Is undergrad debt worth it?

I’m currently a senior in high school, and am starting to hear back from my colleges. I was recently admitted to Boston University, SUNY New Paltz, and other schools I am not considering as much. I love BU and NP a lot (with BU having an edge), but the costs vary insanely.
After financial aid, BU would still cost $31k (including some loans already), and I would have to take out more loans because my family cannot afford that out of pocket.
NP would be around $16k a year, without any loans, and I could graduate debt free.
I do really like NP, but BU is my dream school. Is it worth going into that much debt for a school I love if I can go to a school that is still a really good state school that I don’t love as much?
Any help/advice would be appreciated!!

My daughter decided to go with the cheaper school. But, she is looking at grad school. Debt free (nearly) heading into that is a good thing.

So you are asking if BU is worth $30,000 or more a year in loans for your undergrad degree?

In my opinion…NO (and one of my kids is a BU graduate).

Any other urban acceptances on your list that are more affordable??

You do understand that your parents would either need to take these loans or cosign them…anything in excess of the $5500 Direct Loan you can take for freshman year. Really…that means the loans are theirs. Will they do that?

BU is very costly…very.

What other schools did you apply to?

So far I’ve also gotten into Syracuse (they gave me $20,000 a year in scholarship, still haven’t heard about financial aid), UDel (11,000 in scholarship, cost would be 24k a year including the 5500 in loans), and Drew (25k a year in scholarships, cost would be 11k a year including 5500 loan). I didn’t apply to all urban schools, I don’t have a complete preference for setting. I’ve visited NP and BU and loved both campuses. I also applied to and still haven’t heard from Skidmore, USC, and GW.
My parents definitely won’t take on too much debt, and they are also very supportive of me wanting to go to BU, but not at the price they are currently giving.

You like NP and debt free feels really good. Are you planning to go to grad school? What are your general career plans?

I’m still unsure about grad school, I may go for my masters depending where undergrad takes me. I’m planning on double majoring in Fine Arts and International Relations, but am not completely set on one career path yet.

If you are pursuing a fine arts degree, I would suggest you have as little debt as possible.

I would also suggest that you try to take on as little debt as possible, preferably none. I am not familiar with NP, but if it is a good school, has what you want to study, and you can do it without debt, then this sounds like a very good plan.

If you like New Paltz, put away the idea of a dream school and graduate without debt.

I wasn’t following all of your numbers, but if you’d have to borrow all of the BU cost over and above the NP price, you’re looking at $60,000 in debt, not including the loans that are already in the BU package. That much debt could turn your dream school into a nightmare pretty quickly.

You said that you “love BU and NP a lot (with BU having an edge), but the costs vary insanely.” The slight edge of ‘love’ for BU is not worth the 16K differential in cost each year…that will lead to a great deal of debt when you graduate. You love NP too. Grab it.

Keep in mind that the top line will likely increase 4-6% per year, where your scholarship offers might be the same for every year. 31K in year 1 might be more like 35K in year 4, even though you can borrow a bit more in the federal loans. We have a similar situation to consider.

You say Drew would be $11k a year after $25k in scholarships, but the COA of Drew is $64k+
Just make sure you double-check your numbers, because that one makes no sense, so I want to make sure you’re sure of the others.

Drew also gave me about 20k in a grant and a work study for another couple thousand.

I’m very fond of the SUNYs. New Paltz is a good school. It’s a train ride away from Manhattan, and you can cross register at Marist and Vassar. Have you visited yet?

I hardly thought about the price increase actually that’s very true. Hope you have luck with your situation!

Yes I’ve visited a couple of times and I really liked the campus!

You like NP. You have visited it twice and like it. You would have NO debt upon graduation…which will really give you more flexibility in terms of work.

BU is great. But honestly…not for that amount of debt.

Yes that is all very true. Thank you so much for your help!