Hello, My daughter has admit to ASU Barrett Honor program for Computer Systems Engineering (change change to CS easily) and 4 year cost will be $60K.
Also, she has admit to University of Michigan - LSA Computer Science program. Total cost will be $280K
Is Michigan worth an additional $220K? Please provide your feedback. I hate to see her take on lot of debt (If I help her with an additional $40K) Is the BS from UMich worth taking on $180K student loan?
Not chance I’d recommend taking out loans for your D. She will be highly employable with a CS or CSE degree for ASU, especially as part of the honors program.
Congrats on a great school at an affordable price!
Have you run the net price calculator for Michigan? It is one of the few public colleges that provide very good need based financial aid (and very limited merit aid).
The net price calculator will give you an estimate of the need based aid. Have they put together that package yet for you? Not being notified of merit when you are admitted, does not necessarily mean they expect you to pay full price. There is some need based aid for out of state students as well. Are you sure you are comparing the final numbers?
We did not qualify for any need based aid. At ASU, she got scholarship to cover all of the tuition and part of the other expense. In short, Michigan is full price. This hurts a lot because I am a Michigan Alum and do not have $280K after tax money to send to the school I love.
ASU is a magnet for bright kids with their great merit aid. Employers know it. She’ll do well there. She can only borrow $5,500 her freshman year, so it seems like there is only one real option, and lucky for her it’s a good one. Plus, let’s face it, she’ll have better weather.
$180k debt for undergraduate is a bad idea. As the parent, you would have to cosign most of it. Since you do not have the money, it would be a bad idea for you as well.
Congrats on your daughter having great options for college. I am also Michigan alum (graduate school) and get the emotions but ASU is the correct play here IMO. She can always go to Michigan for graduate school. Neither of my children even applied to Michigan because I wasn’t able/willing to pay full price. Also, the renewable scholarship max is $20k/year which would still leave a significant financial gap.
seconding/thirding ASU there. Barrett + CS or CSE will be an enjoyable experience and will not result in worse professional outcomes, at least not to the tune of 200K.
@Gooblue , last year we had the EXACT same choice. I’m a Michigan alum like you, and my daughter was admitted to LSA, but also ASU Barrett and WP Carey Business School with a full tuition ride. (She also could have gone to UCSB, UCSD, and Cal Poly SLO, among others, so this made the choice even more competitive).
She chose ASU Barrett and is very happy there. We are going to Tempe next week to see her.
ASU, especially Barrett, is an excellent school. The caliber of the kids in Barrett is very high. The choice to me is obvious. No school is worth that much more money. (and the weather 7 of the 9 months is much much better)
With a CS degree, she will be employed. I would recommend you check this out on where Silicon Valley recruits. Check out #10 and #11. Silicon Valley Recruiting at Universities
I agree with the other suggestions. That’s far too much debt for a bachelors degree, especially for a degree as ridiculously employable as computer science. Tech is an industry driven by hands on experience. In fact, after about 3 years experience, employers don’t even ask where you went to school.
Just an update. My daughter changed her mind and switched to ASU Barrett Computer Science program with scholarship from Michigan CS with over $200K loan. I am happy she made a wise choice and I am thrilled that she will stay close to home and in great weather city. Thanks all for your pointers and discussions.
That’s great! Our daughter is thriving at ASU and had a good internship this past summer. Can’t see it turning out any better than it has. I’m sure it will be the same for your daughter.
Would highly encourage you (and anyone else) to listen to this 30 min podcast interviewing Michael Crow, ASU’s President. Really informative, great story, and enlightening on ASU’s mission: The Blue Collar Leader of America’s Most Innovative University