Is UM-AA Worth the Debt?

Hello. I was accepted to the University of Michigan College of Engineering, which is my dream school. I visited and absolutely loved the campus and its facilities, much more so than any other institution that I have visited. I want to major in aerospace engineering, and Michigan is a great fit because it has a fantastic aerospace program. I am in-state, however I got no financial aid. I am worried that I will graduate with $50,000+ of debt. Is a Umich engineering degree worth all of the debt? Would I be better off going to a smaller regional school such as Umich-Dearborn or Wayne State and pick a different engineering major? Umich-AA is where I can see myself being the happiest and would allow me to pick the program I want, but it also comes with a hefty price tag. My main question is… Is it worth it?

If you got no aid at all, that means you have no need at their eyes as they meet needs of all in state students. It is hard to say whether it worth $50k debt. However, it would be a reasonable debt since it is likely below the average first year income after graduation. Of course, there are cheaper options that may land you on the same job.

UM’s in-state tuition is very reasonable and quite a bargain. I’d also say UM-AA is far better in many ways than UM-Dearborn.

Bh, Michigan meets most need for in-state students. Why would you graduate with over $50k in debt?

Alexandre, my efc was too high. I heard a financial aid officer state that once your income goes above 130k is when you generally won’t get any aid. I’ll have to take out loans. And I agree with klingon97, Ann Arbor is a world renowned institution, and Dearborn most certainly is not. It’s probably worth the debt, because I’m sure a ton of out-of-staters would love to pay full in-state tuition for a UM-AA degree. I guess in-state tuition is a bargain for the quality degree you get.

Please go to UMAA Bh1397. If you don’t, you’ll regret your decision for the rest of your life.

Probably worth it. A bunch of guys who work for me owe over $75K and they just live with roommates like they make a much lower salary. Several don’t have cars.

My daughter doesn’t owe anything, but she wanted to live with roommates and couldn’t find any that made anything close to what she made, so she just lives cheaply with people she wanted to live with since everybody has loans and slums it. She’s saved over 40K over the past two years since graduation and she’s off to grad school with a nice backstop to supplement her stipend. She does have a car. My point is that $50K is probably doable.

Thanks for your responses. I am beginning to see that it is worth it, and I do feel that if I do not attend that I will regret my decision.

^^ I said probably worth it. YOU have to make it worth it by doing well.

^^Exactly - the opportunity is certainly there to make it worth it.

Sorry to hijak this thread,

I’m OOS from GA. I’ve been accepted to UM and UGA and its all cost at this point. I got 22k in grants plus 3k work study in from Michigan, leaving me with a 32k net balance. My parents could pay about 10k leaving me with 22k per year in loans. This would be comapred to UGA where I would end up with about 5.5k in loans per year. Would it be worth it to go to UM given my situation?

@cfishh $88k in debt is more than 3 times of national average.

@billcsho Yes, but the average student isn’t going to the Ross School of Business or College of Engineering. That was my point. I would be about 21k in debt af UGA yet they’re engineering program is very new and they’re business program is not at the level of Michian. I feel UGA would be good for saving money to get a graduate degree

@cfishh For engineering degree, as long as it is accredited, you can save that $67k extra cost. Even for engineering degree, $88k debt is still way more than double of average at least.

I always wonder how so many kids go to UMich from OOS when the tuition is so insanely high.

“I always wonder how so many kids go to UMich from OOS when the tuition is so insanely high.”

Michigan is equal or better than most private schools where tuition is comparable.

They do provide good aid to low income students even from OOS. Their definition of low income is getting more lenient every year.

True. Plus it’s a great school so I’m sure a lot of people are willing to pay for it.

I’ve said it before. I’m more middle income, and although I will not be attending, the FA I was offered was excellent. So Michigan is definitely improving as others on this thread have stated.

Yes