Just got my financial aid and merit scholarship package today. My total net cost will be around 56k per year or 224k over 4 years. I plan to go to law school after receiving my bachelor’s degree. Is it worth it to spend 224k on a degree at Fordham with plans to earn a JD? Is Fordham worth the cost?
It is not for our family. It is entirely a personal decision. If you are going to have to take out loans to cover the cost,…probably not. Also depends on what your other offers are. What do your parents say?
Not if it means taking on debt.
Those numbers aren’t right 
What you need to do is have your parents fill out the financial aid application and see what your customized financial aid package offers after need-based grants are offered. I’m predicting that they’re still going to be astronomical but not quite as bad. Either way, if you’re going to study law, the bulk of your loans are going to come from law school and that amount can easily reach the 150k range. If you have a bachelors degree with the same amount of debt, it could sabotage your career. You might as well get a degree in CS and skip law school altogether, because you would be just as well off. In fact, lawyers don’t make much more than software engineers.
I’ll tell it straight. it’s not worth the cost unless your parents are going to pay for it. You managed to get a merit scholarship, which, I’m assuming, your grades and stats are excellent. Try to see if you can get a merit scholarship at a cheaper school. Auburn, Mississippi State and Ole Miss offer great out of state scholarships.
^^ He said this was after the combination of merit and financial aid. And unless he’s already applied to the schools you mention (none of which are vaguely similar to Fordham), then your final suggestion is not helpful.
OP, can your family afford 56K per year? If you didn’t spend that much, would they give you the difference toward law school? What other college options are you considering?
What other choices do you have ?
What’s the net cost there?
– To compare apples to apples, do
(Tuition, fees, room, board)-(scholarships, grants) =
Do your parents have 200k in a college fund for you?
Would you prefer to use that for is school?
My D facing the same situation - after awards COA at Fordham came out at $58K per year. We have other colleges like Pitt, Loyola Maryland, Rutgers, Saint Joseph’s (PA) coming back all closer to $40K or below after awards. Fordham is not even close to being competitive with their awards and their starting cost is much higher than these other colleges. Still have 6 other colleges in RD round so no final decision yet.
“Is it worth it to spend 224k on a degree at Fordham with plans to earn a JD?”
This might depend upon what other options you have and how much money you have in the bank. However, I think that this is almost certainly not worth it for more than 99% of the population.
If your parents do have $200k in a college fund for you, I would try to save most of it for law school.
Also, don’t forget the cost of additional opportunities. Does a year abroad with extra travel appeal to you? It will be more affordable at a cheaper school. If you can afford Fordham + Beijing airfare + law school without crushing debt, than go for it! If you can’t, then it isn’t worth it.