<p>Hi i have always wanted to go to Bentley university ever since I found about their new major Information Design/UX! </p>
<p>According to lots of articles in the web; careers in UX design are in high demand but with a short supply of workers that know the skills of UX! It's high demand is shown through its starting salary that ranges from $70k to $110k a year! which seems pretty nice! This field is basically a new business field, its so new that lots of colleges don't offer it as an undergraduate major at the moment.</p>
<p>I just finished my two years at Bunker Hill Community College with $7k in loans since they did not give me any financial aid whatsoever!
I will be starting junior year at a new university this upcoming fall 13'
I applied to Bentley and UMass Boston and they both accepted me!</p>
<p>I was really happy when Bentley accepted me and i basically did like their aid package towards me! The cost for tuition including room and board is around, $54,000 a year and i got basically lots of grants and my remaining balance in loans including a $6k parent plus is around $18,000 for the school year! To me this is still feel this is a lot of money i have to pay back!<br>
If I were to graduate in 2015 from Bentley my estimated amount in loans would be around $36k for those 2 years! plus the 7k i got from BHCC! which is equal to $43k in loans from the 4 years of undergrad!</p>
<p>Umass boston does not offer an undergraduate major in UX design but they do offer a degree in Information technology with a concentration in Information Architecture (which has some sort of relation to UX design) and I will probably pay half the price at Umass Boston than at Bentley! But the major offered at UMB is not exactly UX design.</p>
<p>I contacted Bentley to see if my loan amount can go down if I lived with my parents! but they said no! because my grant award will go down! which basically means that i will still be paying the same amount in loans even if i lived with my parents! ( i live near boston)</p>
<p>Should I go to Bentley regardless of the loans I will have to pay back from undergrad?
- Remember; Bentley University is ranked #20 as top business schools in the nation for undergrad majors! and Umass is not even ranked!</p>
<p>Can anyone give me advice on what to do?
Can Any UX designers that are currently working in the field give me advice?
Is it worth the $40k in loans? Lots of articles in the web do agree that the starting slary for UX designers is $70 k a year or more!
Or should is study at UMB? will information architecture get me into the UX design field?</p>
<p>Generally, you should not have loans when you graduate that are more than the first year’s salary in your field.</p>
<p>I’m on the fence for that. You’ve done your two years at CC and done well. Congratulations. IMO that puts in a rare category of those who have persevered and gotten the most out of the system, and should get wide leeway in choices. But $40K is up there, compared to what is probably, no more loans or what, at UMass? Have you checked out the programs thoroughly? Are your parents willing to take on the PLUS for you, leaving you with about $30K? It’s close, but I’d probably give it a green light, though as a rule of thumb Beolein is right, and you are edging up there. Be aware that the loans, unless subsidized are accruing significant interest the instant the funds are released. so you are likely to owe closer to $50K with the accrued interest. If you can start paying the interest now, it would be a very good idea, and do discuss this with your parents as to how you can soften the loan burden.</p>
<p>Are you interested in grad school?
If you commute to Umass Boston (which is mostly a commuting school) then you are getting no loans at all. Opens up the options for grad school.</p>
<p>I have to add though that the experience in the two schools is vastly different.</p>
<p>According to UX articles, the starting salary for a ux designer is 70k a year which will be more bigger than the loan i borrow! I hope i dont do grad school unless my job pays for it</p>
<p>Btw thanks for the responses! I would like UMB! But they have information architecture as the major! I wanna know if graduating in IA will get me a job in ux</p>
<p>I was intrigued by the what a degree in UX design would include, so I went to the Bentley website to check it out. What I saw was that there is a certificate in UX design, not a major. At a quick glance it looks like this may be designed for professionals and the classes may be applied towards a masters degree. The undergraduate major is Information Design and Corporate Communications Maybe the website is out of date…but I would go thoroughly investigate this.</p>
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<p>Getting a degree in A will not guarantee you a job in A, B, C or D. You will need the grades, internships and maybe some connections to land a job.</p>
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<p>$11,000 will go to Federal Income Taxes
$4,900 will go to Social Security and Medicare Withholdings
$3,500 for State taxes (assuming MA)
$12,000 for rent (less if you live at home or with roommates)</p>
<p>Additional costs for food, water, electricity, a vehicle, gasoline, insurance, clothes, etc.</p>
<p>$70,000 is a good salary but there is no guarantee that you’ll get it.</p>
<p>BTW, I’ve never heard of this major either.</p>
<p>One question to ask yourself is whether a highly specialized degree of this type will be of any advantage in securing the jobs it is aimed at, versus having a degree in a more traditional and broader related subject like computer science, art, or business.</p>
<p>If the degree gives little or no advantage in getting those jobs, or those jobs are not widely available, the highly specialized degree may be limiting compared to one in broader related subject.</p>
<p>This seems like one of those hybrid jobs like biomedical engineering and it may be better to do the combination with a 5-year BS-MS program</p>