Just wanted to field the opinions from this forum. I’ve browsed the site before and it has definitely been a great help in the college search process, but I made an account to ask this question; that question being just what it says in the title.
I was lucky enough to be accepted to Duke, which is an amazing blessing considering that acceptances have been sadly scarce for me. I suppose I overestimated and made too many reaches, but that’s another problem entirely. Besides Honors Programs within state schools–I live in Florida–Duke is my only other option. My financial aid package will cover all but $20,000 a year. I would need to come up with this myself, as my parents have already informed me that they will not be providing assistance and have not saved anything for my education.
I plan on majoring in Computer Science, but as I’ve read, that may indeed change. A Duke education and experience would be life-changing, I know, but what I’m asking is would it be worth the near six-figure debt I would incur would I could instead attend any of the Florida institutions on full rides thanks to the Benacquisto Scholarship.
Duke provides the opportunity to be shaped by interaction with exceptional students and professors in an academically and socially rich environment. The Duke reputation also helps open the door to opportunities that might otherwise not be available (In the WSJ 2018 College Rankings Duke was ranked #1 in outcomes (tied with Harvard)). Given the expected lifetime earnings of a prospective Duke graduate, the $80,000 is relatively insignificant, particularly for someone likely to pursue a CS degree. As an aside, if you decide to change your career objectives while at Duke, as many students do, Duke’s broad strength will enable that to happen relatively easily and facilitate your going on to an arena that you may find better suits your passions.
No it’s not worth 80k for a bachelors degree. Computer science is a field that’s highly employable, so it really won’t matter where you graduate. The industry is driven almost entirely by experience. If you have a full ride, then go for the money. In the long run, that debt won’t help you at all, especially if you decide to get married and have a family. Life won’t stop because of loan payments.
@coolguy40, most students change direction in college as they explore alternatives and refine their interests and passions. Of the alternatives presented, Duke is the one that provides the flexibility to pursue whatever the OPs eventual interests. Even if the OP pursues a CS major, the exposure to a broader and more sophisticated intellectual environment will help him/her in the longer term as technical skills become less important and understanding trends and context become more important. It would be unfortunate to forego a potentially life changing experience for a relatively small sum.
@am61517 Many students have a life changing experience without the "sophisticated intellectual environment " of a school like Duke, especially when it comes with $80,000 in debt. Your kids are having a great time at Duke. Are you cosigning $80,000 in debt for each of them?
^ The big issue is not major, but career choice. For example, you can become a consultant or investment banking/investment analyst at a top tier firm as an English Lit. (or other humanities) major from Duke with a starting total annual comp (including bonuses) of well in excess of $100,000 per year. Alternatively you can become a school teacher with a CS degree and might have difficulty repaying loans. Unfortunately, only from an elite college do you, realistically, have the flexibility to choose from a broad spectrum of alternatives including the more difficult to attain alternatives such as top tier consulting or investment banking/investment if it becomes your career objective (not that I am suggesting this path is appropriate).
All of the above said, agree that you should speak with the Financial Aid office regarding alternative funding strategies.
Duke is a great college but I would never take out that level of debt for an undergraduate degree. First as noted above, the amount a student can take out is limited. And even if your parents would co-sign for that amount of debt, graduating with $80,000 or so in student loans would handcuff your life decisions for 20+ years after graduation. The hundreds of dollars of debt payments you would have to make monthly to cover the payments of your undergraduate loans would interfere with every adult decision you make – it would mean you probably couldn’t take that amazing job at a start-up for less pay, get that new car, take a nice vacation, get the home you want etc. You have an excellent and affordable option in UF – I’d suggest you go there and live your adult life without the burden of huge undergraduate debt.
@TomSrOfBoston, We have been blessed to the degree that my children have not needed financial aid or loans. That said, I was raised by a mother of modest means and needed to take out very substantial loans (equivalent to $80,000+ in today’s dollars) to attend a Top 3 LAC which then enabled me to attend HBS and enjoy a very diverse and fulfilling career. What I was exposed to at Swarthmore catalyzed what followed, and it is extremely unlikely to have happened if I had attended the alternative, my state flagship. I have seen the difference an elite education makes in my own life and in the lives of others, which is why I hate to see those who have the opportunity discard it for sums which are likely to eventually seem relatively insignificant.
In answer to your question, given what I know of the difference attending an elite school makes, if I had limited means, and knowing my children’s character, I would very happily co-sign loans of $80,000+ to help them lay the strongest possible foundation on which to build a fulfilling life.
Find out what Duke CS grads earn in their first year & the next few years. CS salaries should be higher than the average Duke grad’s first year salary.
Do you want to be paying student loans of $80,000 plus interest for 10 years or more ?
Although not directly on point for a Duke CS graduate, here are the median annual earnings 10 years AFTER ENROLLING for the top ten US News National Universities graduates:
MIT $94,200
Harvard $90,900
Stanford $85,700
Yale $83,200
Penn $82,400
Princeton $80,500
Columbia $78,200
Duke $77,900
Caltech $74,200
Chicago $65,500
So with MIT at the top & Caltech next to last, maybe a Duke CS grad would be somewhere in that range of $74,200 to $94,200 six years after graduating duke with a BS or BA degree.
Next, determine what a University of Florida CS graduate earns during his or her first several years of employment.
Thank you for the input everyone. It has given both me and my family a great deal to consider. Regarding appealing the Financial Aid office, how should I go about explaining the situation? What are the odds it will actually change my offer?
Here’s a list of some of the CEO in Tech Industry who went good schools but not the Top ten universities listed above.
But they all went to one of the top 10 universities for graduate school. I think grad school is a better investment.
Satya Nadella — Microsoft CEO
Manipal Institute of Technology (B.S.), India
Sundar Pichai — Google CEO
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Sergey Brin — Alphabet president, Google cofounder
University of Maryland
Brian Chesky — Airbnb CEO
Rhode Island School of Design
Logan Green — Lyft CEO
UC Santa Barbara
Larry Page, Co-founder and CEO
University of Michigan
Mark Parker, President and CEO: Nike
B.S. in Political Science from Penn State University.
Howard Shultz, Executive Chairman Star Bucks
Northern Michigan University.
Virginia (Ginni) Rometty – CEO, IBM
Northwestern University,
Jack Dorsey – CEO, Twitter
Undergrad: New York University (dropped out)
Also, consider that it is uncertain as to how long the tech boom will last. Of course, a reasonable counter to that would be: That a Duke degree is forever. And that is a good point. Duke has Wall Street Ivy League prestige–which translates to opportunity in the financial & consulting sectors.
No student loan debt plus $80,000 plus interest will go a long way in paying for a graduate degree.
@doneinamonth, And Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison all dropped out of college. Does that mean dropping out is the correct path to becoming a tech billionaire? Looking at anecdotal evidence which are outliers on the bell curve is what the media and politicians do to try and prove falsehoods. That said, do you know how competitive it is to get into the two Technology Institutes in India that are on your list? In an Indian context they are elite universities. U. Michigan is a top 2 US Public and along with Northwestern qualifies as an elite university. Finally, Sergey Brin went to U. Maryland because his father was a professor there.
Now let’s look at the most readily available statistics. In the U.S. 44.8% of billionaires, 85.2% of powerful men and 55.9% of powerful women attended elite colleges. Not bad considering that only a very small percentage of the population attends those elite colleges.
@am61517: “We have been blessed to the degree that my children have not needed financial aid or loans.”
You are indeed incredibly lucky, and thus have no idea what $80K debt means for a 22 year-old young person. That is an albatross that will follow them for years. Your thinking that this is no big deal is wrong.
OP, don’t take on that debt. Your late 20s - and 30s and 40s - self will thank your teenager self for not doing that to you.
The OP’s situation is very different than the two situations you noted. Duke is offering $40k a year in financial aid scholarship money. That is quite significant. They have assessed that the OP’s parents can afford $20k/year based on their income or assets, so they must make/have something decent. Simply saying “my parents will not be providing assistance” is not something you can go to Duke with, as they expect parents to contribute about 5.6% of their assets/year towards education (at least that’s the CSS profile calculation I believe). So, parents with the ABILITY to contribute 1/3 of the total cost are CHOOSING not to contribute to their child’s educational expenses – of course, that doesn’t change the OP’s predicament, but it’s a parental decision it sounds like.
Unless they made a mis-calculation or something was reported to them incorrectly, not very good chance they’ll change it. Again, they don’t consider “my parents refuse to contribute anything towards my education” as part of their calculation.
Not trying to come across as harsh, but just trying to convey reality. Good luck with your decision. Hard to say “it’s worth it” or not in a vacuum - would have to understand the other options available.