She is CS and Engineering everywhere but UCB. Top engineering schools admit to school, not to major.
We may have a similar decision to make next year (though likely not with as many great options), so I don’t have my answer yet. OP said, “For the sake of conversation let’s talk about middle class two income family that is not looking into taking any loans.” So, the question might come down to how much funding ~$60K per year out of savings and cash flow would cut into the parents’ budget, travel, and funds that would be put toward retirement.
Also, before committing to the big price tag, make sure that you are OK with the price tag with inflation. If you figure college costs are going up 3-5% a year (sustainable?), COA at a college that is $60K for 2015-16 may be $73K by 2019-20.
DH hires engineers frequently for his growing startup. He says that it is clear in interviews which engineers got their degrees from places with a hands-on culture. Those applicants talk about the many projects they’ve worked on during all the years of their B.S. Applicants from other schools may talk only about one senior project and/or one summer project. He hires the ones with experience on lots of projects. Of course, a hands-on engineering program can be found at a wide variety of price points, ranging from Calpoly SLO on up to $60+K.
This is true. Most high end colleges have been going up 3-5% each year in total cost. Many of the colleges have gone up 7-9k in the last 4 years from when first D applied to second D 4 years later now.
I think another angle on this conversation should be that even though she wants to get a degree in engineering, her primary interest at this point is in CS.
^^Not sure what this means exactly. She wants an engineering degree, but wants to program? No problem, CompEng could be the best of both worlds. They are the best programmers.
I think the most nebulous term in this thread is middle class. My quick research shows most entities put that at not much higher than $100k. Unless you have a ginormous (I like to use highly technical terms when talking to a room full of engineers) savings or investments, as a middle class family you will get financial aid from the most selective private universities.
Money, after meeting your needs, is just a reflection of your personal wants. If 60k a year means you couldn’t afford adequate food, housing, medical care, etc then of course the answer is no. If 60k a year means less meals out, fewer vacations, driving older cars, working longer until retirement, that a personal choice of what you want more.
Good luck & aloha. 
http://www.gallup.com/poll/182918/fewer-americans-identify-middle-class-recent-years.aspx
Americans’ self-described SES in 2015:
1% upper class
13% upper middle class
38% middle class
33% working class
15% lower class
Note that there has been a general downward trend in self-described SES over the years.
Great points. That’s how Princeton can simultaneously be one of the best values and one of the worst values. It’s all about EFC, which like it or not, is pretty immune to self class definition.
This often does depend on the kind of work that needs to be done. Some applications (e.g. web design or highly applied work like what startups do) need someone who is already strongly versed in practical applications of what they do, who can “hit the ground running” because there’s no time to train people. Other applications, like machine learning or scientific computing, needs someone who is well-versed in the theoretical because without it, you get nowhere. There are jobs where “the theory” doesn’t matter, and it’s quick and effective development that matters most. Other jobs, it doesn’t matter how practically-minded you are - if you don’t understand the theory and how it is applied to what task is being completed, you won’t get anything done and you will spend months solving the wrong problem because you don’t have any idea what the solution is supposed to look like. So both have their place.
This applies both to engineering and CS, even if the example above was a CS one.
Ideally, a student will get both solid grounding in the relevant engineering science and theory, as well as good experience in engineering design (and CS is similar in these respects). ABET accreditation does require an engineering degree program to have both, although going beyond the minimum required by the school in each area can be helpful to the student in preparation for employment or graduate study in engineering.
@Ballerina016 We are in virtually the identical situation with our D. She has also been accepted as an engineering major to the same list of schools as your D with the exception of Cornell and with the addition of few OOS public engineering schools like Georgia Tech and UIUC. It is definitely a hard decision to make from a financial standpoint when facing full pay and knowing how hard our kid worked to be accepted. One thing we have also been considering is the gender ratio in the various engineering programs. The percentage of bachelor degrees awarded to women in engineering varies significantly at the colleges on the list. In 2014, MIT was the highest in the US (for colleges that awarded at least 50 bachelors degrees in engineering) at 42.5% while UCB/UCLA/Cal Poly SLO were all around 20%. The average is just under 20% nationwide. It’s hard to put a value on it, but considering the continuing difficulties for women in the tech industry, it is another possible factor to consider.
This is because, for better or worse, admission to MIT is not gender neutral. They are actively trying to change that balance. As a result, the acceptance rate for women into MIT is roughly twice that of men.
Every school has ABET requirements that they just consider as a box to check off on the accreditation process, and requirements that they truly take to heart. So while all accredited schools should and do offer everything at least to some extent, each school obviously has its own flavor.
Very good point Eyemeh. STEM universities try very hard to attract additional numbers of female applicants. Girls do tend to get an edge in STEM admissions. Fine by me.
Related to post #50, Mudd graduates just under 50 engineering majors in a typical class, and over 50% were women in 2014.
@LakeWashington, fine by me too, along with offering admission boosts to disadvantaged students, however that might be. The experience is better for everyone when it’s not just all white men (which I am BTW).
If you can EASILY afford it, then sure. But for the typical family, if it involves financial hardship, raiding the retirement acct, and borrowing more than the federal student loan max, then NO.
FYI. WSJ poll results showing employers prefer to recruit at flagship State U.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704358904575477643369663352
A number of engrs I know who have risen up the corporate mgmt ladder have MBAs, but their undergrad degree is from State U. It’s probably worth the splurge for a bling name school for an MBA, but not for undergrad engineering degree.
I wouldn’t call it splurging if it’s a funded MBA, which is very common for companies that want to prop up their best prospects.
Funded MBA isn’t that common… it happens, but more often there is tuition reimbursement for night or weekend programs, which are grueling while working full time.