U of Miami is my S’s first choice. He was accepted with $0 merit aid. He wants to study international business and marine science as a minor (he has a real passion for marine science, but not for a job). We can afford the tuition, but I wonder if it’s worth it. He has good scholarships to other schools, but they are not ranked as highly. He is waiting to hear from CA schools, but Miami is his favorite. We visited and it’s a good fit for him. I was very impressed by it and can see him there. I’m just having a hard time with the $60K per year price tag. We can afford it, but is it worth it?
I think UMiami is supposed to have a strong marine science program but only your family can decide if the price tag is worth it. I’d see where else he get in before you decide.
By this:
Do you mean the UCs? I wouldn’t count on merit aid from them. The price tag will be pretty expensive as well (UCB approaches the price point of 60k).
^^^However, if the OP lives in CA they are bound to be less expensive.
It depends on your goals and specific program, but the answer is generally NO. You can probably go where you want to go via a much cheaper school like UF.
Unless your family is wealthy, then do as you will.
Here’s one set of perspectives (though not about UMiami in particular):
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/weekinreview/19steinberg.html
Thank you all for responding. We do not live in CA, and would pay full OOS for UCs, and USC is more expensive than UMiami. Since he didn’t receive merit aid from UM, we don’t expect any from USC if he gets in. We can afford full tuition to all of these places, but want to make sure our money is wisely invested. He’s looking for good international business programs and Marine bio/science. UMiami is smaller, has the cognate progam, good sports, beautiful campus, great diversity, small classes, easy access by plane/metro, good weather. CA schools are similar except for size - much bigger but higher ranked. U of GA is also in the mix (OOS) and would be much less $, but only 13% of kids are OOS and 17%minority and diversity is a major factor for him (we are white, but his friend group is very diverse in race, religion and politics). Eckerd College gave him a great deal and it has a great Marine bio/science dept., international business, strong study abroad programs, beach, weather, but very small. UMiami seems to be the best fit, I’m just wondering out loud if it is worth it. I grew up poor, put myself through college/law school (when that was possible), so I tend to be frugal in my thinking. We can afford to send him to his dream school that has strong depts in his interests. USC and UCSB are his next choices which would be the same $ or more, are higher ranked, and we have family along the coast, but really big. Sorry for the mental meandering. He’s our first child in college and it’s a big decision.
Thank you for the post. It confirms my instincts that a college’s forte is equally or more important than it’s overall ranking.
We are going through similar thoughts as you @tmeg01. My daughter applied to UMiami with the hopes of receiving some sort of merit award, but she received none. Although it is her top choice, her other options are not only less $ (all are public large state universities), but they are also offering her merit $. We cannot afford the $60K+ per year, and would have to take out loans to pay the difference (roughly $100K total). It breaks my heart because she really wants to go there, but know that it probably isnt going to happen.
@momof2ct It is hard to comment on your post without know your complete situation (how old are you, do you have younger children who will go to college, how much you have saved for retirement)? However, I would say that you need to address this is a financial decision, and going $100k in debt does not sound like the best move if it can be avoided. It may be her top choice now, but I’m sure that she will find many things to like at any other school. Although I am not myself a “tough love” parent, it’s not a bad thing to learn early on that you sometimes need to make the best of a situation. Just my .02 - best of luck!
I’m sorry for the disappointment @momof2ct. I understand wanting to give your child their first choice of school, but I would not take out loans either. I had a student loan (from law school), and it was a drain paying it back. I didn’t have a choice, but I wouldn’t want to do that again or put that on my child - no matter what the school. I was accepted into an Ivy (a million years ago; I would never get accepted today) but that application was more to see if I could get in - there was no way to pay for it without major loans. To this day, I’m glad I chose our flagship university that gave me merit and grants with no debt - the debt came from grad school and I was in a better position to pay it back with an advanced degree. I’m sure your daughter will enjoy wherever she goes to college, and since she was offered merit money, she will be one of the top students there. I do worry that the lack of merit $ means that my S will be one of the lower tier students and struggle. Also, study abroad is very important to my S and it is hella expensive at UMiami - I’m not sure why it’s so much more than other schools - and he may have to find an alternative route to make that happen or not do it at all. At the other schools (where he has merit $) he could study abroad once or more a year.
@VHFather you are totally right, thanks.
@tmeg01 your college/loan history is exactly what we have been thinking about our own situation, and seeing you post about it confirmed our thoughts about sending her somewhere other than the U. Unfortunately, for a teenage girl, who has received everything she has asked for in her life, this just does not make sense (our problem giving her too much in hindsight). she doesnt understand that getting a good paying job right out of college is difficult, and then add college loans to the picture…its even more difficult to pay rent/car loan etc. When she applied, we told her that she would need merit $ to be able to go there, but she forgot about that quickly when she was accepted. She definitely wants to study abroad, so thank you for pointing out that additional expense (I didnt realize it was more expensive than other schools). Good luck with your decisions!!
I think you hit really good points that it is not always about the rankings, it is about where you truly see yourself growing as a person and getting a good education.
One more thing to think about, however, when you are comparing costs, is the likelihood of graduating on time (4 years). UM doesn’t have the best track record for 4 year graduation (68.2%), which is pretty much the same for Cal, UCLA & Pitt, but some large state schools are worse – Colorado 41%; Arizona 34%; Arizona State 31%. The “lesser UCs” are all 61% & below.
2 of my best friends who went to UCLA (back in the day) took 1-2 extra quarters to graduate & they were top students (one got an MBA from Cornell, the other a Ph.D. from Harvard). Sometimes, you just can’t get your classes… The delay didn’t hurt them in the long run, except to add on more tuition/loans. (Of course, many of us would trade 1-2 quarters extra at UCLA if it results in an Ivy grad school admission). But, I ended up graduating on time & in the end, for less (thanks to FA), from Duke than if I had gone to UCLA & had similar trouble getting my classes.
Yes, @Steglitz90, getting the classes you need in order to graduate is a consideration for UC schools especially, and my S doesn’t have the nerve to “crash” a class or forcefully convince a professor to enroll him. My S was a selected as a Research Scholar at UCSD’s Scripps Inst. of Ocean. last summer and throughly enjoyed the school and program, but the state budget cuts were obvious in dorms, cafeterias, student life and buildings. It would cost us $60K OOS for UC schools, and while they are all ranked very highly, UMiami is tops for him. He will have to consider USC if he gets in, but UMiami fits his personality better. I think his changes of graduating Miami in 4 yrs are better than at the UCs.
@momof2ct I don’t know your D’s college criteria, but if she liked Miami, I suggest checking out Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL and Rollins College in Winter Park (it’s on a large lake). Eckerd is a funky school (one of the Colleges that Change Lives) on a canal with it’s own man made beach, the best travel abroad program I’ve seen, very generous merit money, pets allowed, good food, kayaks, boats and stand up paddle boards for use, and open-minded, welcoming student body. I can see my S thriving there, but he wants a larger school. It has rolling admissions (and aid), and the best Instagram account of any school imo. I’m not sure about Rollins admissions, but it was the most beautiful college I’ve ever seen (including Rhodes, Miami and the UCs).
I think it depends on what “worth” means to you. I feel only a pedigree school is worth this kind of investment, and only if you can afford it without loans. 60K is not even the whole cost of attendance, it is about 66K I think. You mention your son wants to study international business, so perhaps an MBA will follow. I would rather invest in a quality grad school and save on undergrad.
We liked it when we visited, but I did not see anything super impressive other than the outdoor pool and the hammocks – beats freezing in the Northeast any day 
The lack of student diversity was very obvious on campus.
Interesting fact about UMiami: the average loan amount upon graduation is 19K, which is much less than many in-state flagships report. Would it be a good social fit for your student?
@LoveMyPuppies " The lack of student diversity was very obvious on campus." That’s an interesting observation. I think just about any objective list of most diverse colleges would have Miami as one of most diverse. Maybe just based on a short walk on campus?
@tmeg01 My husband is a prof at SDSU & we are advocating to our S that he should NOT go to a large state school (luckily we are in a position not to have to send him to SDSU for free). We are big believers in schools that offer a lot of small classes (although we couldn’t interest our son in a LAC). My son very begrudgingly applied to Cal & UCLA, only because he had to apply to 2 state schools for ROTC. With the Presidential scholarship he got at UM, the price difference btw UCLA & UM is not that much, especially since he’s dying to get out of SoCal. However, should he get a ROTC scholarship, that may change everything…
VHFather,
We spent a day there, with a tour and hanging around campus, eating in the cafeteria. School was in session. Maybe it’s a coincidence but we only saw one non-white student. I don’t know their statistics; this is just our visual impression in comparison with different schools we visited. Maybe because we come from NY and used to more diversity.