Which one would you recommend for an OOS undecided major without financial aid? The main factor against Michigan is the sticker price, 56K/year vs 42K/year for Wisconsin. Does Michigan provide a great deal of value - either in terms of better job prospects after graduation or acceptance to graduate schools - compared to Wisconsin? For an undecided, who’ll be exploring subjects, does Michigan provide a greater variety than Wisconsin? Also, the advantage of L&S Honors - does it give an edge over Michigan LSA in any manner? Appreciate any information. (Posted in the Wisconsin Madison forum also)
If you are looking at $56k+ price difference (not the total out of pocket cost), I would suggest to go to the cheaper one unless there is a particular program/major at UMich you want to get into.
I have moved my original post to the OP’s query to Wisconsin for fairness’ sake, though I did feel it was rather balanced. Paying more for Michigan LSA over Wisconsin Honors may not be the best choice for him.
Pay careful attention to what is happening in Wisconsin at the moment. The OOS tuition could be in for a big jump or programs cut back/cut out.
btw/ Sociology is also a top ten program at Michigan. The difference is neglible.
But by your logic, rjk, the difference between many majors at Wisconsin and Michigan is negligible, unless the differential at the graduate level is greater than ten spots. Some are, some are not. I do wish you’d lay off on dissuading students from Wisconsin until budget proposals and their effects are solidified. It is not news to many, and nobody knows quite what will happen, save for the continual retractions and shifting on policy that has already transpired due to the significant efforts of faculty, citizens and many others in the interim. And your links on the budget issues have been from January and February – it is April, and there has been movement since.
And let me add, once again, that if Michigan does make sense, and is affordable, it is a very fine choice, and I have absolutely nothing against it. I am quite fond of Michigan, and especially some of its graduate programs.
I’m sorry, but to ignore budget concerns and not comment on them would be irresponsible. If I were a student looking to spend the next four years in one location, then I better be comfortable knowing that my school of choice is going to be in good standing. Perhaps if Wisconsin had a 10 billion dollar endowment the 114 million dollars in proposed cuts wouldn’t be so potentionally devasting. I have read that the tuition will not be set until sometime in June. Not good timing for those who have to look at this situation objectively.
If the budget drops substantially, guess where the university is going to head to make up the difference?
Well, the timing isn’t great. But currrently, there is a large premium for Michigan, currently instituted, that means a great surcharge for sticker price, as the OP stated. It was so back in my day, it is so on May 1 this year. Wisconsin historically have not boosted their tuition sky high, even for OOS, because the administration doesn’t allow it.
But let me re-iterate: what has seemed to become news for you in the last week or so has been quite apparent to many for some time. And you seem to have not parsed all of the news yet: originally, there was a two-year tuition freeze in effect for in-state. One of the sillier propositions from the government side was to institute a permanent freeze, which was shot down. This could have had the effect of making the already-low tuition even lower, even for out-of-state students. And you haven’t mentioned this, I presume, because you haven’t been regularly following all of the surrounding proposal issues at Wisconsin until recently. There is an entire thread that was going for some time based upon this. Where were you?
Moved downward: And let me add, once again, that if Michigan does make sense, and is affordable, it is a very fine choice, and I have absolutely nothing against it. I am quite fond of Michigan, and especially some of its graduate programs.
anhy, I agree with RJ. My son accepted to great program at UIUC Business, and there is a tuition freeze, but new Governor looking to cut budget by 31%, $208 Million. Scares the admission out of me.
Thanks to all. Yes, I was aware of the budget cuts in Wisconsin, and reading the quoted articles, it looks like UW is in the process of transforming to more like UM in terms of admitting more OOS students and relying less on state funding. That might be the long term trend, but the worry in the near term is what these cuts will do to resources available to students. My question was also about the advantages (if any) of Michigan vs Wisconsin LS honors in terms of better job prospects after graduation or acceptance to graduate schools, and whether Michigan LSA provides a greater variety/flexibility than Wisconsin for students in the curriculum. For instance, Wisconsin has only a few Certificate programs while Michigan offers a number of minors. Appreciate input on these.
Did you check out the four year graduation rate from both schools anxious00? That should also give you some reason of concern:
Michigan-Ann Arbor 72%
Wisconsin-Madison 50%
There are reasons why these numbers are significant, among them perhaps; Overall quality of student body lower and difficulty in obtaining classes in order to graduate on time.
Michigan realized many years ago that they could not depend on the state for reliable funding. That is why the school grew a huge endowment to compensate for the inevitable . Right now there is too much uncertainty at Wisconsin for me to recommend it over Michigan, even at a reduced rate. If large cuts take affect, Wisconsin is going to have to make some very tough choices; none of them in YOUR favor. Even without large cuts this year, there is no certainty that there won’t be any in the next four (or more) years. It just appears to be very risky for an OOS student to think about spending a lot of money, and yes Wisconsin is still a lot of money, to not be too sure what the future will hold. Contrast that with Michigan and its strong and steady finances. You will graduate from Michigan in four years if you put in the effort. What happens if it takes more than four years at Wisconsin? Half of the student body does it right now…
http://apir.wisc.edu/retention.htm
While it may diminish somewhat, you’re asking the OP to swallow an extra ~$56,000 over four years on the rack rate right now, rjk. We’re not clear how much of a burden that would be on the OP, but it is not something to take lightly, especially as he’s not been admitted yet to Michigan honors.
And please remember that Wisconsin splits its endowment into several categories, where its sum total stands at roughly $5 billion.
“While it may diminish somewhat, you’re asking the OP to swallow an extra ~$56,000 on the rack rate right now, rjk.”
I know what you are saying. There are tradeoffs of course. If costs were the same, then do you honestly think the OP would still be heading to Wisconsin over Michigan at this point in time? Honestly, I would recommend Wisky over U-M for the OP if things were clearer, since the costs right now are significantly less. The uncertainty of the situation over there is what is driving my concerns.
I think we’re more or less on the same page, rjk. In all of my posts to him, I have always left the door open for Michigan. Right now, with costs as they are, his intended interests per the Wisconsin mirror thread, and his honors admission, I’d go with Wisconsin. But … it is really a personal decision. More news from the state of cheese may come, he may get into Michigan honors, who knows …
My personal interest for this potential student lay more in the fact that I really get where he is coming from, as I faced a similar issue in my day: I couldn’t help feeling that Michigan, or some of my University of California acceptances for example, were really worth the surcharge, when I could take advantage of Wisconsin honors, Madison as a city, etc. etc. for quite a bit less. Given that he is interested in history and economics (for now), it is quite interesting that Wisconsin has Rebecca Blank as chancellor, a public policy and labor economist, whom I believe used to head the Gerald Ford school of public policy at Michigan. And I also can’t help feeling that there are a lot of Michigan people, and a lot of Wisconsin people, who feel more sympathy for each other than for many of the other schools and states out there.