I heard that after finishing BME from JHU once expect a 150k salary. Probably, not across the board but at least the top half.
would be great if parents with prior experience can attest this.
If that’s the case, I feel JHU is worth it ever at full pay where it allows the kid to pay off the loans in next 4 or 5 years
What am i missing?
Somebody told you that half the new BME grads walk into jobs that pay $150k? Did they provide any kind of documentation to back it up?
What kind of loans are you talking about your kid paying off in 4 or 5 years? Students can only borrow ~$5500/year on their own.
no, I didn’t receive any documentation. Who will provide such documentation anyway?
can’t kids take loans with parents as a cosigner on the loan?
Aren’t the job prospects of a BS BME degree limited a bit anyway? You see over and over how you need a MS to really make it in the BME world.
Are you referring to federal student loans or private parent plus or private student loans?
According to ziprecruiter, the middle 50% of BME salaries is $53-104, and the range is $33-$187. JHU is a big name in BME, but it seems exceptionally unlikely that 50% of the graduating class- especially of undergraduates in a field that likes post-grad qualifications! walks into salaries near the top end of the scale.
Glassdoor (which has been pretty accurate in fields where I have direct knowledge (I know something about engineering, but not much about BME specifically) concurs, putting the average salary at ~$82K (for starting salaries that drops to $67K).
USNWR estimates the median salary at $88K, with a middle 50% of $67-112…
The biggest factor in pay is not where the degree is from but who the employer is: manufacturing companies typically pay more than university or research facilities such as national labs. In many, many jobs your kid won’t get a premium for the degree being from JHU.
Will a handful of kids from JHU “walk into” a job at $150? possibly? but: the newly minted college graduate who is such a star that somebody is willing to pay over the odds to hire them will have done stellar research, almost certainly involving year round work, all the way through. That is not an exaggeration: most of the JHU STEM students that I know did/are doing exactly that.
tl;dr - I wouldn’t bet my - or my collegekids- financial future on it. BME students at JHU are ferociously able and pretty ambitious. Getting into the top half of the class- nevermind the top of the class- will take massive dedication. JHU can be humbling even for really strong students.
@carachel2 - I am referring to federal student loan
To clarify, you want to know if it is reasonable for your son to have to repay fedreral student loans of $27,000.
I would say this amount is reasonable and doable.
@collegemom3717 - Thanks for all those numbers.
It appears overall going to JHU will definitely brightens the prospects. Of course, one has to not only sow the seed (getting into college) but nurture the plants to reap the fruits!.
I have a close family member who graduated not too long ago with a degree in BME from a strong school. This family member is a smart kid and graduated with an impressive resume. His starting salary after graduation was very good…but definitely not $150,000 a year.
Will your child be full-at Johns Hopkins? I would check your aid offer or their financial aid calculator. JHU is really good with financial aid, and the only students who should be full pay are students from wealthy families or international students.
It’s very rare to get a six figure salary with a BME bachelors degree. BMEs most often get a Masters or PhD. At JHU, many of the top students in BME are premeds.
Please don’t take too many private loans based on expected future salary at a full pay school. Even for CS, where it is much more common to get high salaries after BS, 150k starting salary is highly unlikely.
Do you have other affordable college options?
Many families can not afford to be full pay even though the college may think they can.
@yikesyikesyikes - Yes, we are considered full pay both FAFSA and JHU. I don’t feel like we do but they do!
Definitely, we are not a wealthy family but at the same time not poor either. The system is set up such that you are incentivized for being on either end of the spectrum but not in the middle!
If you can not afford by taking federal loans only(total 27k), then time to consider other school options.
@NCKris - Well, in our situation we don’t need to take a lot of loans but cut our retirement contribution & spending and pay to college. The ironic part is, After all this (i.e paying 70k) , it appears end of the year we don’t get any tax deductions because we exceed the income range. We are in high-income range because both parents work
The average starting salary out of JHU is just shy of $61K. It includes all majors, but that $150K is way overly optimistic. I would not base your financial decision on an unsubstantiated number.
https://studentaffairs.jhu.edu/careers/about-us/first-destination-reports/
@middleclassparent
What is you question? Are you considering less expensive schools?
Full pay at JHU will amount to approximately $300,000 total COA for 4 years. (Duke BME, your other option, will also cost about $300,000.)
How much will be borrowed funds ?
Any other options ?
probably 100.
So you will have 200K cash out of pocket for undergrad? Then would borrow 100k? Personally, I would never spend that kind of money on undergrad (for ANY school) and your kid will have a huge college loan payment for many years. Do you have more affordable options?
If you do decide to borrow to attend either JHU or Duke, start repayment ASAP & do NOT elect to repay just the minimum amount.
Calculate what it will take to repay the loan in 10 years & do NOT pay a penny less. Best to repay, if possible, on a six year repayment schedule so that appropriate budgeting & lifestyle are priorities for your son.
Assume a starting salary of about $90,000. Forget the $150,000 figure.
P.S. I know the exact earnings of two computer engineers at two different major employers. Fortune 50 companies for certain. Both are in their late 20s. Both had similar base salaries of $160,000s to $170,000s. Both received year end bonuses that I will not share, but will state that the bonuses are very substantial. Neither figure includes stock options or retirement plan contributions which are in addition to the base & bonus. Both are located on the west coast.
Both of these computer engineers were / are about 5 years out of undergraduate school–ages 27 & 28.