Is paying full price at CMU a smart choice for a family just beyond the need-based assistance level?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>My son was accepted to CMU and we feel very fortunate to have been accepted. I realize fully that many on this forum were heartbroken to be rejected or waitlisted. My heart goes out to these students. We, however, are struggling with our decision to attend since we are close to full-pay(small scholarship-no need based aid). </p>

<p>The net price calculator statistics show that the median/mean student pays 32K to attend CMU. We would be happy to pay this. Unfortunately, we are looking at paying close to twice this. It comes to about 240K for the four years. </p>

<p>You often hear that everyone, regardless of financial status, should be able to attend even an elite college if they can be accepted. I struggle with this. It is not all clear to me, that my wife and I should push out our retirement and make other sacrifices so that the tuition that we pay in excess of 32K can be used to reduce the cost of attendance for other students. Personally, I don't even mind a little bit of redistribution; like 5 to 10K/year. CMU is a great school, but the degree of tuition redistribution that occurs at elite schools like CMU is severe.</p>

2

<p>It seems to me that you have already answered your question. If you feel that you are spending too much money for your son’s education when you can pay less and still satisfy his academic goals at another school, go for it.
My first word of advice would be to give up on trying to get more money out of CMU. It’s an expensive school, without a lot of endowment (compared to other elite schools out there). Once they gave you a price, it’s highly unlikely they will budge. However, its name is still well respected and the education your son will get here will top lots of other institutions by far. </p>

<p>I’m not sure what your son’s major is, but if he comes here and does well (and I’m sure he will, since he got accepted), he will be very well off in the job world. He can probably pay you back the 240k within 5 years and still have plenty for himself.
I strongly believe that CMU is a good investment to make. My family were recent immigrants and they just finished supporting my oldest brother at college. At first, they were very reluctant to pay the 5x our EFC that CMU asked them to. However, seeing that majority of kids here get high-paid internships and then above average salary full time jobs, they agreed to make the commitment.</p>

<p>Another thing, ask your son where he wants to go. My parents wanted me to go to a local, free-tuition school over CMU, but I said “CMU is where I want to be”. If I went to the local school, and not enjoyed it, I would’ve struggled a lot. If your son really really wants to be at CMU, it would be a great idea to let him come here, because then you’d know that you guys won’t be throwing 240k on bumming around, partying and whatnot. </p>

<p>Finally, I’m a little confused on how 32*2 = ~64k? comes out to be. I know they raised tuition, but I didn’t think that much. If they start giving you 2k for books, another 6k for whoknowswhat estimations, it might throw you off.
There are ways to save a few grand a year here. </p>

<p>P.S.

I know how people are here, and I agree to a certain extent that as a student you either pay a lot, or get a nearly full ride, there’s very little room in between. However, CMU tries to push for diversity, be it racial or financial, and everyone loves it. I never heard anyone complain about why they have to pay full price (we have a TON of internationals, who don’t get any aid, and pretty much no scholarships) at the expense of a bunch of URM students who pay like max of 2k a year. </p>

3

<p>OP, your son got accepted but the family needs to decide whether it is feasible or not. And the parents need to weigh in heavily on this decision as you, his parents, are footing the bill. Financial advisers always say to fund your retirement first. Period. This is money that you need to save because it will not come back. So unless you can continue to fund your retirement and make it a go then I vote a resounding “no”. It also depends on his major and the ROI. CS may be a major that has fantastic returns on the cache of the college name. I would research this aspect. It really is about $60,000. No kidding. Lastly, if it can be done, the college experience that CMU can provide has a value too. Only your son can tell you what value that has for him. My S is at CMU CFA- industrial design. It was the right decision for him but he let us decide as we are full pay and would need to make some sacrifices.
It stinks to be in the no financial aid category but not wealthy enough to just make out the check without it hurting some.</p>

4

<p>My S is a URM- full pay. Financial aid at CMU is need only. Sometimes some merit is thrown in but usually not much to make a real dent to full pay families. CMU calls me a lot to contribute and I don’t- just do not feel generous to them. So in a way I guess I’m one of those full pay families that is complaining.</p>

5

<p>Given that current COA for CMU on the common data set is $62032 including tuition, fees, room & board, books and supplies, it would be no surprise to me if the cost for 2014-15 hits $64K. Not one bit, as the cost increases each year. Also the figure does not include transportation and miscellaneous costs. Realistically, it would be very easy to spend $64 to send a kid to CMU and likely to cost even more than that. Of course, if every one stints and pulls in the belt, the amount can be lowered too. Like send the kid to school on Megabus with ticket bought ahead of time instead of parents going to move in day. Like renting the books, not buying much of any supplies. Asking for the cheapest of rooms (though whether they comply is a whole other issue), cut the meal plan costs down low. But in doing some of those things, a lot is lost as well. As a parent, yes, I do want to move my kid in and have him come back for the holidays, visit him at school, etc. So most parents who are deemed to be full pay, are not going to cut too many corners that way.</p>

<p>OP, you are asking the $64K question here that many of us are asking these days. We all have our personal lines in terms of our financial planning. What did you deem was the maximum you were willing and able to pay without endangering your future security? How much in savings are you willing to pull out for this, how much can you tighten your belts during the next four years, and how much in loans can you afford to take at close to 7% through PLUS? We’re talking a quarter miillion dollars here, as you know the cost will be increasing each year. How much is your kid willing to sacrifice in order to make some contribution to this cost? CMU does offer decent employment options at the school, or did at one time, and even right this minute is not too early for him to be looking for a job for after school, weekends, and this summer to get about $5-6K earned by fall. Does he have savings? He can borrow $5500 on his on name freshman year, so if he can scrimp like crazy, work like a fiend, he might be able to come up with about $12K of the cost. If you can throw in $40K out of savings and current income, we are talking about you borrowing $10-15K a year, for a total of $40-60K. </p>

<p>After freshman year, the pickin’s are pretty good for off campus housing and truly scrimping in the student ghetto, and of course working part time. So the cost just might be able to be kept stable. </p>

<p>But CMU is a tough school and to have to do this under this sort of pressure is a tough go. I do not agree that those smart enough to get in, will certainly make it through. CMU has a nasty attrition rate. Take a look at the 6 year completion figures. Not so good for that caliber of school, and it’s because it is one tough,mean place to go.</p>

<p>Many studies have shown that those who are accepted to a top flight schools will do just as well going elsewhere as compared to the peers at that top school. Do not believe that every single CMU grad is going to get a top paying internship and salary either. A few years ago, when thiings were on the downturn in terms of jobs, yes, I saw some unemployed and under employed CMU grads Though the numbers are good in some of their depts, given the drop out rate and the true employement and income figures, it’s no sure thing. And, yes, I do know this school very well. </p>

<p>But I can’t tell you if it’s worth it or not. That tip has to come from you. </p>

6

<p>OP, what are his other acceptances at this point? Was he waitlisted anywhere? Did he get merit at other places. This would all factor in the decision making.</p>

7

<p>Thanks all for your feedback. @goingnutsmom. My son’s other options do not compare to CMU in terms of prestige/reputation. Our next best opportunity in terms of program ranking, is an out-of state public flagship. It’s low to mid- 40k’s total for out-of-state tuition/room/board. No scholarship. The problem with this option is that it is a huge anonymous institution. Which is fine, in general, and not different from our in-state flagship, but paying an extra 20K per year in oos tuition for that experience is difficult to rationalize.</p>

<p>Realistically, our choice is between CMU and our in-state flagship (good scholarship). The UG tuition savings would be significant and we could use those saving to allow him to attend graduate school at an elite institution. So, that is the alternate strategy we are considering.</p>

<p>@cptofthehouse. That’s hilarious that you pointed out the irony that the CMU full-pay tuition matches the oft-repeated cliche from the 1950’s game show: <a href=“The $64,000 Question - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_$64,000_Question&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

8

<p>@‌goingnutsmom " It also depends on his major and the ROI. CS may be a major that has fantastic returns on the cache of the college name. I would research this aspect. It really is about $60,000."</p>

<p>Could you clarify how you came to the $60,000 estimated ROI?</p>

<p>I have researched this a bit. In fact, Payscale has a web application that does an ROI calculation by school and by major. <a href=“http://www.payscale.com/college-roi/full-list/sort-by/AnnualRoi/by-major/Computer%20Science”>http://www.payscale.com/college-roi/full-list/sort-by/AnnualRoi/by-major/Computer%20Science&lt;/a&gt;, for example.</p>

<p>Of course there are some assumptions and survey results built into this Payscale application that may not be adequately accurate. I also agree, that there is a non-monetary return to the college experience. Especially, if your student is able to attend his/her “dream” school.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

9

<p>^ I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that if one is an URM, they automatically get tons of aid. I just don’t know many non-URM who get great aid from CMU. :/</p>

10

<p>Need to clarify- the $60,000 is the cost of the school and not the ROI. We are using Tuition Management Systems to help manage the tuition in payments.</p>

11

<p>If the other school is UT- Austin CS then this is a great option. CS is top rated at UT- Austin.</p>