I posted this in the Parent Forum but wanted to see the UDel contingent’s thoughts:
Complicated question, but my son got into Penn Engineering last week. He had previously gotten in to Delaware (Honors College) with a Distinguished Scholarship award of $120,000 over 4 years. He is accepted into bioengineering at Delaware, and would likely do the same at Penn. We would get zero need based aid. Net cost at Penn for 4 years is now ~$280,000. Delaware would be ~$64,000. If needed, we could pay for Penn, but it would hurt a little, and he would have zero money left for possible grad/medical school (end game not certain at this point). He would be a ‘big fish’ at Delaware, with priority registration, extra advising, honors housing, program flexibility, etc. But, it is not Penn. Any thoughts from the Delaware contingent on pluses and minuses to this dilemma?
Could always go to Penn (or another Good™ school) for his further education. A professor once told me that the place you get your BA doesn’t really matter, it’s how you perform and learn within your college experience. I’d say that UD is a better bet, if only because it’s cheaper and grad school is expensive. 
(Best of luck with your decision, and congrats on Penn!)
I don’t really think your S will get a better engineering job because he graduated from Penn. and grad schools won’t care where he did his undergrad; gpa and test scores are what is important there. With such a huge price difference, I don’t really see what the payback would be for going to Penn. Of course if your financial situation allows you to do either, think about what is most important to you and your S. No way could we afford that $280,000 price tag on one child, so we wouldn’t really have a decision to make. Best of luck in your decision. What is right for some is not right for everyone, so take the advice offered here as only one data point in your decision process. FWIW, as an engineer in the field, UDel is well respected for its engineering program–one of the best in the country.