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CS and Job Earnings

RRD1994RRD1994 Registered User Posts: 10 New Member
edited April 2013 in Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Hello all,

I visited RPI yesterday and I liked it more than the other schools I visited. Unfortunately, I will probably be in 100-120K debt even though I appealed. I want to major in CS and I saw on the website that that the starting salary for CS was around 75K. I want to know if anyone else here can give me more information on paying back college loans of a CS major after RPI.

Thanks :)
Post edited by RRD1994 on
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Replies to: CS and Job Earnings

  • OldEngOldEng Registered User Posts: 12 New Member
    I was not a CS major but in the 1980's I was able to pay off my student loans early. My starting salary was about double a year's tuition. Today, the norm appears to be about one and a half times a years's tuition. This is the perverse result of too much student aid which, as in the game of Monopoly just bids up the price. Same as the housing bubble.

    I would be very reluctant to go into debt for the amounts you are talking about for any degree from any university. CS is particularly vulnerable because it is so easy to outsource the work overseas or get more H1-B engineers to do the work here.

    Are you considering the potential income from a co-op job? That was an immense help financially as well as career-wise. Have you considered ROTC? How about two years at an inexpensive local college and then transferring? Because of the larger starting salaries for the video game majors, that major does better on the startin salary/annual tuition ratio test.
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  • RRD1994RRD1994 Registered User Posts: 10 New Member
    Thanks for the reply. I can't do ROTC or anything else army-related because of ineligibility due to health-related reasons. Currently I am deciding between RPI and my state school (Umass) which would be much cheaper and affordable. Personally, I felt more comfortable at RPI than at my state school when I visited. If I decide to go to RPI, I definitely plan to do co-ops and internships to pay off the college loans, but I just wanted to how other students manage to pay off their college loans after graduation.
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