UC Boulder?

Hi, I am applying to UC Boulder and I was wondering if it is worth the out of state tuition and if they give good financial aid. I live in Tennessee and would love to live out west. Unfortunately, Boulders tuition is 50k a year and I don’t know if I can afford it. Do they give generous financial aid especially if your parents combined income is over 200k? I would like to study anthropology and they are suppose to have an excellent program. I also applied to University of New Mexico as a safety. I would rather attend Boulder though because I feel like a degree from here would help me get a job in California. Thanks!!!

I don’t know enough about the school to answer any of your questions, but just so you know, it’s CU Boulder, not UC Boulder. Probably in order to distinguish it from the (relatively) close University of California system, all the schools in the University of Colorado system are called “CU” “City”.

It is University of Colorado Boulder. Yes better known as CU but changed with the University of Colorado Denver campus addition.

Merit and aid is minimal at best.

Based on personal experience with my son last year, they offered very little aid. It didn’t even make a dent in the OOS tuition price.

I agree with @bahiablue. Based on our experience last year, my D was offered $6250 a year plus $1500 from the engineering dept.

Haha Ok sorry CU Boulder. But will a degree from get me a good job that could pay off all the student debt?

^^^ @cardinal2020mom Yep, that was the exact amount my son was offered.

@sdsupride There are many people on this forum that are way more knowledgeable than I am, but do you want to be $200,000 (if not more) in debt at age 21? I’m not meaning it to be critical, but it’s just something to think about.

The degree doesn’t get you a job. You get the job; the degree is a tool in your toolbox. Is CU well regarded? Yes, it’s a good school. Will that guarantee you a job? No, especially if you want to go in to anthropology, which is a tiny field. I would suggest you minimize your debt. How much can your parents pay a year? How much are they willing to pay? Are you able to hunt for merit aid at other schools?

I am applying to U of New Mexico because I got the amigo scholarship which is instate tuition. CU’s anthropology dept is ranked much higher than New Mexicos though.

How much are you going to have to take out in loans, though? You need to have a conversation with your parents about how much they will cover per year, at any college. Then you can figure out how much debt you’ll have at the various schools, and then make the determination of how much debt is acceptable to you (hopefully, you have as little debt as humanly possible). Continue looking for merit aid at a wide range of schools. 200,000 is a high income and it probably won’t net you significant need based aid. Consider your in-state options. I know you want to live out west, but think about the fact that you’ll be in a much better place to move later in life without a ton of loans hanging over your head.

My net price is New Mexico is 14000 per year which my parents can afford. I had a discussion with my parents about Boulder and they said I would probably be around 125k in debt plus interest. I just want to get a degree so I can live happily in California.

This is how I thought about it when I was deciding on schools: Am I going to be $ happier at Davidson than Mt. Holyoke? Is the educational difference significant enough to be worth that price? The answer for me was no. And now I love Mt. Holyoke a ton and am super happy here. Are you going to be about $125,000 happier at CU than at New Mexico? Also consider the fact that you might change your mind about what you want to study - I know it feels like you for sure know, but it won’t really be clear until you start digging into the meat of the subject. Is it going to be worth it even if you decide you don’t want to study anthropology and instead a different subject?

You have a zero debt option versus a lot of debt option. You will have a lot more flexibility in job placement if you graduate with no debt and don’t have to worry about paying off your loans, which might even make it easier to move to CA after graduation. New Mexico provides a good education - in a lot of ways, education is what you make of it. Just my 2¢.

Does anyone know if it is easy to gain in-state residency here in Colorado?

No. It’s very, very hard. See here:
http://www.colorado.edu/registrar/students/state-residency/guidelines
In order to apply for reclassification as an in-state student, you must have established your home in Colorado for at least 12 months, cut all legal ties to your former state, and your parents may not claim you as a dependent on their taxes. It’s designed to be impossible for OOS students to move to Colorado, pay OOS for a year or two, and then apply for in-state tuition. Reclassification is incredibly difficult, because all students who seek reclassification are assumed to be doing it solely to save money, barring “clear and convincing” evidence to the contrary. In essence, unless a student comes to CU as an OOS student and then becomes financially independent, lives in Colorado for a year, and can point to clear evidence that they plan to make Colorado their home for the foreseeable future, it isn’t going to happen.

I found this on one google search. I get that CU is your dream, but please don’t make a foolhardy decision that will put you hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. No school is worth that, especially since you have other good zero-debt options.

With one caveat: don’t attend a zero-debt option you aren’t excited to attend. Seek alternatives. You still have time to apply to other schools. Make sure you target schools that you would love to attend.
Also, there are few schools whose name on the degree alone impact your employment rate - they have to be so well reputed, whether for that region or nationally. Pick your 4 years based on fit for you for the next 4 years.