We need some advise and perspective to give our son for college choices above. We are SF Bay Area and he got into these three schools. The cost is about $55k for Mines (with some merit), $40k for Merced and $30k for Cal Poly Pomona. We don’t expect anything from FAFSA. We visited Mines and he loves it, didn’t like Merced much and will visit Pomona next week. He knew that we would cover UC cost so has to come up $15k difference by himself (through student loan and parent plus loan) if he chooses Mines. We advised that graduating debt free is very important and he understands it. If he falls in love with Pomona when we visit next week would be the best case scenario but if he doesn’t, he might have to choose between going to CC and transfer to a UC or even Mines, or choosing Mines with loan which is very hard decision. So I wanted to ask here if there’s any perspective we are not seeing? Thank you!
Does this mean the plan would be for him to take the max loan, for you to take the parent plus loan for the difference up to 15K, and then he pays back both loans?
Have you accounted for tuition cost increases at Mines in this budgeting? I know some schools are seeing significant tuition increases every year, and that may add to the amount of loan you and your son will need. But Mines might not be one of them, I don’t know.
If I am not mistaken, it looks like he would have two options (Davis and Irvine) for TAG to an ABET accredited Civil program at a UC. And of course, at the other UC campuses that have accredited Civil, Berkeley and LA (plus the TAG option that he didn’t choose to TAG), he could also could apply for the regular CC to UC transfer.
That would seem to be a very reasonable path to take, if he likes these options, as well as being affordable.
I can understand why a student might not want to attend Merced in Civil, since the major program is new and isn’t yet accredited (and the student also might prefer one of the campuses available through TAG).
Of course, we can also hope he loves CPP and then he’s all set! 
This may be a good approach if he doesn’t like CPP but the OP should make sure he reads the TAG rules carefully. Davis says " Both overall UC-transferable coursework and major preparation GPAs must meet a minimum 3.5 GPA." UCI wants a 3.4 overall for TAG but only a 3.0 in some courses they specify on their website.
If he loves CPP it’s an easy choice but if he’s only lukewarm it becomes harder. He should consider the advantage of attending one college for 4 years and some of the benefits including familiarity with the profs and friends you can make. For transfers it can feel a bit like you’re only part of the school for a year and change; by winter most seniors see graduation coming in a few months and while there are classes to finish there’s a sense of starting to move on.
Didn’t think about that! Will look into it. Thank you!
Thank you! TAG to Davis is something he is considering. Also maybe apply to Berkeley and SLO as regular transfer route. If he doesn’t like CPP. He loves Mountains and outdoor activities, that’s why he loves Mines and in CA wants to stay in Northern. But let’s see how he feels when we visit Pomona!
For the loan, yes correct. He will pay both loans back.
Ok, thanks for clarifying! I will not belabor the point that graduating debt free would seem to be a much better plan, because you already talked about that in your original post, so I suspect I would be preaching to the choir 
Thank you! The thing is $60k loan is worth for a perfect fit school? I don’t think so but he loves everything about Mines so it’s hard!
He knows the importance of debt free, that’s why is open to the idea of CC to possibly Mines. Sacrificing all the four year college benefits in exchange of debt free.
When I think civil, I don’t think of Mines 
it is a cool campus and town - but I’m very anti debt. There’s no reason. There are many choices he could still apply to no doubt under $55K and even under $30K depending on test and gpa.
$60K in loans (and don’t forget fees - so you have to borrow more ) - at 8.1% is $730 a month for ten years…plus rent, a car payment and whatever else. Mines is super cool - but super not affordable for the student.
Hope he loves Pomona but there are still other options.
Also - another route - did you look at WUE schools? Maybe some are taking apps still- you might want to check to ensure they are ABET accredited. I wasn’t referring to these when I said other solid schools are taking action and depending on stats could be less than $30K. These are more but don’t know their app deadlines.
Good luck.
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We are also from Bay Area and have similar decision to make. We went to tour UCR, SDSU and CPP the past week. Out of the three, S24 like CPP the most for Aerospace Eng. He thought the campus is nice and the tour guide has passion about Eng. But I have doubt about CPP, the school was so quite and empty during the tour, it was spring break there. I am not sure it is good for his college experience.
Thank you! We did look at WUE when we made a list of colleges to apply, and Montana state was the only one he thought he would want to live. He did get in with a good merit to reduce the cost much lower than UC but when we visited he didn’t like it so much.
I mentioned about University of Utah and Nevada in Reno (close to Tahoe), but he is not excited about them either.
I think why he is cling to Mines is partly because he didn’t get in to Davis nor SLO (that would have made him excited), so the only school he is excited about is Mines. That’s what makes this decision so tough for 18year old😭
He thinks CPP is a good school but not excited about so.Cal in general and also he thinks that people go there who can’t get in to SLO (at least around here in the bay, maybe different take in so cal?). Hope the visit will overturn his bias…
We are in the Bay Area too, so I understand! I hope you and your son have a great visit to CPP. Despite being in southern CA, it really does have a lot to offer.
I hear a lot about CPP as a commuter school and though my student doesn’t care much about social scene nor big sports but he does care about student body if he can make good friends and connection. We will see the vibe next week at Bronco Bound. Are you also considering OOS schools? Which ones if I may ask? It’s a tough decision for sure for our student and for us as well!
I get it - it sounds like the peer pressure - everyone wants a name.
But debt is not your friend.
He actually can’t borrow the funds to go to School of Mines. Only you can. That’s another consieration.
There’s another reason the government won’t let a student borrow more than $27K.
An 18 year old doesn’t understand debt - you might have to step in (up to you of course) but there’s no reason to take on debt, especially that much. If he’s open to the Southeast, there’s other schools still taking apps, etc. Possibly in the midwest or other parts too.
Hopefully CPP goes well and done!!!
Thank you for your kind word and encouragement!
Well… he didn’t get into CPSLO, so wouldn’t he fit right in if that were the case?
Yes, the payment for more than $700 for 10 years is something you can’t take easily. Thank you for showing the actual number and I can pass that to my son.
I think at this point, if he likes CPP, then great but if not, he still has an option to go to CC, which is not bad at all I think.
Yes, totally! I wish he is excited with the school he is accepted. But its more than just the academics but the whole school and regional culture that he has bias about…
S24 is considering either Ohio State ($50K COA after merit) or UW (Seattle) ($60K COA after merit). Ohio State COA includes the $4000 engineering fee, otherwise COA is close to UC.