Louisiana Tech (free) or University of Alabama (debt)

I have been losing sleep over this decision.

My intended major is mechanical engineering, and these are the only two schools I am considering. Being from Pennsylvania, I have limited knowledge about each of these schools and the South in general so I am seeking advice on which program will be the most beneficial to me in the long run.

If I choose Louisiana Tech it will be on a full ride scholarship and I will graduate debt free. UA is offering a full tuition scholarship + $2,500 per year for engineering. This means that I will have to take ~$10,000 in loans per year to cover room and board. My parents will not be able to help me pay for college.

Due to financial reasons, I have only been able to visit UA. I really enjoyed the visit and I am certain that I would enjoy going to school there. I have not and most likely will not be able to visit LA Tech before enrolling.

My main concern is whether or not I will be at a more significant advantage attending one of these schools over the other in terms of career prospects/networking/internships and overall quality of education. Both programs are ABET accredited, if this makes a difference. Would it be better to attend LA Tech and graduate without debt, or go into about $40,000 worth of debt to attend Alabama? I plan to work while in college so I may owe closer to $25k or $30k upon graduation.

All opinions are appreciated. Thanks!


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My parents will not be able to help me pay for college.

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Is your family low income?

Will your parents qualify for the tuition tax credit and be able to give you that each year?

How much can you earn/save over the summer?

I see that you’ve taken a gap year…are you working this year?

You can’t borrow $10k by yourself…are you aware of that?

$10,000 per year may be doable on a $5,500 federal direct loan plus some work earnings, but that is the stretch budget of what you can self-fund. If you do not want to stress over money, the full ride would be preferable, although note that full rides usually do not cover incidental miscellaneous costs, so you may have to take a small federal direct loan or make some work earnings to cover that.

I should clarify. I will take the max federal loan each year ($5500) and my mom can make up the difference each year in the form of a personal loan that I will have to pay back. Therefore I will still essentially be borrowing around $10k per year (excluding travel expenses). I have been working since July 2014 and will work summers while in college. So either school is possibility, I am just trying to figure out which one is the best overall value given my situation.

Do your parents qualify for the tuition tax credit? If so, ask your mom if she can GIVE that to you.

you don’t need to borrow that much from your mom. You should be able to work/save at least $2000 every summer, maybe more.

Do you know what your EFC is?

I am not sure what the tuition tax credit is. EFC is ~$6k.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/American-Opportunity-Tax-Credit:-Questions-and-Answers

Some posters on other threads are asking for advice about choosing between schools that are a difference of over $40k per year.

At only $10k difference per year (a manageable amt), my inclination would be to weigh school quality & school experience over cost. Your job recruitment prospects will likely be significantly better at Bama than at Louisiana Tech. Plus, you’ll have a helluva more enjoyable time at Bama than in the middle of seriously nowhere in rural Louisiana.

The Bama award purposely states that it’s for the “value” of tuition, so that it’s technically not a tuition award.

Bama did this so that students can still take the tax credit, and students with tuition awards from elsewhere can still use those and also use the Bama award.

When the Bama award shows up on the student acct, it does NOT specify what it’s paying for. It just has a name…Presidential award and the amount.

First, there’s no need to lose sleep or to have any anxiety about your options.

Alabama Engineering may have more assets than LaTech, but if you intend on returning to Pennsylvania for your career post-graduation, then any differences between the two schools may not be significant for you. Earning a BS degree without substantial debt is a real boon these days.

Investigate the list of engineering firms that have recruited students at either school in recent years. As for the social life, Ruston LA is in the middle of nowhere. Both Shreveport Airport and Jackson MS are a good hike from Ruston. But how close is Tuscaloosa to Atlanta or Birmingham for that matter? That being said, Tuscaloosa may be less of a cultural shock to you than Ruston.

However, $10,000 per year may be a big difference for the OP, while some students looking at differences of $40,000 per year come from wealthy families who can much more easily pay that.

I think $10k/year is a lot of money, especially when it’s all loans. If you can use a tax credit and/or work earnings to offset that, it might be affordable.

It is possible that OP is overestimating the cost of 'Bama. After freshman year, students can live off campus and are not required to have a meal plan. With sufficient planning, there is significant potential to reduce room and board costs. My guess is that you could get average cost to below $10,000, perhaps down to about $7,000.

Job prospects, for mechanical engineering, are not going to be notably different between the two schools. The main factor is how much you might enjoy going to Alabama compared to Louisiana Tech. 'Bama might seem to be more enjoyable… but how much more?

Although manageable for an engineer, even $25,000 to $30,000 of debt is a lot of money (enough to purchase a new car). I would focus on learning as much as possible about Louisiana Tech. You still have a couple of months to find a way to visit. Try to do that. $600 or $700 invested in a visit could pay off nicely.

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I agree.

And with the tax credit, summer earnings, the student should NOT be borrowing $10k per year…which is too much. Even doing a coop can bring in some bucks.

At Bama, since the upper quartile is an ACT 31, his eng’g classmates will likely be more like him. At LATech, the upper quartile is an ACT 27+, so likely less-academically strong classmates.

I would also be concerned that LA TEch is more of a commuter school, which wouldn’t bode well for an OOS student.


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medium-sized, 4-year, public university. This coed college is located in a large town in a rural setting and is primarily a **commuter campus. ** .

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^^^ That doesn’t bode well for an OOS student who’d be so far away from home. not at all.

“My parents will not be able to help me pay for college.”
“I will take the max federal loan each year ($5500) and my mom can make up the difference each year in the form of a personal loan that I will have to pay back.”
“EFC is ~$6k.”

Where is the money for the loans that Mom has indicated she can make to the OP going to come from? Is this something that she already has (or can come up with each year out of her current income), or will she need to borrow it from somewhere else and then make a formal loan to the OP?

@happymomof1 The money will come from my mother’s personal savings and I will be expected to pay back in full whatever amount I end up borrowing from her.

Also, I will most likely NOT be returning to Pennsylvania after graduation.

If her savings can handle this, and you can formally commit to paying it back with interest, then that could work out.

Louisiana Tech is a good school and I would see no reason to pay more and go to Bama for MechE. I have lived in both states and have been to both schools.

When a resident from another state attends another state’s ‘regional’ public university, the out-of-state student may feel somewhat like an odd duck…at first. But my impression of LaTech is that there are many students on campus whom are not originally from northern Louisiana. They are from Baton Rouge and other parts south, like New Orleans, so they are not commuter students.

There are different interests and activities that you can engage in at LaTech, if you look for them. I hear that the parks in Ruston are a pleasant retreat, if you like the great outdoors. The LaTech football team played in a bowl game recently. And LaTech Womens’ basketball is nearly a religion in Ruston. Find your niche to meet new friends.

See the “return on investment” rankings below (for engineering). La.Tech ranks number 8 for in state students and 14th for out of state students.
http://www.payscale.com/college-roi/full-list/by-major/Engineering

Payscale is a very reputable outfit, and uses real numbers (not opinions) to construct their rankings.

You will get a good job coming out of La.Tech, if you major in engineering. It is very solid academically. The question is if you will enjoy your years there.