<p>My S was admitted to the following schools at the following yearly cost to parents. We have very little saved and will have to rely on loans. We are expecting our S to take out maximum student loans. Does potential salary at graduation, school reputation, internship opportunities, etc. make any school other than the state school worth the cost?</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon, CIT, ECE $42,000
RPI: $30,000
Rose-Hulman: $30,000
Santa Clara: $28,000
Colorado School of Mines: $15,000
CU-Boulder, Honors Engineering: $10,000</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Maximum student loans without co-signer are the Stafford loans of $31,000 for all four years put together, of which $23,000 can be subsidized.</p>
<p>If you have nothing to pay cash, then parental loans or co-signing would be a bad idea. Unfortunately, it is rather late in the game; last fall, you and he could have tailored the application list to emphasize big merit scholarship schools that could have produced more affordable choices. Like these: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-17.html#post15743177[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-17.html#post15743177</a></p>
<p>Of your list, CU seems to be at the outer edge of affordability, if he takes the Stafford loans, adds some work earnings, and you contribute a small amount which would be instead of the cost of food and utilities for him as a high school student.</p>
<p>Is going to a low cost community college and transferring to CU, CSU, or CSM as a junior an option?</p>
<p>Since it is computer science as the intended major, you do NOT need to spend a lot of money on university CS education.</p>
<p>Piggybacking on what UCBAlumnus said…I recommend:</p>
<p>1) CU Buffaloes…and you don’t need honors. Probably 1 out of 100 hiring folks care about honors</p>
<p>Or…</p>
<p>2) Community college for 2 years and then transfer to Colorado or Colorado State.</p>
<p>Note: New thing I want to point out about transferring from a CC. Find out ahead of time if the 4-year school accept the first 2 programming courses directly or does one need to test out of them additionally. Here in Maryland, most of the 4-year schools will accept the “Object-Oriented Programming I, II” from the CC’s but U-Maryland College Park (biggest MD school and most prestigious) will not.</p>
<p>CU would be the most conservative approach and we do have the potential to pay the $10,000/year. I would also like to think we could at least pay the interest on his student loans if he went to CU or Mines. He’s really ready for the academic challenges at a 4-year school so community college would not be an option for him. We did look at the full-ride schools and he understood that in-state might be the only financially feasible choice when everything settled. Thanks!</p>
<p>How much can you contribute in cash without parent loans?</p>
<p>Many schools’ financial aid offices give a realistic student contribution of up to about $8,500 per year (Stafford loan + some student work earnings). If you and he are comfortable with that, then your actual net price limit is what you can contribute in cash plus about $8,500. However, if it is desired to be more conservative with the loans or work requirements, then use a smaller student contribution when calculating the limit.</p>
<p>Colorado School of Mines has a fantastic reputation, and the extra $5,000 per year may well be worth it. Then again, people graduate from CU Boulder every year in computer science and do as well as many (most?) graduates from the other schools you list. A lot of what determines how far you go in life is what you put into your college education, not where you went.</p>
<p>I’d say that it would be, in my mind, roughly a toss-up between Colorado School of Mines @ $15,000/yr and CU Boulder @ $10,000/yr. The other schools are too expensive and, barring some serious scholarships, there’s no way I’d consider going, or sending children of my own.</p>
<p>I know somebody who turned down Stanford and chose CU Boulder for engineering—he has no regrets. Undergrads have many opportunities for internships and research at CU too.</p>
<p>Given the financial realities, you would be doing your son a favor to strongly advocate the in state schools. Reputation and starting salary differences are minimal. The only reason to take the loans and go private is a compelling argument from your son. In the end, though, this is a family decision.</p>
<p>CU Boulder is a top physics school, they have multiple Nobel Prize winners, so they are probably a good CS school too.</p>
<p>But you save money by starting at a CC.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your son getting accepted to Carnegie Mellon. I undertand that it’s difficult to walk away from a prestigious university for one that your son may feel is just average. For what it’s worth, a relative of mine choose a prestigious school for engineering and took on unsubsidized debt to do so. He loved the school but today he’s working alongside those graduates from big-state universities.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the input! They are all great programs and he is very fortunate to have so many options. Debt is not something to take lightly, but our S will have to accept some of the responsibility. There is no reason why he cannot succeed at CU or Mines as they are great schools!</p>