What would you recommend comparing Northeastern with $20K merit scholarship to University of Michigan out-of-state.
Northeastern comes to $50K (after the scholarship), Michigan to $64K (first year, they increase the cost based on the standing)?
Last year and this year inconveniently put the family out of the consideration for financial package even for the generous schools like Michigan… Is there a realistic chance to get anything from Michigan based on the prior years consideration or discuss the merit gotten from other colleges (like Northeastern).
Any ideas to help decide between Northeastern and Michigan would be very appreciated.
My son has 4.93 GPA, 35 ACT interested in Applied Economics, Data Science, Statistics, Math.
No.
Are either if these colleges affordable for your family?
Does your student have an affordable option?
U of Michigan isn’t going to care about merit awards you received elsewhere. Most of their aid is need based aid, with just a small number of very highly competitive merit awards for OOS students.
So…can you afford $50,000 a year? Northeastern does guarantee the aid for all four years…and I believe the costs…
If you can’t afford $50,000 a year…what can you afford?
It’s not too late for your son to apply to University of Alabama Huntsville where he would get a huge merit award.
Any chance he is a national merit finalist?
That is very helpful. Thanks a lot!
The most affordable option for him is UMass Amherst (in state) for $30K. He does not want to go there. Should I press him? 
He wants to go to Michigan over Northeastern. Would Michigan be better than Northeastern enough to justify the cost difference (which probably will be more than just 14,000x4=$56,000 due to the fact that Northeastern accepts AP credits where Michigan does not)?
Can you afford the extra cost without Parent Plus loans?
From one dad to another do what you can afford. He has only 2 great options here. He is fortunate.
We couldn’t send my daughter to her number 1 due to not getting enough merit. We told her if we did she would have a lot of loans to pay back and couldn’t help her during school even though she does work study /job.
She went to her number 2 school with good merit. She is a junior now and all her loans are paid off so far.
Does he want to take back the $27,500 loans he can get over the 4 years? Or is this already counted in your figures?
My son’s at Michigan and it’s great and we are OOS. But it’s not worth going into major debt for it or any school.
I hear what you’re saying… . Let’s say we could afford extra $100K… It would still be $100K, right? I can use extra $100K… What is extra special in Michigan to justify extra spending?
Another consideration is: we do want to put our son in charge by not paying fully for college anyways.
What are the thoughts about the most reasonable (savvy) way of doing that (beyond $5,500 loan, which he will be taking on)? (I know I am probably putting one million dollar question out there that have been discussed over and over on this forum. Apologies for that)
Either way, it’s already been super helpful and I appreciate your responses very much.
So if you have money put away for retirement (we all can use more) and you can “easily” pay your bills and it doesn’t change your lifestyle drastically. Then go for it. Is it worth $100,000 more. No school is. But Michigan is one of the best Universities period for academics and experience being there. Alumni is a real thing if you take advantage of it. Etc. Etc. But if you can’t afford it then it’s not worth it.
I told my kids that I love them but they are my investment now and I want a big payoff ?. I explained to them I could invest my money in stocks etc or I can invest in their future and I will do anything I can to help make them successful in life.
I mean… They need to help take care of me when I am old… ?.
Your son can’t be responsible for paying for college. Not at these schools.
The Thumper family kids
- Took the Direct Loans...which we then paid back as undergrad graduation gifts.
- Had jobs 10 hours a week or so to earn discretionary spending money.
- Worked to maintain a decent GPA...that was what we wanted first and foremost. Both had merit awards with GPA requirements. They had to meet those.
But really, the bulk of the costs were paid by us parents.
If you can’t afford to pay $50,000 a year for your kid to attend Northeastern and even MORE for Michigan…then these schools are not affordable.
How much CAN you pay annually.
At Northeastern, would he be doing the co-op program too? This can be a nice advantage. Gives some job experience along with the degree.
But only if you can afford the costs.
What did you tell your kid about college costs before he applied? Was skies the limit…or was there a price point he had to hit?
Sky was a limit… He also had decent grades, tests scores and work ethic to apply to Ivies. Unfortunately all mentioned above is not enough for Ivies nowadays… If he would get to Ivies, it would be definitely worthwhile to not look at price sticker. he did not…
So, now, we have to figure out the answer to the question I posted Northeastern or Michigan for $100K extra…
What are your son’s reasons for wanting Michigan over Northeastern? That would be a big factor to me. If it’s for fit reasons where he would be significantly less happy at Northeastern, the 100K may be more worth it than if it’s “I prefer X academics” or some smaller specific things that aren’t worth 100K given that these schools are not night and day in academic quality. Does the idea of co-op appeal to him? If not he’s going to be swimming upstream a bit against the culture there and Michigan may make more sense.
On that note, what doesn’t appeal to him about UMass exactly? It’s a very solid state school as well and for those cost savings if you’re asking the 100K question for Michigan vs Northeastern I don’t see why not extend it to the 180K question or the 80k Northeastern vs UMass question.
This isn’t to say fit isn’t important, but the exact reasons and the severity of difference is what needs to be quantified here.
One option is to offer him a part of the savings - I wonder if he would feel differently about UMass if he got 10% of that 180K taken off the loans for example. If that makes it makes sense to him and be happier with the choice and you’re good offering it, it could be a win/win.
My daughter is at Michigan, but thankfully we are in state so not facing a financial decision like yours. It’s a great school but I would pick the one that your family can afford.
Will you be taking $100,000 in loans to make the Michigan dream come true? If so…I vote NO on that.
“. If he would get to Ivies, it would be definitely worthwhile to not look at price sticker. he did not…”
No undergraduate school is worth a $100,000.00 dollars debt.
My daughter was a combined math/econ major at northeastern. This sounds like the major your son wants for his interest in “Applied Economics, Data Science, Statistics, Math” There were great co-op opportunities for this major at NEU. The two co-ops she had were excellent in helping her decide what she wanted to do (she did 4 years with 2 co-ops). She decided to be an analyst (working in ecommerce) over a more econ centered position. It has worked out very well for her. With her AP credits my daughter graduated with us paying for only 7 semesters of classes (a savings as you point out).
College is a means to end which is gainful employment. In the process you do want fit but no school guarantees one’s financial future. Life is unpredictable. Happiness is important but so is one’s financial health. My child within an hour from home spent less time at home than I did across the country. I would definitely recommend you go to a student acceptance day at your most affordable option to check it out more thoroughly. The reality is the economy changes, as what goes up must go down. Who knows what will happen in four years. You don’t want to saddle yourself or your child with unnecessary debt when there is a neglible difference in outcome.
Can you afford these schools without parent loans? How will you feel about paying them back and how much of a hardship will it be?
These four years go fast and are very unpredictable, regardless of what type of student you have. Things happen…they change majors, are not happy for one reason or another, etc.
Are these 2 schools plus Umass his only 3 options? If you don’t want to push Umass then I would choose Northeastern…it’s less $ than Michigan…but I really hesitate to say this because it will cost an extra $80,000 that you do not appear to have. How will you pay the difference?
Recognize that Umass is a great school and your child’s success will depend on him, and what he does while in college.
The answer is very different depending on whether you DO have the money or would have to borrow.
The “fit” is very different at both though - one has the coop system, the other has the district “all American”/elite feel that you find at Notre Dame or Stanford for instance.
You didn’t give financial parameters to your son.
Therefore the basic idea is that he could attend wherever he got into (an application is not a fun activity).
Did you agree that he could apply anywhere because you hoped he wouldn’t get in?
Did your financial circumstances change?
Did you think you’d take on loans for him?
If you want him to understand the sacrifice it means, have him work - 8-10 hours a week is sufficient for freshmen. Working in the cafeteria will make him more understanding toward a lot of people and respect work earnings.
Have him work as stated regardless. That amount seems typical and manageable for my two kids. They work more /less depending on their schedule and work load. They don’t need to, but want to. My son seems to save most of his money so after 4 years it can be used against some smaller loans.
Something else to consider is going to the less expensive school and using some of the money you would of spent to set up saving accounts for him, if not done like IRA etc account. We did this with our kids when my daughter decided to go to the less expensive option. This way she would have money growing in an account instead of being in debt after college.
Thanks to all for sharing ideas. It was very helpful.