I was accepted Early Action to CSOM at Boston College. This has been my dream school ever since I was a child. It will cost me over $100,000 to attend. This was their most competitive year ever for early action and I feel that it has been such an honor to have been accepted. However, I recently received a four year full tuition scholarship to Bentley University. I am pretty sure that I want to major in business, but I am not a hundred percent certain. Attending my dream school at a liberal arts college would give me more options and I have always wanted to go to a Catholic university. Is the BC degree worth the money and will it ultimately pay off to make passing up the Bentley scholarship worth it?
Are your parents willing to pay for Boston College, without loans? If so, then it is reasonable to go there.
I see your dilemma. Major Catholic university (Boston College is not a liberal arts college) versus a mid tier business focused school. For business, Bentley is fine, but not special. Plus a full tuition scholarship still will require you to pay room and board (typically around $10,000 per year) unless you live at home. So, is the difference between the two schools roughly $60,000? If so, that is the cost you need to consider.
Are there any other choices? Hard to believe it comes down to just these two.
My son’s in a similar situation. Completely in love with the idea of doing the CSOM Honors, Catholic school, and participating in the BC bands, but it’d cost us over $250,000 versus $60,000 for Bentley U in four years. We are breaking his heart, needless to say. If Bentley wasn’t such an excellent school, we might have taken out huge loans and made significant sacrifices. Have you made a decision?
Dear Posters : There is no topic that deserves more attention on College Confidential than this : “Is private university debt worth it over the long haul?” As a parent that has put two through Boston College, let me offer some contrasting thoughts on the subject starting from a general view and growing increasingly more specific.
From a macroeconomics perspective, the escalating price of private university education is unsustainable in any current four-year model. Colleges are creating a “double bubble” economic environment where some can pay full freight while lower income families garner the lion’s share of financial aid. Merit scholarships, long the bastion of middle class families at Top 30 universities, are disappearing at an alarming rate as resources are increasingly shifted to a need-blind model. Boston College in my mind is a lightning rod for this issue; all too often, the post-acceptance private school sticker shock, followed by the suitable “Oh My God!” exclamation is heard once that $55,000-$60,000 per year price tag is a reality. An increasing number of middle class families are choosing lower ranked (translation : less expensive) schools in order to make their financials work.
Three year bachelor degrees, increasing participation in on-line rather than on-site education, and combined BS/MS programs over five years are vehicles being investigated by schools across the country to contain full degree costs. All of these elements have gained interest from schools where merit scholarships cannot keep pace with maintain a quality student base. In particular, these changes are certainly appearing in schools ranked by USN&WR from 50 to 150 without question. Liberal arts core courses are most often the victim of such programming changes.
For example, do we really need to have dozens of Economics 101 sections being offered across the country at every conceivable level of university? If this were a pure business decision, one would certainly see contraction in the count of Economics 101 sections regionally and nationally with on-line, self-paced education. How far can this model be taken without corrupting the collegiate experience?
These are all longer term questions.
Let’s look at the microeconomics for a near-term perspective. Two decades are needed to now save for college educations. One cannot get to your children’s High School sophomore year wondering how to finance a college education. This discussion and financial constraint can be well understood years in advance short of hoping for the financial aid miracle. Remember that $100,000 in cash assets, $150,000 in family annual income, and home ownership typically combine to disqualify most middle class families from financial aid awards.
Many who compare $250,000 versus $60,000 (for example) are late in their financing plans. (That might not be your case, Learners, but is often the situation that forces financial decisions such as yours.) Therefore, if you look at the money as a resource already having “been allocated”, you can to some extent take the financial concern out of the decision equation.
But, the core issue remains : does a four year undergraduate education warrant an extra $200,000 spend (per child)? Without considering my math background and compounding, that boils down to $20,000 per year for a decade in terms of earning potential. With CSOM graduates getting offers (confirmed) in the $65,000-$75,000 range (if chosen) with a BS degree, is there a financial difference? I would argue “no”. However, the interviewing opportunities presented by Top 30 schools will typically be stronger than lower schools. While the salaries might be similar, the question is whether a lower ranked school would ever afford the student the same opportunity.
In our family’s case, our older went from a significant undergraduate research project Chemistry to his graduate work at Stanford University. Our younger went from a Mathematics (Arts and Sciences) degree into a substantial internship which directly translated into a first time job consistent with the salary range expressed above. My contention is that Boston College afforded both these opportunities. Could these same outcomes have presented themselves in other ways? Perhaps. Can I prove it? No. Therefore, the difference in cost at Boston College was, for our family, more about long term opportunity than short term considerations.
One of my older’s college friends lived in the Newton area. Both parents were professors with one at Boston College (Arts and Sciences) and the other at Bentley (Business). The family chose Boston College, specifically CSOM, based on better options and ranking of the school. Now, either of those schooling options were free for this family. How might they have decided with a $200,000 price tag difference would be anyone’s guess, but I suspect that they would have chosen Bentley.
Apologies for the length of this essay. Hopefully, the thoughts here provoke some of your own personal thinking in making a final decision, based on finances or other criteria.
Thank you for your input, scottj. We are not rich, but we are thrifty and paid off the home. The issue is that although BC seems to have a more fun social experience, they have only slightly higher starting and mid-career salaries for their honors students. Bentley ranks #20 Undergrad Business (Bloomberg), #1 Accounting, #2 Finance (College Factual), #4 Career Placement. These rankings change all the time and have little meaning other than to demonstrate name recognition, which both schools have proven. If we were talking about a lesser tier college, I wouldn’t hesitate, but a quarter million dollars for one of my several children is a poor business decision given the slim product differences, we believe.
Dear Learners : Excellent response and considered thought. I appreciate the “more fun social experience”, but at some point, one needs to put a price tag on such items. Self-motivated students will succeed given any one of many different foundation experiences. Best wishes to yours for a successful experience with Bentley.
Thanks, scottj, that’s actually a great breakdown of an important issue. I lurk on BC website as I have an 11th grader very interested in BC. Financially, we’ve been fortunate and have school costs covered. Our oldest is at Harvard. Loves it, so we do too. But as one of those supposed quintessential tremendous opportunity schools, this family has its doubts. I believe it’s more about the kid than the school. I believe there are opportunities for research and engagement with excellent faculty at not just the top 30 schools, but at the top 200 schools. Yes, certain undergrad schools give you a leg up at certain firms, but beyond that I’m just not sure any school is worth the extra 100K that the OP is talking about if that 100K isn’t readily available. We know 2 who’ve gone to Bentley and they’re doing well by any standard. We know scores who’ve gone or are at BC and we like what we see there too. But the costs are not an issue for us. One of my oldest’s friend has a parent at McKinsey. Parent meets with the kids couple times each year to go over interviewing, networking, resumes, etc. Very nice. Out of a group that includes students at Harvard, Yale, Williams, USC, BC, Vandy the McKinsey parent says the one most likely to get a post UG position at McKinsey is the one at Miami of Ohio. The kid who didn’t get into any reach school. I think all these kids do well. I know mine is, but I guess my point is that I don’t see any opportunity cost worth 100K or more in debt.
This is the parent of student 818 chiming in. Thank you for all of your responses- very insightful and thought
provoking. Some points to consider:
- Dream school since 4th grade
- Catholic family; I attended BC for undergraduate as did her grandfather
- She overcame tremendous odds for early acceptance: poor high school education; had to create opportunities
for personal advancement to stand out. - She has strong communication and language skills; considering a minor in Communication, English or Spanish
(she is bilingual) and cannot do this at Bentley. - Her verbal and writing SAT scores are far above Bentley’s student range.
- BC is an ideal fit for her; she doesn’t get that feeling about Bentley and would much prefer a liberal arts college than
strictly a business school. - Bentley seems to be known for Accounting and Finance; she thinks she will major in Marketing.
- She would have to commute to Bentley (housing not covered); housing is covered for BC.
- She received the Presidential Scholarship from BU, but overall amounts to same cost to attend BC
- For BC she will take out student loans (approximately $25-30K); we can pay for 2 years and we will receive some
help for remainder along with some loans. - We have two younger children to educate; not as strong academically; possibly attend state or lower cost
college than BC.
We are leaning towards BC because she will have more choices, better fit, and think it will pay off over long-run.
Would welcome feedback.
@student818
Sounds to me like you have a strong case for BC. Especially the SAT scores being far above Bentley, plus BC being the “ideal fit.”
The only real issue is money. If you are okay with the costs and debt, then BC definitely seems like the better choice.
BC also offers more options, if she decides that business is not the field she wants to major in. Most students do, in fact, change majors at least once.
Thank you again to scottj, NROTCgrad, and doubtful for your points.It has given me a lot to consider over the last 24 hours. I was completely focused on bottom line. It made me angry, b/c I know my child would thrive at the expensive school, as it seems like such a perfect fit. One thing I’ve realized is that if we send our child to a school he clearly doesn’t want to attend, keeping him from his dream school, do we not apply to ivies/2nd tier schools for his siblings in the future? Or do we set him up to be resentful of them and us? If we say no to applying to a BC-type school for the others, will our younger children slack off on grades or continue to do their best? I think I know the answer.
There is nothing wrong with focusing on the bottom line. In fact, it is necessary and is probably the number one factor. College does cost money. However, it is not the only factor.
The big question is whether you can swing BC without major debt. If the entire additional cost will be in loans, then choosing BC is nearly impossible to justify.
@Learners:
While we loved watching our son go through BC and seeing all the ways he grew from it, Bentley is also a great school. Only you can answer the expense concern. But if the choice is Bentley, your child may have some initial disappointment, but will surely find him/herself 5-6 months from now thriving there.
Learners, I feel you. It’s so hard being a parent of several kids, all different and you want the best possible opportunities for each of them and you want to be fair. The difference between these two schools is substantial both financially and quality-wise. On the one hand, if you send your oldest to Bentley, you might feel guilty and this will affect the college process for the younger ones. If you send your oldest to BC, you’ll feel guilty that you are spending so much money that could have been used for the younger ones. It’s heart wrenching. I have noticed such a big change in this entire college process for the last 5 five years (could be more changes, I don’t know since I’ve only been in this for six years), and I’m sure the next six years will also bring many changes. By the time your other children are ready for college, the situation may be very different, plus they are different people.
This is such a personal decision for you-none of us know your financial situation, and all that. I just have to say that BC is an incredible school and have given mine certain opportunities that I don’t think could have been obtained elsewhere (due to mentoring and guidance). But this is a personal decision we’ve made built on many various factors and on our particular backgrounds and life experiences. Everyone is different. However, I strongly believe that you should go with your heart because as a mother you will never go wrong when your decisions are based on love for your children. After deep soul-searching, whether you chose Bentley or BC, it will be the right choice.
I recently came across a post wherein the OP was torn between two schools. Someone chimed in with something like this (unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the person who contributed this to give him/her credit, but I find it so logical and helpful) : There is school A and school B. School A is heads and school B is tails. If you flip the coin and it lands on school A, would you flip the coin again?
I am not a fan of the concept of fit. Probably has to do with my upbringing. My parents didn’t go to college but did well for themselves. I applied to the one college my parents decided I could go to and was told to pay for room and board, books and fees. They covered tuition. I was a NMF. I arrived there without ever having seen the school and made the most of it. And I was grateful for their help and felt lucky to be there and this school is definitely 2nd or 3rd tier. Fast forward 30 years and we have the money for anywhere and made it clear to kids that if they got in we’d take care of all the rest of college expenses – then they’re on their own! As daughter went thru process she was convinced that she could be happy at any of about 50 schools. She still feels this way despite loving Harvard. Getting in wasn’t an honor and rejection isn’t a slap in the face. There’s a lot of opportunity if you just look around and if you don’t look hard for it at Harvard, some kid at Oklahoma St who was looking is going to beat you out. Son is the same way – he has his favorites and with his stats he’ll likely have some nice choices but he has absolutely no hand wringing about the process. Like a lot of things, we parents set the tone for our kids in ways large and small. If we’re worried, they’re worried. If we’re calm, they’re calm. I wouldn’t want to send my kid to a school they hate – why’d they even apply, love thy safety and all that – but IMHO and FWIW ( which is not much!) the college rankings do us all a disservice and keep us from focusing on the fact that there are many, many wonderful opportunities at a whole lot of colleges and universities in the US. College debt is certainly better than a lot of other kinds of debt, but I wouldn’t borrow 50K to make Stanford happen for my kid if they could go to any other decent school for free. Sometimes it’s what we do for our kids that’s most important and sometimes it’s what we don’t do for them. The more really successful people I meet, the more I’m convinced it’s about them and not their diploma. I believe Harvard kids do well because the school selects mostly for successful, driven kids not because Harvard provided them with loads of opportunities. Sorry if this all sounded kind of soapbox preachy and came off strong. If I believe in anything it’s that there are very few right answers in this world. These are tough issues and this was just one guy’s opinion. Good luck.
Very well said, and I agree wholeheartedly.
In this situation, the “fit” issue is, in my view, about the fact that Bentley is overwhelmingly focused on business. Thus, a student needs to be sure that business is what they want. If they discover after beginning classes that business is not what they want, then some significant problems could ensue. In other words, Bentley is a tight “fit” not a loose fit. If something changes, the fit could become quite unpleasant.
One question OP might consider is “how easy would it be to transfer from Bentley to BC, or some other school, if the student determines that majoring in business is not where the future lies? And what would be the total financial cost of transferring?”
I do believe in fit, but fit belongs to the luxury of choice and by making things “fit”. If you don’t have the luxury of choice, you make the most of the situation you are in and “make it fit”. Back in the day, I also didn’t have the luxury of choice, in fact, given my circumstances it’s a miracle that I even went to college. But I got some very lucky breaks for which I will always be grateful. Fast forward. Today is very different from the time I went to school, and I am not the same person, either. There is no way that I would watch my kids go through similar experiences.
Colleges are different and afford different opportunities or not. Colleges also emphasize different things, that is, the atmosphere or college culture. For example, BC emphasizes community spirit and “men and women” for others, and they really mean it. Bard is very different from Notre Dame, Oberlin from Carnegie Mellon, MIT from Brown, etc. True, just by going to Harvard doesn’t mean success, just as going to a much lower ranked college doesn’t mean lack of success. The students who are driven, motivated, and want to succeed, will succeed wherever they land. That’s a given, hopefully.
I am just one parent, but for me (and my husband), there are right answers to tough issues. There can be many answers, as right for one person may be wrong for another. Right answers come when one makes decisions based on what one feels is right for that person or family. Yes, these are indeed tough decisions when picking a college, but one has to eventually make a choice. That is why I put in the coin toss analogy. Because deep down, we each of us know what the right choice is for our own particular situation.
I appreciate all the viewpoints on this topic. I just want to add that I think Bentley is an excellent school and offers the tools to succeed, including a top notch career services dept. My daughter, who will be applying to schools next year and who is also a great student, loves Bentley and would jump at such an offer. Lucky for the OP and my son, these are both quality programs. It’s true that accounting/marketing/etc classes at one school will cover the same material as any other school. A skilled, tenacious person will go far. I know several people who went to no-name or 3rd tier schools and are CFOs/CEOs today. I really loved BC and could see my son thrive there more than Bentley based on his personality and musical and athletic interests. He would likely be happy at Bentley once he got there. I just don’t want to have regrets as a parent providing a special opportunity for siblings and not my eldest. Luckily, we got this covered. If we didn’t, he’d go to Bentley, his second choice, and make the very best of it. In the end, I realize he will likely make a similar salary. Good luck, student818, you are smart to think this decision carefully. Also, collegecarla, your coin-toss analogy resonated with me. Thanks for sharing!
Learners:
The question I would ask is what other schools are in the running. (Not from the NE, so never heard of Bentley until I saw their Ad on the T, and I’m a big fan of the liberal arts Econ over an undergrad biz degree, so Bentley would not even be on my kids’s application lists. Not trying to diss the school, but just giving you a different perspective. )
BC’s Core vs. all-biz-all-the time, just seems like a strange college list to me. Bentley maybe highly regarded in New England, won’t its degree is not very transportable. Maybe that’s ok now, but business is becoming more national/international…
Thus, my query. Sure, BC is mighty expensive at sticker. What about a heavy discount from 'Nova or Fordham, or one of many other fine undergrad b-schools in the NE. Or what about your instate public Uni? Does it offer undergrad biz?
What is his major? Finance? Marketing? Accounting? (The Big Four hire from everywhere.)
One other thing to consider: many/most(?) college students change their majors 2-3 times in college, so how sure is your S that he wants to major in bidness? If he get bored out of his mind in Accounting, and the all of a sudden loves English, what are the options to change majors at Bentley?
btw: you mention other siblings on-deck, so to speak. If this is your first in college, and you have multiple kids in college later, you might qualify for need-based aid at BC, at least for that year. Run the financial aid calculator and put one kid into college, and then two, to see the difference. It might help.
Good luck.
parent/studnet 818: if the loans are just federal loans, and the four-year total is $25k, then I’d say that investment is well worth it. If you will need to borrow $25k per year, then ROI is not so easy. (Note, the student can only borrow ~$5k/yr, so the parents would have to borrow the rest.
But yes, Bentley is not the place for someone who is unsure of business. Same question to you as I posed to learners: what other options are out there?
Learners, the coin toss analogy really resonated with me too when I read it in another post. Since then I have been using it and it helps me a lot. Good luck to you and your family.