I’m having a difficult time choosing a college to enroll to and will deeply appreciate any help. I have the greatest interest in fields of engineering and science but am not sure what I want to major in.
ACT: 35 GPA: 4.0
My choices are between three colleges. The debt I estimated within +/- $10,000.
That’s for all four years? You have a cosigner and/or a parent willing to be the primary borrower for amounts in excess of the federal student loan limits? No other options are available to you? No willingness for a gap year?
While Swarthmore is a fabulous school (Congrats!!) it may be hard to justify that level of debt. That said, there is a general rule that you. should not have more debt than you expect to earn your first year of employment. Witty an engineering degree from Swat, you most likely could.
LSU has reportedly been having financial struggles in the past several years, so IMO I wouldn’t go into 42K debt for LSU. Don’t know La Tech’s financial stability so cant speak to that.
Louisiana Tech is the safest one in terms of manageable debt. Note that the debt for the others requires either a cosigner or parent loans.
While an engineering graduate may be able to handle $72,000 in debt, it would be more of a burden than $20,000 in debt. Also, if your interest ends up being more in the area of science (especially biology), $72,000 of debt may be much more of a burden.
Swarthmore engineering also isn’t specialized enough to equip anyone to work as an engineer in any occupation that I can think of. CS is a different story.
Agree with @PurpleTitan. An ABET qualified engineer doesn’t start at a higher salary just b/c their degree says College A v College B. LA Tech has a solid engineering program- starting pay is starting pay. CAN somebody with an engineering degree start at $70K? yes, but per Forbes the average starting salary for newly-minted engineers is more like $56K. Per GlassDoor, the average pay for engineers (across the range of experience and specialties) is $78K.
Debt is the gift that keeps on taking: it shadows everything for as long as you have it. It will affect your choices- from what internships you can take during college, to which job you can afford to take when you graduate to decisions about cars, houses, starting a family- everything.
Because you are having a hard time deciding I take it that you see La Tech as a good option. Take it, and make the most of it.
Are you a national merit finalist? You can still apply to U Alabama and get five years of free tuition, plus several years of housing I believe, if you are.
UA Huntsville is good for engineering as well.
You have great stats, did you apply to any other publics that offer big merit scholarships?
@janjmom did I miss the family income someplace? If the four year debt total at Swat is $72,000, that’s less than $20,000 a year debt. That also means this student got $50,000 or so of need based aid from Swat. Even so, there are plenty of students families who cannot afford the net cost of attending colleges.
@Uncomfortable who will co-sign or take loans for you in excess of the Direct Loan amounts each year?
Swat is a great school…but I don’t think it has ABET accredited engineering schools…does it?
I believe La Tech does.
As noted, if you are a NM finalist, you can still send in an application to University of Alabama. What are your SAT or ACT scores…and your GPA.
This sure is a down to the wire decision for the OP. The reality is that most of this debt will need to be taken in concert with his parents. Are they willing to take loans?
What’s your EFC?
What your parents’ budget?
Something doesn’t add up…
Are you a LA resident (eligible for TOPS I assume = how do you end up with debt?)
Swarthmore is too expensive and LA universities are in big financial trouble.
Once again… Swarthmore meets FULL NEED. They do NOT gap.
OP: have you been admitted to these schools? Or are you asking where you should apply?? Your comment that you are “estimating” the debt makes no sense. If you’ve been admitted for fall 2019, you have received your actual aid package.
Here is the wording from their website:
Swarthmore meets full need: Although we believe that the primary responsibility to pay for college lies with students and their families, we fill in the gap when family resources do not meet our costs. The College strives to make it possible for all admitted students to attend Swarthmore, regardless of their ability to pay, and meets 100 percent of determined need for all admitted students.
Swarthmore’s aid is loan-free: Our financial aid awards consist of grants (which do not need to be repaid) and include the expectation that students will work in a part-time campus-based job. Although Swarthmore financial aid awards are loan-free, your family might choose to borrow a loan to pay a portion of the educational expenses.
Louisiana Tech’s in-state list price is about $17-20k per year. OP’s 4.0/35 indicate that s/he gets a $9.5k per year scholarship there, for a net price of $7.5-10.5k per year. So that presumably means that the OP and family can contribute $2.5k-5.5k per year if the OP needs $20k ($5k per year) debt there.
I said that I estimated the debt because my parents said I’d have to borrow to go to LaTech, so I assumed they’d pay $3,000 - $6,000 (they won’t give me a solid number right now); and yes they’d cosign. Our EFC is about $20,000, and TOPS only pays about 25% of the total cost of attendance. Estimated cost for LaTech is $8,845, LSU is $18,585, and Swarthmore is $23,088. They’ve been encouraging me to go to LSU so I’m pretty sure that they’d pay more out of pocket for me to go there.
Yes, while Swat may meet full need, it does not mean that the family can afford what their EFC and therefore may have to borrow the money to pay it. If seems that the family’s EFC and the student’s loan that is part of the financial aid package is approx 18k/year (72k over the course of 4 years)