We started with 109 - so 45 doesnât seem overly large
Once you visit schools, you will see some come off the list quickly - because if you go to one in the boonies, and she hates that - then you can take all similar off. If she goes to one thatâs too smallâŠetc. etc. 45 is not too many. You can always visit locally to start - you can measure size, do they like urban, suburban, etc. Many kids think they have desires - but after visiting a few, those desires quickly change. Some even judge aesthetics - some like the look of Duke (lots of stone), others donât but like the clean red brick of an Alabama.
I suggest you set her up with a college email - I donât know her name but we used my kids name, hs nick name (Indy for Independence) and 21 (her graduation year - but whatever you use - indyjen25@gmail.com type thing. Go onto all 45 ârequest infoâ and sign up. Youâll get info, eventually fee waivers, and the like - again, we started 109. I managed it - and as we cut, I unsubscribed.
As for cost, thatâs ALWAYS personal - but depending on career desires, you may not have to over overspend. I spent less than half the 529. Itâs a problem I suppose - but a good problem. So if youâre ok at $90K, itâs great. But if you find a fit at $40K and have money left over - thatâs a better scenario (at least in some peopleâs eyes).
I canât speak to finance specifically - but if itâs not Wall Street, theyâll likely be employable from most anywhere - unless AI kills that. I think what I would look into is - what type of âspecialâ programs do they have. For example, most have Honors colleges - but some go deeper. At an Alabama, they have Randall Research and Blount Scholars. At College of Charleston, they have the Charleston Fellows and International Scholars. These are all âsubsetsâ of Honors colleges. At a U of SC or UMD, they have different levels of Honors type programs.
Youâll also have colleges (top colleges) with huge classes and others with small classes, even in the gen ed.
I see one of your questions is global - so you know U of SC is tops but my daughter is an International Scholar at Charleston. She chose it over U of SC honors. It requires a double major - but that works well with finance - thatâs back to - are there special programs because itâs a co hort within the Honors College - so itâs small. And the classes at her school are all small - Honors or otherwise - whereas you might have hundreds at a larger school in an intro class - so thatâs the kind of thing your student should think aboutâŠ
Iâd also note - when you look at average salaries - look at for where they are. But for someone who wants to work in the finance office of my company (a foreign automaker) - where they go wonât matter - whether UGA or MTSU or UC Irvine or Oklahoma. But if you want to be on Wall Street, etc. - it might matter.
Given the interests of your child - schools that come to mind - strong in International and Business - U of SC, IU, Ole Miss, U of Denver and more.
But I think you donât need to study international business to get a job in a field with international exposure - as there are tons of foreign companies here or companies that have a lot of their revenue coming from overseas. But if you do study international business, youâll need to be ready to embrace another language as well.
Itâs a bit on target but because neither kid majors in business, thatâs not a ton of direct I can add - but as a business person (not finance but deals daily with finance), I have at least that perspective.
Good luck.
PS - hereâs some schools so you can compare - and note the geographic discrepancies at an IU which really show you why some make more (it costs more). I put schools in an array of rankings - to show outcomes. Most companies, btw, pay similarly regardless of school because their jobs have a range. I would make sure you are comparing apples to apples - some report base salaries - but some put in signing bonus or expected annual bonus to inflate them. They should tell you what theyâre doing.
I would also be cautious about what you read in rankings - or perhaps you missed the WSJ ones of last week - Iâll put that thread below for you so you can see the zaniness - schools like NJIT and FIU rated 3rd and 4th in the country amongst publics (sorry Michigan, UVA, UCLA, UT, William & Mary, Wisconsin, etc
Salary Statistics: Statistics: Undergraduate Career Services: Recruiters & Corporate Relations: Kelley School of Business: Indiana University (iu.edu)
Undergraduate Placement - Syracuse University Whitman School of Management
Haslam Undergraduate Outcomes : Career Management & Recruiting - Haslam College of Business (utk.edu)
Overview (tcu.edu)
Ranking: Wall Street Journalâs 2024 Best Colleges In America (yahoo.com)