer eng. with that accreditation will have certain uniform standards.
That’s good then. It sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into this (you’d be surprised at the sheer number of people who post here who don’t think about any of this). You probably already can have an estimate on what the monthly payment will be on those loans; the issue with all that debt is that it can limit your future opportunities. Because it will suck up such a large percentage of your disposable income for years after graduating, you might have to make sacrifices in areas of your life that you value more. I think the advice already given is the best that you’re going to get; no one is going to recommend that you go with the $200K of debt option.
@DmitriR thank you. honestly i owe to to my older brother who did a cs degree at Queens College for 4 years and in the summer of his 3rd year (with the constant pushing to apply for internships from my dad) got a internship at boeing which led to the job he has been in for the past year and a half with a very good salary (he graduated last june). He now has no debt and is making a decent living in St. Louis while his friends are constantly complaining to him about his debt. When he heard i got into UIUC he was really happy for me because of the amount of recruiting opportunities i would have and the great education i would get ( Queens college gets few to zero recruits and doesn’t do engineering as background). when he saw how much i would have to take in loans he told me to stay as far away but to not go to a school like UIUC just killed me since it was a small reach but i guess it really makes the most sense to go to stony or my other options
Correct. As it is the OP will have to work during the summer and during school to afford Stonybrook.
I think you should go to Stony Brook to get started on the EE degree early. You won’t need to transfer. I think this is better because there has been much discussion about the 3/2 programs not panning out for many students and you don’t have time to investigate that. Yes a UIUC degree is valuable and you would have a wonderful placement but realize that a lot of starting salary is related to the location the job is in. I think SB.will give you pretty good opportunities. Also these salaries can even out by mid career where the student with the high debt is stuck paying off a house with no savings, while the other student owns the house and is putting money in the bank. Not to mention having to live like a students with no discretionary budget for some time.
Remember that as a student you can take this in loans each year 5,500–6,500-7,500—7,500. So the people on the line for all these borrowing are going to be your parents. Can they actually qualify each year to borrow that much? Can they make the payments until you can? What if something happens and you don’t make it through the program or get sick, yes it happens. When you graduate the payments will be around 1,500 a month and there isn’t the flexibility of a student loan.
As far as internships go, you should be able to get a good one after Jr year. But freshman will not, they don’t have much courses yet, either do sophomores, it may be possible for them but the fbig internship will just be the one time, I think.
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Granted UIUC is a top engineering school and i would probably make more from a starting salary
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No, you wont.
when you get your first job, you’ll see that your fellow new-hires will be paid the same as you…whether they went to UIUC, CSULB, a SUNY, or wherever.
Companies do not pay people more based on their schools.