Hello, my daughter has been admitted to Purdue university honors college of engineering. But no scholarship. It’s 45 K per year. It’s very out of budget for us she has also been admitted to in state honors college with great scholarship so we will pay a lot less.
Is Purdue worth going to with lot of debt? Or we should just go for in state college with zero debt?
If one of you lost your job, would she have to drop out of Purdue?
What would the interest be on the ~$100k of non-subsidized loans (assuming she is working and you can pay some)?
At $100,000, 5% interest is a lot. 10% is breathtaking. And keep in mind, that’s assuming your family still puts in a solid $20k on top of Federal loans.
Is the state still also engineering?
Yes. It’s KU
Go with what you can afford!
That’s the last option. But if Purdue degree is going to make significant difference in her life’s opportunities then we don’t mind going for debt. The question is- will there be a significant difference? She plans to do Masters also but doesn’t want to put that burden on us.
The great thing about engineering is that there is a nationally accepted standard: ABET, and KU is ABET accredited. Because of that, engineering is flatter than many fields- that is outside a couple of tippy tops, the name is less important than what she does (tell her to apply for summer internships / REU by January of first year). Fwiw, a 5th year to finish engineering is not uncommon (esp w/ in-term internships).
Since your daughter knows what she wants to do with her degree, the best way to make a decision is to speak directly with the school and find out how many kids from that school are able to get into the kinds of masters programs she wants.
When my D was choosing between a higher and lower ranked school, we did extensive research on how people from the less expensive school fared in her desired field. We found that there were tons of alumni doing exactly what she wanted. You can get lots of general advice and thoughts here, but there is no substitute for simply doing the specific research.
Purdue will not magically provide anything that she can’t get from the honors program at KU. Engineers who go straight into the workforce are paid the same no matter where they graduated and grad school admissions depends much more on grades and letters of recommendation than it does on the name of the university attended.
This is like choosing between a Lexus and a Toyota. You can save a boat-load of money by choosing the Toyota.
Purdue is not worth $180k.
I’m with @gallentjill . Saved me a bit of typing!
Wait, why do you have to make a quick decision?
That is not always a helpful metric- it can be reassuring in the affirmative (as in, yes students from that program do well in grad school admissions) but not in the negative (that your student will not do as well as she would at another university). As @happymomof1 pointed out, coming from an ABET program and applying for a Masters (or PhD) in Engineering, what will count are grades, LoRs and experience (internships): there won’t be a bump between Purdue and KU. The students in my collegekid’s top-10 engineering PhD program come from colleges and universities across the “selectivity” spectrum, as do the Masters students she works with.
Fwiw, a PhD in engineering will be fully funded, a Masters will not.
I’d say if she’s going to be able to stick out Purdue then it would be fine, Purdue’s engineering program is notorious for trying to weed out people freshman year.
I agree with the general consensus here - KU is excellent and saves $180K, which is real money. Go Jayhawks!
"is Purdue worth going to with lot of debt? "
absolutely NOT
"Or we should just go for in state college with zero debt? "
absolutely!
This is hard to say (note my profile pic - for my pre-vet son) but go to KU. I’m an engineer and KU is fine! Not worth it going to Purdue!
for women in engineering being at the top of the class is also a plus and more likely to stay in engineering; go to state school save the money, and DD will also be more likely to finish with degree.