<p>Trying to make a decision on my son attending Purdue or University of Tennessee Knoxville. He has been accepted to both for College of Engineering (interested in Chemical). We would be paying out of state for Purdue and incurring some loan debt. In state of UTK with no debt. Trying to decide which would be a better education and pay off in the end . Any advice is appreciated as time is ticking for deadline.</p>
<p>How much debt? Run the numbers here: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid)</p>
<p>Generally speaking, engineering is engineering, and as long as both programs are ABET accredited you can choose the cheaper one. Purdue grads and UTK grads hired by the same company for the same position don’t make different starting salaries. The difference would be in whether or not they get interviews in the first place. A quick phone call to the career centers on both campuses (or to the departments themselves) may be in order so that your son can get more detailed information about on-campus job and internship recruiting.</p>
<p>If the debt isn’t huge, I would take Purdue for engineering. As a Tennessee resident, I think UT falls way behind Auburn, Georgia Tech and Alabama as far as reputation for engineering. Purdue would be the better choice.</p>
<p>happymomof1 - Thank you for your reply. They are both ABET accredited.<br>
MomofWildChild - My son wanted to attend Purdue from the beginning of college searches. He applied to UTK only because we are residents. Wasn’t accepted to GT. Purdue is our choice also but want to justify debt.</p>
<p>classicrockerdad and ucbalumnus usually have good ideas about engineering school choices. If neither weighs in here, you could send them each a PM and ask for their thoughts.</p>
<p>Have to agree with #2. How much debt is a relevant question to consider. $10,000 debt at graduation is a lot different from $80,000 debt at graduation in terms of how much it will restrict one’s choices (e.g. a graduate with high debt may be forced to take a higher paying, but otherwise less desirable, job over a better job that pays less immediately).</p>
<p>Also agree with #2 that contacting the career center about who comes recruiting is a good idea. If the recruiting employer list is much smaller at UTK, then a student there will likely have to be more aggressive at finding companies to apply to for internships and jobs at graduation.</p>
<p>I spoke to the career center and there are less employers recruiting at UTK. I am talking closer to the $80K debt. I appreciate everyone’s input.</p>
<p>As $80,000 in debt is more than any reasonable expectation of pay levels for jobs at graduation, many would say that this amount of debt is too much or too restrictive of the graduates choices in jobs and other life activities.</p>
<p>A common guideline is to have no more debt than the typical first year out of school pay level; a more conservative guideline is half of that or the subsidized Stafford loan limit (currently $23,000 for all four years), whichever is less.</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>$80k in debt??? </p>
<p>Why is this even a question?? NO WAY. Absolutely not necessary. </p>
<p>I hope you realize that a UTenn eng’g grad will get paid the same as a Purdue eng’g grad.</p>
<p>Think about it…if your son were to go to Purdue and incur that life-strangling debt (and yes, it would be), and then he gets his first job…HURRAY!!!.. BUT, then he finds that the other “new hires” are paid that same as he. The other new hires, from UTenn, Tenn Tech, UAH, or other “lesser” schools didn’t take on this ridiculous debt and their paychecks can go to things like saving for a home purchase, a nice apt, a decent car, etc. Don’t you think your son will be kicking his hiney for such a bad decision? oh yes, he will.</p>
<p>If he didn’t want to go instate, then he should have applied where he would have gotten a good amount of merit…like Bama, UaH, Miss St, etc.</p>
<p>I spoke to the career center and there are less employers recruiting at UTK</p>
<p>Then where? Purdue? </p>
<p>Even so, it’s not worth $80k in debt. If anything, go to UTenn for the first 2 years and then transfer somewhere.</p>
<p>Frankly, I HIGHLY doubt that the UTenn Eng’g grads are sitting around unemployed or underemployed.</p>
<p>jleafh</p>
<p>This is a really hard question, and unfortunately, not one that we can help you with.</p>
<p>Whether to incur the debt really depends to a large part on what your family financial situation is, and to a lesser extent on your views on the subject of how much college expense is an economic decision.</p>
<p>This being said, I will disagree with the majority here (to some extent). </p>
<p>Philosophically, do not believe that the decision of which college one goes to is a pure economic decision. I think there is independent life-long value to going to a school which is a match, and/or a school that will provide an enhanced educational opportunity regardless of whether it will ‘pay off’ over a career. This of course assumes that one can afford either choice without undue economic hardship.</p>
<p>(I could go into great detail as to why, but I don’t want to bore or preach to anyone – it really is a personal decision)</p>
<p>Our D is attending Northwestern Engineering with no financial aid. She had been accepted at excellent schools that would have been $25,000-$30,000 a year cheaper and didn’t apply to other very good schools that most likely would have given her a free ride. However – we are fortunate enough to be able to afford this without a severe hardship, jeopardizing our retirement, impacting on our ability to put other kids through school, etc.</p>
<p>Will the Northwestern education be worth the investment on a Dollars to Dollars basis. Honestly, I don’t know – however, I readily confess that the decision we made was not entirely an economic one.</p>
<p>So, having said this – if it were ME, I’d send my child to Purdue over UTK (if Purdue was the school she preferred). However, it’s not me, it’s you, and you’re the only one who can determine how much of a hardship the extra expense will be on your family and whether it’s worth it.</p>