Is private worth it??

As I see it ECU offers a ABET accredited 4 year engineering program at a more affordable price.

@btween46 It seems Elon is pulling your son for a number of reasons. Maybe he feels ECU is just too big? If your son is 100% sure engineering is it, then ECU makes the most sense. If there is a chance that he may change his mind, then it really comes down to finances, and it seems ECU wins there too.

Hmm. Remember that new programs don’t offer two things: Experienced educators who have taught the course for years and know how to teach it best and most importantly a cadre of alumni who are 10-20 year out of the school and can hire your son. The alumni network doesn’t exist if the program is new. Also, they might decide the program doesn’t work for some reason and then he’d be stuck. Based on the engineering info provided, I’d chose ECU.

Also, I’d personally give my child a reality check. One cannot sit on the beach with a lifeguard job while racking up college debt. My kids would be working at least two, if not, three jobs. Social life would suffer but they would be earning so that in their twenties they wouldn’t be saddled with debt. Also, working as a waiter can be pretty lucrative. Kids at that age can socialize with the people they work with. There is absolutely no way, I would take on debt so a kid can sit on a beach or let my kid take on debt because they don’t want to work. Landscaping/construction are other jobs that pay well. A college age kid can make lots more than 3-4K. And they will learn lifelong skills that cannot be taught. That’s just a personal thought, but one that once he realizes how much he’ll pay per month might hit home.

If it all had to do with money, I’d choose ECU. Graduating with less or no debt is very preferable

@happytimes2001

My one kid earned as much or more as a lifeguard than the other one did waiting tables at a high end restaurant. The lifeguard kid had no trouble finding jobs, and also moonlighted teaching swimming at a decent hourly rate.

I may have misunderstood your post…but really getting a lifeguard job pays well in these parts!

And if the kid happens to have lifeguarding certification, at both of my kids colleges, that was one of the highest paying jobs on campus…and they were always looking for people.

@thumper1 Really. That’s great. Near us, life guards get paid very little compared to other jobs. Supply and demand. So, I should change my post to get a well paying job ( or the best paid jobs you can) to defray college costs and work hard during the Summer.

2 observations:

1- merit aid typically reduces institutional aid dollar for dollar, so even in the unlikely event that he earned merit $$ as an upperclassman, you probably would not see any reduction in parental contribution.

2- Engineering students benefit from co-oping and on campus recruiting. ECU, as an established program, will have those systems in place. Elon’s will be in its infancy and unknown growing stage.

@btween46
Hi! NC resident here…as a mom of 5 who had her kiddos attend many of the in-state publics here in NC and OOS publics along with privates who just happened to move to NC from CA for the colleges I hope I can shed some light on this for you and your son.

ECU is one of the hidden gems of the UNC system along with UNC Asheville, App State and NCA&T. Having an engineering program with ABET already in place is SIGNIFICANT. Elon was NOT on any of my 5 kiddos radar, at all. Oldest son graduated with a mech e degree, and his first position was as an aircraft engineer, and subsequently a Disney imagineer.

Younger son graduated from an ivy and then pursued 2 more STEM degrees at NCSU, then an MD/MBA from UNC-CH. ECU has a dental school (1 of 2 in the state) and medical school that only accepts NC residents (that is rarified air). With Vidant being available with Brody school of medicine research and hands-on experience is not in short supply. Vidant serves over a third of the state and its hospital is one of the largest in the entire south, comparable with Grady in Atlanta and Miami. This would be especially helpful if your son is interested in bio engineering.

Son’s med school roommate graduated val from high school, attended ECU for bio/engineering out of MANY acceptances went on to UNC-CH for med school with a scholie and then onto a tip-top residency. DO NOT underestimate ECU. He is probably looking at ECU as meh since he is from NC but again that is a big mistake. There are plenty of OOS students paying OOS prices for ECU.

College doesn’t make the student, the student makes his college experience to what he wants it to be. Greenville isn’t very big like RDU for NCSU or Chapel Hill. ECU has a plethora of majors and in case he changes his mind about engineering some really great programs. Their nursing program is fantastic and their health care administration degree places their students before graduation.

The matrix for engineering requires math up through Def Eq which can be difficult along with the physics and thermo classes. So it would be good for your son to have some alternatives in case he changes his mind and ECU would be great to do that at.

The local community college Pitt Community offers a specialized nursing program jointly with ECU that allows students to obtain their BSN while attending Pitt, paying Pitt tuition not ECU tuition, complete their clinical at Pitt and complete their remaining classes (2) online at ECU while attending Pitt. It is done in Pitt county (1 of 7) that has this specialized nursing program at a very low cost while graduating ECU with a BSN.

I presented this to show just how ECU is truly a great research and community-focused university and how that could greatly benefit your son in MANY different ways. Just like NC A&T’s new nanoscience and nanoengineering school is truly undiscovered, U Penn has a very similiar program.

In my mind after having my 5 kiddos go through this here in NC ECU is the obvious choice. And it has nothing to do with the money. Taking into consideration the money it is not even an option.

I hope this helps and if you have any other questions feel free to ask.

Kat

OP – does your son have to apply to the BME program once it’s established at Elon? Tufts started a similar BME program a few years ago and it required (at least at the time) application at the end of freshman year. Know folks who didn’t take it the offer because they didn’t want to get there, spend all that $$, and not get into the major. Might be worth finding out how admission to the program will work.

ABET programs hit certain marks for quality and depth across the board, whether public or private.

Also recognize that BME grads often need graduate school, which may or may not be funded, esp at the Master’s level. Something else to weigh on the cost side…

What is the total debt load? You indicated that ELON would be 45K more but not what the loan would be for ECU. Consider that tuition will increase significantly during the 4-5 years while FA might not. Also does ECU guarantee that the tuition will be fixed for four years (UNC-CH started doing this)? If so that is another hugh plus.

Like others, I would choose ECU. One because it has a well established program. It will likely have multiple sections of required courses which can make scheduling easier. It has an established reputation with employers and an alumni network. The cost is lower so your son will have fewer financial contraints. This could allow them to pursue interships even if they are low paying.

As others have stated, your son will be the main driver of his college experience. If he puts the effort in, he can get the college experience he wants no matter which school he goes to. My daughter went to UNC-CH and was able to get to know her professor very well. It did require effort but her professors were very accesable. A larger school can often have more opportunies for research. My daughter department didn’t have much undergraduate research yet she found research opportunies in another unrelated department that needed her skill set. That experience help her land the job she loves. Probally would not have happen at a smaller school.

@katwkittens, wow, thank you so much for such a detailed reply. ECU was his safety, and his SAT is around 200 points above the average score. He didn’t get into his top choice (NCSU). He applied to engineering which apparently is harder than ever to get into. This year’s acceptance rate was 46% and even less for engineering. So ECU felt like the consolation prize to him. However, there are so many positives about ECU, and your reply as well as the others, helped clear the smoke screen for us. You’ve made excellent points. Thank you for taking the time. I’m going to PM you.

@CountingDown, Good points. Will definitely talk with my son and see if he knows, and if not, he can find out.

@noname87, still figuring out what’s manageable. I think (!) he (we?) will need to take out $15-$20k over 4 years at ECU vs $45k at Elon - which actually now I think would be more now that I’m learning and thinking it through more clearly, plus possibly a 5th year to pay for at Elon. I hate for our son to have any debt, but my husband and I are both in careers we didn’t choose for the money, and we have 4 kids, and he’s our oldest/first to go to college. Thank you for the thoughts. Son is introverted, so he will have to really push himself to get out there and be proactive with getting to know his professors. Once he’s made a connection with someone though - even if it’s just one professor - it will be a boost for him.

@btween46 Regarding his SAT score being above the average, that’s in comparison to the entire university. The more difficult majors will have higher average SAT scores. And engineering is usually the hardest major.

It sounds like ECU is the more affordable and better option.

Now that you and son are in research mode, check into BME more. The topic is covered a lot in Engineering threads. As stated above, job options may be limited w/o graduate degree. However you can work in the biomedical field with more general engineering degrees (Mechanical, Chemical, Electrical).

It really sounds like Elon is unaffordable, especially with 3 more kids to fund through college or other post-HS education. Elon costs more and currently will require a 5th year for engineering. It’s great that you have ECU as a great option for your S and it’s ABET accredited! Congratulations to your S!

ECU seems much more affordable…a private education is not worth it if it means too much debt.

I love this thread. The information and advice provided is an example of how incredibly helpful CC can be.

Here’s the thing: if everything goes according to plan, it’s still going to be very tight to swing Elon. He’s going to HAVE to make the money to close that gap. You CANNOT have a financial disaster and may have to ante up. If someone gets sick, and can’t work, if your son needs more time to get through the courses, if, if, if… To me that fifth year could be a killer cost wise. Also bear in mind, that engineering is a very challenging course of study with a very high drop out rate.

So you have a lot of gambles in the picture. If you have extra funds to take care of the costs that some of them might incur, it’s one thing. If you don’t, it’s a whole other. I’ve been through quite a few college years now with my many kids, and I can tell you that all kinds of stuff happens to wreck the plans and budgets even with the best kids, and best intentions. It’s not like taking a one time chance. THis is 4 years–5 even , AT BEST. A long time to assume everything is going to go just fine.

I have several dear friends who went to ECU, enjoyed their college experiences there immensely and have done very well in life. It’s a great school, has an active college campus life and the academic offerings so that your son can get out of there in 4 years. It also leaves you and your son breathing room financially.

@cptofthehouse good point!