The possibility that going to the less expensive option meaning being able to afford for her to study abroad at some point in a Spanish speaking country is an excellent consideration. That would be an invaluable experience for a Spanish major. Would she still be able to do that with the more expensive choice?
Note that the most popular STEM major (biology) tends not to have highly paid job prospects.
Since she prefers NIU, it costs less, and it is suitable for her academic and professional goals, NIU seems like the obvious choice.
Can you clarify the financial situation? Are you saying that if she went to UIUC as a STEM major, you would be willing to pay more towards her education? Does that mean that you could also contribute more a NIU if you wanted to? I guess I’m wondering if you have budgeted a fixed dollar amount, or have decided on “half of tuition/room and board” no matter what?
The reason I’m asking is I’m wondering if by taking advantage of the merit at NIU you could help her do some things that would improve her professional qualifications, such as study abroad programs, or possibly unpaid internships.
I’m also thinking that she needs to take a sharp look at both departments: how many professors and what kind, how many majors each year, what those majors do after graduating. Would she realistically need an MAT in Spanish to get a teaching job? Or would it be a disadvantage in finding a first job? (Some school systems want new hires to be cheap, and a master’s means coming in at a higher starting salary.)
And of course there’s always the big question: what if she changes her mind about her major, or about the goal of being a teacher?
I am completely on board with students avoiding excessive debt, especially those aiming at careers that do not pay a lot out of the box.
I don’t see that anyone has mentioned this. A 3.2 is a high threshold to keep merit aid. If you can I would check and see how many keep their merit aid throughout their college years. Also how many semesters is the merit aid available for.
Saying all that, it sounds like she likes NIU and should go where she wants.
I am an ex-teacher who graduated many years ago, from UIUC. I don’t know what the current climate is for Spanish teachers so I’ll just throw out some things you might want to consider:
– Be sure to find out what job placement is like for graduates. (In my day, the ‘hot’ placement for secondary ed was math and science.)
– Find out what ‘they’ recommend when it comes to being marketable. Often teachers get job offers based on their non-preferred, certified teaching area. Schools will often need a teacher who can do a split shift…x number of one subject, y number of Spanish, in your case. Having more than one area of certification will help in getting hired. Your daughter should look at it from “what do hiring schools want/need?”…which leads to my next point.
– Does your daughter have a preference with where she wants to teach? This is big. Can she see herself in a low income, urban district?..or perhaps a rural one?
– Find out where your daughter would be doing her student teaching. When I was at UIUC, most of us did our student teaching in District 214 (northwest Chicago suburbs) in the Fall of our senior year. It was a great program with, I believe, 7 high schools. I wanted to teach in a Chicago suburb, so it was especially good for me.
– Your daughter should realize that finding a “good fit” teaching position will depend upon how hard she works to craft her experiences with what those schools want. I can’t emphasize this enough. If she chooses a highly desired school district, she is likely to face some stiff competition for those positions.
Lastly, talk with current Spanish teachers, if possible. They might be your best resource, since they don’t have a stake in your daughter’s decision.
I’m sorry, I have to run now, but if you have any questions feel free to ask. I’ll answer if I can. Good luck on your decision!
P.S. If you visit UIUC this weekend it may not be a “typical” weekend, since most students won’t be returning from Spring Break until Sunday. There will probably be a lot in internationals on campus.
NIU grad here - not in education, but my brother was also an NIU grad in teaching, both under and grad school. He is the reason I chose NIU as my “dream school” many, many moons ago. I’m so happy your daughter likes the school - it really has a lot going for it and is making strides to be even better. I LOVED my four years there and would not trade them for anything. I got a solid education, had a great time and made some amazing friends.
I’m not saying this a blanket fact, but I have found that many of the teachers that have and continue to teach my kids in grammar and high school, seem to have obtained their under and grad degrees from lots of tier 2 schools, with NIU leading the way for many of them since it was originally started as a teachers college.
To have the ability to study abroad with a total immersion in Spanish opportunity, while earning a degree with little to no debt as a teacher at an amazing school - I think your daughter has found a winner! I might be a little biased though given my background… 
We are planning to have her spend a semester abroad no matter which school she chooses. She plans on teaching in the Chicago area, which is where we live. Indeed, she would like to teach at her high school (which has many low income students). We are going to look into the T.E.A.C.H. grant, which, from what I understand is a $5000 grant per year that you don’t have to pay back as long as you teach for four years in a “low income” school/area. Something else she is considering as a fallback if she ends up not liking teaching is becoming a certified court interpreter. I had to hire one for a case I was working on a few years ago–they are usually freelance and charge a pretty hefty hourly fee. Also, at least at that time, there were very few certified Spanish translators in Chicago.
@Consolation Just to clarify, my comment about sending her to UIUC if she was a STEM major had nothing to do with how much we would pay. I was just saying that UIUC is internationally known for its STEM programs and if she was in a STEM major, we would want her to go there instead of NIU.
Finally, she has discussed her dilemma with many of her teachers. They are all telling her to “take the money and run” to NIU. Indeed, many of them went to NIU (some undergrad, some grad school.) @deb922 Our family has discussed the 3.2 threshold. I agree, it is on the high side, but her GPA in high school is 3.65 and she was taking all honors courses so its not totally unreasonable. Just gives her something to strive for and make sure she doesn’t slack off.
Thank you for all of your responses so far! I really appreciate the fresh perspectives.
The quality of the undergrad does not make much a difference in the teaching profession. I would go with NIU and save the money.
Many school districts will give guaranteed salary adjustments to teachers with a masters degree, and having a masters also makes teachers more employable if they want to switch districts. It would make more sense to save the money for a masters program in teaching if she decides to stay in that field.
If your friends/relatives/co-workers are contributing to her educational fund, then they deserve a say. Otherwise, I don’t see why their opinions should matter.
BTW, did she apply to other in-state publics like ISU and UIC?
I’m wondering why only these 2 options.
Personally, I would not advocate a lot more debt given her situation and goals.
I meant to ask if she has other choices?
I’m glad her teachers are advising her to avoid debt, they would know.
@PurpleTitan She did not like UIC’s urban campus. We did not look at ISU, mainly because the stats were pretty similar to NIU and NIU is a lot closer.
@Consolation Those are the in-state schools she wanted to apply to after having checked out several other schools.
I have been to both campuses. NIU is a tranquil campus with a nice town within easy walking distance. I did a summer course there and remember that it had a charming historic movie theater, a nice natural foods coop, etc. (this was a LONG time ago!) Personally I find UIUC to be overly large and impersonal.
The maximum loan that she can take will be 5500 for freshman year and gradually trending upward for a total of 27K over the 4 years. If you could cover the balance (a bit less than the 50% you’d be willing to pay for UIUC), then that would be a pretty sweet deal all around.
My daughter is a teacher and went to her “safety school” because she could graduate without loans, which she really appreciates now. The teachers at her school went to a wide range of programs, but they all make the same salary scale -a big factor in hiring is how well you do when asked to teach a sample lesson under observation and the NIU grad could of course do much better at that than the Yale grad! I think it’s important for your daughter to be confident she will make friends, succeed academically and have fun campus experiences at the college she chooses.
If she likes NIU then definitely go with the less loan option. We too battled the “why would you not send your kids to UIUC” issue. It was just too expensive for us so our kids have ended up at “lower tier” schools but that has been fine for them and they will all graduate with no debt. The oldest 2 are realizing how lucky they are when they hear their friends talking about their student loans.
NIU is a good school with a solid reputation. No one will think poorly of an NIU grad. If this is where she wants to go, leave it be. This is her life and her future. Even if she loses the merit aid, NIU will still be cheaper than Urbana.
I don’t see any information about tuition for Fall 2016, but for this cohort you can get an idea. The yearly tuition and fees is about $14-$15k. If you can prove health insurance coverage, you can waive the health insurance fee. http://www.niu.edu/Bursar/tuition/estimator.shtml http://www.niu.edu/bursar/tuition/undergraduate/su16.shtml The tuition will be the same for four years but the fees can change.
Well, if these are the only two schools she applied to, it’s great that she got into both of them and has a choice, but there doesn’t seem to be any reason not to go with NIU.
Even though UIUC has the prestige and name recognition behind it, I think that the latter option seems like the way to go. Personally, I think that you made a very good point: there are few better options for a state school than UIUC for STEM majors. However, like you said, studying as a Spanish major is completely different. If it were my son or daughter, I would make sure that we have all visited the campuses, and then make the decision. If money is an issue, then I wouldn’t hesitate to pick NIU. Good luck!!!
NIU seems like the obvious choice but for a Spanish major, a semester abroad minimum (year preferrable) is necessary, so check out their study abroad offerings: do they offer immersion in local universities? Home stays? are they isolated (just American students) or international or do they include classes with Spanish students (or Mexican student or Costan Rican students)…? Check the variety of countries, too.
Check the level of proficiency achieved - many directionals don’t offer many upper-level language classes and their majors get Advanced ratings, not Superior. Check the textbooks used, whether they start reading literature/culture texts in the Intermediate class or wait till the 4th/5th semester, whether they have a literature sequence and a history sequence.
Is there a Spanish house (a dorm where students speak Spanish, typically with a Spanish-speaking assistant)?
In order to make herself more marketable, I would recommend she adds a Bilingual education/Spanish degree (perhaps with social studies since a lot of upper level Spanish courses will include literature and history and if NIU offers a variety of options picking history/social science classes about Spanish speaking countries + gen eds that apply to these regions of the world would help her with that certification.) Bilingual ed teachers who can teach a subject in Spanish are in high demand.