@ThrowFar , can you give the following financial numbers for CPP, CSUF, UCB, and any other school so that everyone responding to your question is on the same page?
Total of grants and scholarships (not loans or work-study) from each school (from actual financial aid offer if available, net price calculator* otherwise).
Net price estimate for living on campus.
Net price estimate for living at home and commuting (with realistic estimates for food, utilities, and commuting costs) for CPP and CSUF.
Parental contribution, if any.
I didn’t have time to read the whole thread so maybe this has already been said, but considering the considerable financial burden, I strongly recommend two years of CC and then transfer to Cal. Four of my younger siblings did this (2 to Cal, 1 to UCLA, 1 to CalArts), and it made a huge difference financially, and they walked away with the same degree in the end. Having gone to CC first didn’t hurt their chances after graduation - one got his PhD from UCSD and is now CEO of a tech company, the other is Creative Director at one of the top ad production companies in the country.
I’d advise against very heavy debt because while Cal is prestigious, just a degree from Cal in itself doesn’t guarantee anything. My other younger brother who also graduated from Cal never found a job that made use of his degree (Film) and still has his student debt hanging over him 10 years later.
We ran the FASFA and we only are ok’ed for a loan. Our FASFA number is 25410.
CSF we would only have to pay room and board/meal plan. about 15k a year. Track would coverall the rest. We would pay about 10k he would have to get loans for 5k a year = 20k for 4 years.
Cal we would pay about 10k a year he would have to get loans for 10-15k a year. That would put him around 50-60k Loans.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. OP to your original question, I think yes. We have an OOS student at UCB, and the opportunities have been very good.
If he wants to go into business, break the bank and pay for Berkeley as the job placement will be much better than any CSU. Berkeley’s Career Center keeps track of post-graduation outcomes at the following website.
If you click on What Can I Do With a Major in ??? link, it takes you to employment surveys for every undergraduate degree at Berkeley. The following is the link to placement as Haas for 2015.
The average reported starting salary for Haas graduates was $73,000, while for Economics graduates the average was $65,000. If he graduates as an average student with an average salary, he will be able to pay off those loans very easily.
For UCB, please use its net price calculator. UCs tend to expect the parents to contribute the FAFSA EFC, and expect the student to take federal direct loans and work for a few thousand dollars, so the net price is likely to be higher than the FAFSA EFC. However, the UCB MCAP EFC may be lower than the FAFSA EFC. For CPP, also use its net price calculator, since CSUs calculate differently from the FAFSA EFC.
However, if your parent contribution is $15,000 lower than the FAFSA EFC, then it is likely that the student needs to seek merit or athletic scholarships, very low cost schools, or start at a low cost CC and transfer to a UC or CSU as a junior, since need based financial aid is unlikely to produce an affordable net price.
In which direction is this proposed 40 mile daily commute to Fullerton?
From Fullerton:
40 miles north would put you in about Pasadena.
40 miles south would put you in about Dana Point.
40 miles east would put you in about Riverside.
40 miles northwest would put you in about Century City.
40 miles west would put you in the Pacific Ocean.
Either #1 and #2 would probably be doable but real ugly. #4 would be completely dreadful. I don’t know #3 very well; I’ve never driven that route during commuting hours. On any given day your commute can be severely lengthened by a traffic accident, no matter which one you chose.
Upland? Then why isn’t Cal Poly Pomona (mentioned as a possibility in post #38) the leading alternative to Cal instead of CSUF? Cal Poly is only about 10 miles away and is part of the Cal State system (hence the moderate Cal State Fees), and IMO academically comparable to or better than Fullerton.
Commuting to Cal Poly Pomona every day seems entirely doable to me.
Considering that early career salary average for Cal business graduates is around $73K, I think he would be able to handle $10K/yr loan repayments for 8 years. It would probably mean that he would have to live in a lower cost area or have a roommate (or several) for awhile, or have a second weekend job, but that is not unusual. If he did not go to grad school, his loans would be paid off by time he was 30. In this case, with the track hook and low likelihood of admittance to Cal with his HS GPA and the tiny (5%) Haas transfer rate, I would bite the bullet and take the loan. I expect his coaches would have some influence in Haas admission, as most universities give preference to athletes.
If he has a good shot at getting admitted to Haas I would try to find a way to make that work. I could be wrong but my understanding is that 50%ish make it into Hass so it’s not a given.
Strongly disagree. I don’t think a person with a salary of $60-70K a year can pay off loans of $60-70K “very easily.” That’s a monthly payment of $800/month (for 10 years) when your take-home is maybe $4,000 a month. And it also limits post-graduate options - you may have to delay an MBA program, buying a house, investing or other financial choices. $800 is a lot of money every month!
But besides that - Payscale data isn’t perfect, but it indicates that CSU alumni can expect salaries almost as high as the above quoted Berkeley salaries depending on major and field. Most business fields were posting averages between $55 and $70K a year. Even if we assume the average business major at CSUF makes $55K and the average business major at Berkeley makes $65K doing the same thing, paying off $0-20K when you make $55K is vastly easier than paying off $60-70K when you make $65K.
$10,000 per year is the bare minimum payment on the loan - it would still take him 10 years to repay those loans. Who wants to sacrifice $800 a month and live with roommates or lower-cost areas for 10 years? I’m 30 years old and I am done living with roommates…I was done when I was about 25, lol. What if he wants to get married and start a family in the interim? Or buy a house? Who wants to put their life on hold for 10 years to repay money they didn’t need to borrow?
Again, even if we assume that he makes $10K less per year coming out of Cal State Fullerton - which I think is a gross overestimate of the salary disparity - he’d still have more after-tax disposable income than a Berkeley grad for 10 years! He could take that same $10K per year and invest it and have way more left over/saved if he went to CSUF.
If the most you and your spouse can pay as settled adults with careers is a little more than $800/month, how do you expect a newish grad to come up with that kind of money? You can’t assume he’ll get a job in an area with a reasonable cost of living and you don’t know what his health insurance costs or other expenses will be. Unless you can take over the loan payments he won’t be able to choose a good entry level job; with that kind of debt he’ll have to take the first thing that comes along. I don’t think that’s a good business move.
We don’t allow our children to borrow more than we can help them pay back. It’s really easy for people who can pay $60k/year out-of-pocket to say take the risk. It’s easy for your friends and neighbors who are perhaps swayed by the prestige to say it’s a “no brainer,” take the risk. But none of those people are taking the risk – you are. Your son can’t borrow $60k for school; he can only borrow ~$5k/year (~$27k total). You’d have to borrow the rest. Can you afford a ~$43k loan? Do you know how much interest will accumulate on that while your son is in school? If you can’t afford it, I wouldn’t assume a 21-year-old can.