<p>The entire University of Illinois system is very stingy with financial aid. Also, all the MAP money is gone for this year. From what I heard, is that less than a quarter of the University of IL’s budget comes from the state. </p>
<p>Oftentimes, they have problems setting tuitions because they don’t know how much they are going to get from the state until the summer. Than, there is the all issue of balancing and equalizing the state money amongst the three campuses. By far, UIC has the highest expenses of the campuses then UIUC and finally UIS. UIC also has some of the most expensive programs. However, when you adjust for that fact, UIUC still gets more money per student than more expensive UIC. This has been a major issue for the campus.</p>
<p>what does your s like about the school? my s was accepted to business school from midatlantic.
He is concerned that the school is too big, classes too big and taught by grad assts., etc.</p>
<p>Many of the Freshman and Sophomore courses have large lectures that meet 3 times per week, and are taught by a professor. Those courses also have a discussion group of 15-20 students that meet once a week that is taught by a TA under the direction of the Professor. Additionally, a course may have a lab component that is usually taught by a TA. My son loves it at U of I, and is doing well. Everyone that gets into U of I has done very well in high school. Unfortunately, the law of averages takes its toll, and many students have trouble adjusting to the speed at which the material is presented. Having said that, the professors are very good at offering office hours and answering emails.</p>
<p>The Quad, Campustown, the student clubs, greek life, and the traditional university experience are things that make U of I a great place to get your degree.</p>
<p>I don’t think I can pass up everything Balthezar just stated + a top computer science program to go to a relatively unknown private school (SLU). I feel as if 80k of debt upon graduation will be worth a computer science degree from UIUC!</p>
<p>ramzfan: The Fed student loans are I believe $5,500 for a freshman. If that with what your parents have saved or will be able to save does not meet the cost, there is a parent plus loan, which your parents can take (IF they can afford it and IF they are willing) to make up the difference. I think private companies will also loan the gap, and I think your parents would have to cosign. So beyond the $5,500, your parents are on the hook either through taking on the loan themselves or through cosigning.</p>
<p>For what you are planning on majoring in, I think it is reasonable to take on pretty significant debt. U of I is outstanding in comp sci, the job outlook is good, as is U of I’s job placement. As a parent, I look at it as what you plan to do after you get your degree. If you plan on getting a job after you graduate, it is worth it. You will likely land a great paying job. If you want to go to grad school, then the debt will accumulate interest for more years while you are in grad school, plus you will likely get into more debt in grad school. So if grad school is your plan, take on as little debt as possible during undergrad.</p>
<p>80 k in debt is a lot…I believe experts say your undergrad debt shouldn’t be much more than your starting annual salary, so my guess is it is slightly high, but as com sci grads have a nice salary and job prospects, it is within the realm of reason.</p>
<p>And…if U of I does its job and properly educates you, you will leave as a Bears Fan! (JK…kind of)</p>
<p>The situation in Illinois is bad and will get worse. I can’t understand why anyone would choose an in-state public school when there are just-as-good and much cheaper alternatives available, both OOS publics and privates. DD just got her financial aid package from Truman State (in Missouri); it will cost us less than half what UIUC would cost, and also much less than any of the Illinois directionals would cost.</p>
<p>Don’t blame the universities. Blame our beloved General Assembly - and the last two governors (Ryan and Blago) - for digging the state into this hole.</p>
<p>@Mrpapageorgio haha I may become a bears fan, but I’ll never leave the cardinals for the cubs </p>
<p>@annasdad<br>
a couple of my friends are going to Truman State next year, and while it is a top value in the midwest, it does not excel in engineering or the sciences. Plus, the name is unheard of outside the midwest. Even though UIUC is struggling financially, its engineering and computer science departments are top notch. This and the opportunities available for its computer science students is what draws me to UIUC from out of state paying sticker price.</p>
<p>Speaking only from an in-state point of view on the worth of UIUC: S is graduating this semester - ECE dept - we bit the bullet for the cost because of the reputation of the engineering dept. - the privates he was considering were about the same cost at that point after scholarships. He was offered only a token scholarship to UIUC. We were told that scholarships would be available after freshman year. I didn’t believe it. It was true. S received some nice scholarships junior and senior year - based on grades. I can’t say for other majors but there is that hope. If you do well grade-wise, stay involved, do a good internship, etc. (what everyone says to do) UIUC does not fail. S walked away from an amazing internship with an amazing job offer. All the silicon valley companies do recruit. He was also able to get the 4 years down to 3 1/2 but it was lots of work. I consider UIUC a most amazing and wonderful place - a true gem - IF you take full advantage of what there is offered.</p>
<p>annasdad: I follow politics in Illinois fairly carefully, and although Illinois obviously is in a mess for a variety of reasons, I do not see that as affecting the quality of U of I. Quinn is pretty dedicated to education and is generally against drastic cuts. Moreover, U of I guarantees to freeze tuition for all 4 years, so what you pay in tuition freshman year is what you will pay senior year.</p>
<p>Also, to the extent education will be drastically cut, I would suspect it would primarily be cuts in things such as aid, grants, and schools other than U of I in Urbana. There is very little chance that the quality of education will be seriously impacted due to the budget. There are ten of thousands of alum, including many legislators, who would not allow that to happen. Is it POSSIBLE, sure, but highly unlikely that Illinois will allow its highly ranked school to just slip down the tubes.</p>
<p>The freeze in tuition is an IL state law for all public 4 year schools. We know have tuition differentials. Also, fees are not frozen. I believe it was in 2002 or 03, when the state made UIC return $1 million to them. </p>
<p>You must remember, UIUC is not uniquely funded by the state. The state money goes to the University of IL system. The only money which has special earmarks on where it is going to go is money heading to UIC’s health care schools and that is a recent thing. That had to do with making the provision to the health care colleges equal to SIU’s funding. The University of IL bureaucracy than divides the money amongst the 3 campuses. This division is highly controversial and political. The campuses then divide it amongst their colleges.</p>
<p>State funds represent just 15% of U of I funding. Let’s not get all in a snit about state funding. The U of I, as well as all other “state” universities has been forced to raise tuition to make up for the cuts. So as far as Quinn or the legislators not allowing a flagship to implode, they’ve long ago abdicated their responsibilities in the funding area, and U of I has had to take over itself.</p>
<p>My only point was that Illinois financial situation should not be a basis for a prospective student to decline U of I, as the school is not on the brink of collapse. Also, passing the buck for tuition should. It be a factor, because if the student can afford it now, tuition is frozen for four years, so even if tuition gets jacked up in the future, it will have no effect of the student.</p>
<p>No, it won’t affect the quality. But it means that some kids who formerly chose UIUC because it was the best school they could afford now have equally good alternatives that are cheaper. My D has three offers on the table from good private schools (plus the one from Truman State) that have lower net COAs than UIUC. And she’ll get just as good an education at any of them.</p>
<p>@annasdad - I hope your daughter will do well wherever she decides to attend. Also, I’m sure your right about Illinois pricing itself out of range for some kids. They’re not suffering when it comes to matriculation yet, however. I expect that we’ll eventually see an impact at many institutions as tuition continues to rise, not just at Illinois.</p>
<p>ramzfan13 - he didn’t have an ‘official’ internship until the fall semester of his senior year but he did do some very interesting paid projects freshman, sophomore, and junior year. He really should have tried to get an internship junior year but he ended up doing just fine without it. I would not worry about trying to get an internship for freshman year but being involved in projects is important.</p>
<p>I would think very carefully about the debt to go there though - to get the really good job offers you need to do well your whole time there. It is a difficult program. It isn’t just a done deal to get the job offers - and plenty of students who were top in hs drop out of the program. Please think very carefully before you decide to do this!</p>
<p>I get annasdad’s point as this is exactly what happened with my D - has gone to a private for half the cost of UIUC but this would not have been a wise choice for S. UIUC is a great school - a great choice depending on circumstances. It used to be a no brainer - go to the great flagship but this is now another option to be weighed carefully.</p>
<p>UIUC is terribly expensive and we’ve been able to get cheaper educations for our first 3 children by sending them to private schools and getting some grants (our EFC per child was fairly low the year we had all 3 in school!) in addition to merit awards . Child 4 is different. He is a true math/science/engineering kid (the older 3 were not). We’re strongly considering UIUC for him (if admitted, he should be) because it is far and away the best school he will probably be able to get into for his career interest. Even though he could probably get a much better deal from SLU due to the family discount of $3.000 per child (his sister goes there), SLU’s engineering doesn’t offer what he wants. I couldn’t afford to send the first 3 to UIUC and pay their full price.</p>