I’m really struggling to decide between two options that I’ve been accepted to.
One is a full ride (tuition + room and board) to the University of Florida through the Benacquisto Scholarship. I’d be in the Honors college and a research program. I know that UF is a great school, but I’m not sure that the environment would be as good for me socially or otherwise.
The other option is a liberal arts college (LAC) usually ranked in the top 7-8. I feel like I’m a fantastic fit for the LAC and I would love to go there. My family can afford this LAC and my parents are as indecisive as I am (meaning their advice changes daily). However, going to this LAC would mean my parents would make me take out the maximum federal loans (27000 over four years) and in addition, I’d have to earn about 4000 per year either through work study or summer jobs to help pay.
I plan to be a science major and go to graduate school. Grad school seems like it’ll be paid for within chemistry/physics, so hopefully that’ll be ok.
Based on my research, it seems like 27k in loans wouldn’t be crippling or anything. However, since it’s a choice between that and a full ride, I have no idea what to do.
I have become a big fan of small schools, such as LACs.
However, I am not a big fan of taking on debt. The current economic situation is particularly uncertain. I also would not be completely confident of getting full financial aid for a master’s degree.
Also, UF really is a great university.
“a full ride … to the University of Florida” sounds really good to me. “the Honors college and a research program” sounds very good also. There will be quite a bit of research going on at UF.
Debt by itself is not a terrible thing within reason. It offers us opportunities that we otherwise might not get.
So what’s reasonable debt for college?
When I went to school–all paid for by me–I got a chance to study at a top LAC (top then, top now) and my total debt when I graduated was $11K. I was an amazingly poor student, made my own clothes, paid for every dime of my college myself. In today’s terms that debt equalled about $27K. From my POV that’s a bargain basement price for an education from an elite LAC. It’s less than the price of a car … and it could potentially boost you. However! There’s a big question here. Average student loan debt is about $33K currently so from a different perspective it’s still a good deal. None of this works for you, though, if the thought of graduating with student debt leaves you awake at night. What’s your risk level…?
Also important: what school do you prefer? Is this LAC in a small cold wintery town and you are naturally habituated to South Florida? Maybe you’ll be miserable at elite LAC … then it’s hard to do well there. There might be other factors to consider.
If however you LOVE the LAC and that is where your heart compels you to go, then don’t let that modest amount of debt discourage you. It’s not that much in the great scheme of things, even with the economic downturn, to my mind. The downturn might last two years or even three, but you have four years of college to weather that storm. And if attending the LAC of your dreams will compel you to achieve greater things, then it might be worth it.
Only you know how much you love one school or the other… maybe UF is where your friends are and feels more like home…
Have you gone back to the LAC and asked them for a little better FA? It’s okay to do that especially now when they’re not sure who will attend. They may knock off a few more dollars to help you out.
@Dustyfeathers makes great points. It’s not a lot of debt relative to others, but it’s a lot if you loathe and can’t stomach the debt.
Full disclosure, S was in a very similar situation. Honors and basically full ride at UF vs. a much smaller private at full pay where we required him to take out the debt and work to subsidize his expenses. Not an LAC but acts very much like one with the very small classes, prof engagement, residential/ community feel, etc.
He chose the intimate feel and has never looked back. He’s currently a junior and we know he made the right decision (for him). He has thrived in virtually every way. No way to know how he would have done at UF as he only has his current experience. That said, he keeps in touch with several HS friends that attend UF / FSU and their experiences have been vastly different (not bad, just different).
I can say with certainty that his life perspective has changed quite a bit as he’s very close to kids from all over the country, has been exposed to many things outside of FL, and is part of an ecosystem that is both collaborative and seeks excellence. Their outcomes are stellar. Again, no way to compare and I’m fairly certain he could have done quite well, albeit a different experience, at UF. But based on his actual experience, I know he is quite happy and we feel it was well worth our money (of which we saved to make that opportunity available).
" plan to be a science major and go to graduate school. Grad school seems like it’ll be paid for within chemistry/physics, so hopefully that’ll be ok."
When you say paid for, I’m assuming you mean Phd programs, if however you wanted just a masters, then you’d have to pay for that, in which case, saving money during undergrad would be more important.
Thanks everyone! To clarify, by grad school I did mean PhD programs. I’m pretty sure I’m going to go with the LAC, but I’m going to do some more online admitted student events at both before I decide.
There are only 7 or 8 possibilities. Chances are it’s not one of the ones in California, so that shrinks the list. I’m guessing not the upper Midwest either. So now you’re down to a handful. ?
As it relates to debt, there’s debt and then there is DEBT. Although we could afford the full pay price tag, we required S to contribute $X per yr (basically to make him accountable and acknowledge the extra expense we would be providing). That could come from summer work, work while in school, loans, etc. Nothing ridiculous but enough to make him justify the difference. Most of that was accomplished via the national loan program which limits what a student can borrow. We would not have made this choice if we or he needed to borrow additional monies as the debt can become somewhat crippling, provide unnecessary pressure, etc.
The max he can directly borrow is 27k. An interesting variable we didn’t calculate in the equation was high paying internships. S has a great internship this summer (virtual of course). It will pay him professional wages vs. a typical summer job. He can use some of that money to pay back loans now or simply not take the loan his senior yr so he’ll graduate with closer to 20k debt. If he takes a return offer or similar paying job, he should be able to knock that debt out in under two years. For situations like that, the debt was not a problem.
So the big difference isn’t the debt, it’s what we are willing to contribute. If your parents are doing the same (sounds like they are), you’ll be fine either way. Thank them and hopefully you’ll be able to do the same for your kids. Pay it forward as they say.
Thank you. We have a similar decision between UF and Tulane ($20k/yr difference). Both are great schools. Tulane provides a more personalized experience both academically as well as other “intangibles” similar to what you describe with Wake.
I like your use of the word, “different” comparing experience between UF and Wake. I feel the same way between UF and Tulane. The difference may be worth the extra costs and we want our D to have some “skin in the game” as well (PT job, student loans, etc…).
Consider your employment though. I believe the young man at Wake is majoring in business and is likely to get a well paid job out of college which will make the debt easier to pay off. You’re thinking of taking 5-6 years for a PhD which is not the same pathway. You may want to do a spreadsheet and work out your debt repayments and what that will look like over 5-10 years.
Also check the course availability at the LAC. Sometimes advanced students ‘run out’ of courses due to lack of graduate level classes. Also check when classes are offered: every year or every other year? May or may not be a problem, but something to consider as well.
Consider also having slack in your budget. An elite LAC is likely to provide a lot for free, but there can be other costs. Internship wardrobe, taking the less well paid but more interesting internship, study abroad costs, travel, going out for dinner and socialising with friends. There are lots of costs which we had not anticipated, and would have been difficult if she’d chosen the school that was within budget but only just.
My D thought she wanted small LAC but in the end chose a liberal arts residential scholars program within a large state flagship. She enjoyed the closeness this gave her - plus access to other majors, people, experiences and so on. It was also under budget but not the cheapest - but this has allowed spare cash for other expenses we hadn’t anticipated.
Good luck - you actually can’t go wrong with either choice!
@CollegeMamb0 makes an excellent point. Think about your path, not other’s. In our case, S is a finance major and most likely will have a solid job in asset mgmt, banking or consulting. They all pay quite well so overcoming a small amount of debt should be no big deal. I say should be as who knows what will happen to jobs based on our current environment.
Depending on program, your PhD shouldn’t cost that much (living expenses at the most and hopefully not even that. I think most expenses are funded and will likely require you to be a TA of some sort). But you won’t be making any real money unless you can fit in work (which would be rough). Assuming you’re not talking about subsidized loans, the interest will accrue (even in UG) so that will add up unless you are able to pay that along the way. We are taking care of the interest in real time (it’s tiny because it’s not accruing) so S will only have to knock out principal.
The experience at a LAC will be greatly different from the experience at UF (which is strong academically, but many first year classes are online or in very large lecture halls, the honors college is subpar compared to other Florida universities - in part because they don’t need it to attract FL residents, but still it means the advantages people assume are common at honors colleges are mostly lacking). Your peers’ academic strength will likely be similar but their focus is likely to be different since the strongest depts at UF involve preprofessional majors.
You can also look at the list of “where science PHDs come from” to see where your LAC ranks compared to UF.
I assume that if your parents saved money so you can choose your best fit college without worrying about money, then you should choose your college within these parameters. After college, it’s on you - it’ll thus be up to you to make the grades, work on research, get published, get involved… so you can get into a fully funded PHD. If you don’t think you’ll be up to that task, then save the money, but frankly if you aren’t funded for your STEM PHD, you shouldn’t be pursuing a PHD.