Villanova Worth It?

Yeah, I wouldn’t pay a quarter of a million for Villanova unless I were made of money. There are a lot of good Catholic schools for a business degree.

Among your options, Fairfield, Providence, and Loyola would seem like better choices, UNLESS you can afford Villanova without having to take any form of loan (HELOC, parent PLUS, etc.)
If you do have the money and choose VIllanova, for this amount invested, I’d have the child work a few hours a week (no more than 8 as to not affect schoolwork, but sufficiently that she understands how much that amount represents in real work hours for you.)
I agree that applied math + advanced knowledge of a geographical area + work + elite MBA would serve your daughter as well.

No, the debt probably isn’t worth it.

Villanova appears to be phasing out merit, at least in the traditional sense (i.e. a large discount for a certain set of stats, regardless of income).

The full-ride Presidential is highly competitive. I believe finalists are offered half tuition. The V scholarship is for token amounts and averages approx. $7,000.

So the university is committing its money to need-based aid. The average award is considerably higher than either Providence or Fairfield. It is also higher than Holy Cross, which meets 100 percent of demonstrated need.

As for expense, it appears Fairfield’s COA is $61,000. I can’t justify it, but V is hardly alone in that price category.

And Villanova will move to the national u. rankings soon, as soon as USNWR data catches up, as they have granted 20-plus PhDs for a few years. That will place them among peers like BC and Lehigh, rather than the regional schools.

VSB is excellent. Its graduates do well in all areas of banking and finance, as evidenced by the recent Economist earnings rankings. I visited Providence recently with S2 and they have just begun constructing dedicated space for their school. No problem. Just an observation.

Good luck. As Hanna says, there are many good choices.