My daughter attended the Johnson weekend at W&L and fell in love with the school. She was not offered the full-ride scholarship. She has been offered a partial scholarship, but after our contribution, she would graduate with about $75,000 worth of debt. She was offered a full tuition scholarship to Arcadia University but she is not crazy about the school.
The perks of Arcadia would be graduating with zero debt, an amazing study abroad program (where travel and immersion would all be included in the scholarship - we would only have to pay for room and board,) and acceptance into their honors college as well as their accelerated (3 year) International Business program. The negatives for her are that it’s too close to home, too many commuters, not sure she would find her people.
The perks of W&L are that it’s a nationally ranked liberal arts school, she met many incredible people and felt like she could easily fit in, she’d have more built in exposure and opportunities as a business major. Overall, this is what she’s worked toward throughout high school and this is the college experience she’s dreamed of.
The question is whether $75,000 of debt is too much for an undergraduate business major when she has an opportunity to graduate debt -free. If she hadn’t received the full scholarship, the choice to attend W&L would be a no-brainer for her. We are all torn so any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Does she understand what 75K of loan payments means in terms of a monthly budget (and for how many years)? W&L business majors generally have strong employment prospects, so she may feel it’s an acceptable level of debt, but you are right that it is not insignificant.
What other options (besides Arcadia) does she have?
She understands on a surface level, but I think she’s too young to fully understand how crippling debt can be. Honestly, these are her two best options. Millersville’s cost comes in a few thousand cheaper than W& L and she also got into Pitt Honors but at a few thousand more than W&L.
She needs to get it on the level of very limited or no vacations/eating out/new clothes (or whatever she enjoys) for a period of ~n years. Assuming you are cosigning as she cannot borrow that much on her own - is she clear with the idea that you expect her to repay the debt? It may well be too hard at her age to understand delaying the purchase of a house or having kids or the impact on saving for retirement.
Not to say this is an impossible level of debt for a fine education - but this is something she needs to understand thoroughly before making her decision and not fall victim to magical thinking.
Would she be willing to be an RA subsequent years after her freshman year? If so, how much would that shave off the cost? Have you tried to politely ask FA for a little more? Nothing to lose… Do you have other kids who will be attending college in the next 4 years? If so, have you run calculator or asked FA how that would impact EFC? W&L is great school - but $75k in debt is a lot to be saddled with. And if she wanted to study abroad, that could also add to the cost. Good luck.
I feel your angst. First of all, your daughter sounds very smart…and being able to get a degree in international business in only 3 years is an extraordinary thing. And I also get her desire for W&L. But here’s the thing…that $75,000 is going to really limit her life…and give her many fewer options. My first-born is graduating college in 4 weeks…4 years ago, she had a wide array of colleges to choose from…and (because of our financial status) we weren’t able to get meaningful financial aid. She ended up choosing a mid-tier school (a great school but mid-tier as far as finances goes) instead of the more seductive schools (and more $). Four years later, she is graduating completely loan-free (she worked 3 jobs at a time at college and I’ve been able to pay the rest) and now she’s weighing final financial offers from both Hopkins SAIS and the Fletcher School of Diplomacy. She has met student after student at admitted student days who not only are going to have to take loans for grad school ( as she will) but also have large undergrad debt and may have to back out of this option altogether.
But I know this is a hard perspective for an 18-year-old to have. Is the study abroad a semester or a year?
FA did offer us a little more, which is why W&L is now an option. Their first offer wasn’t enough to make it viable. She would consider being an RA but there’s no guarantee that she would have the option. We do have a son who will be attending college in two years. I will call FA and ask about this on Monday. I need to ask about extra study abroad fees as well. Thanks for the ideas.
Especially with another one who will be attending college in two years I would go the debt free route unless you can afford to also do this for the next child. Unfortunately you don’t know what it will cost to send him for four years and he may not get an equally good offer. A 75k loan is a big monthly payment.
@SouthernHope thank you for sharing your daughter’s experience. The study abroad options at Arcadia are very diverse. She has a guaranteed spot for the spring semester of her freshman year in London. She has full year or semester options in subsequent years as well. The travel experience and opportunity for a 3 year degree would be amazing. She’s worried she’ll be missing out on the real college experience if she goes to Arcadia and she feels that she would be led to better internships and work opportunities at W&L. It does seem like so many kids have debt and it seems like it’s becoming normalized with this generation.
If your daughter was a Johnson finalist, then the school highly desires her as a student. I know you’ve contacted FA. I might contact her admissions officer and say “W&L is my #1 school if I can get the scholarship award to XYZ amount”. They might reroute to FA, but maybe having the admissions/Johnson person behind it would help.
I think that studying abroad during college is important. Much different experience than going abroad as a tourist or on a business trip. I bet that most folks would be amazed at the number & variety of foreign study options that your daughter will have over the course of her three years at Arcadia. (One semester per year in a different country.)
Arcadia is really the only option, as things stand right now.
W&L’s annual cost of $27K, less 10K parent contribution, less $5.5 student loan freshman year, still leaves $11.5K. Students are limited to $27K loans in total over the 4 years ($5,500/$6,500/$7,500/$7,500)…meaning your student cannot take out a loan for that $11.5K. It would have to come from a Parent Plus loan, or a private loan, which even if in the student’s name will require a co-signer. Either way parents are on the hook for the additional loans.
@nodebtwanted - look at payment calculators on the web. The one at finaid.org is decent. Input your numbers and you will see a monthly payment. This can be hard for an 18 yo to understand, but at the very least you are educating yourself as a consumer. At W&L, in addition to your direct costs, there will be sorority related stuff to pay. I hear that’s a big aspect of that college. W&L has a very wealthy full pay student body that can afford many extra things - expensive vacations, fancy clothes etc . Is you daughter okay to be somewhat financially constrained at W&L? On the plus side, she can hope to make connections that will help her land some summer jobs - more opportunities for that at W&L than at Arcadia.
We chose W&L. Went back to visit both schools this past weekend. There is no comparison between the two. We met with financial aid and re-evaluated the finances to determine that the most debt she will have is about $45,000 and she has the opportunity to alleviate some of that if she chooses to become an RA. I feel confident that we’ve made a good decision. Thanks for asking.