<p>Barrons, I have been to Austin several times. I did not find it cheaper than Ann Arbor. Larger and more varried, yes. For music lovers, probably a little more exciting, but do not underestimate Ann Arbor and its surounding areas. There has always been (and still is) a thriving music industry in Ann Arbor and in Detroit. Overall, Austin is obviously a more complete city than Ann Arbor. But when all is said and done, I do not think any college town can offer a better quality of life than Ann Arbor to undergrads. And this has been expressed by most people who attended the University of Michigan, many of which also attended schools in other great college towns such as Austin, Berkeley, Boulder, Charlottesville, Gainesville, Madison, etc…</p>
<p>But back to the topic, I was told that Austin is as expensive as Ann Arbor for college students. The undergrads I knew who went there when I was at Michigan (two of them were cousins of mine and several others are close family friends I am still in touch with) were spending as much on living as I was. Tuition back then was roughly half that of Michigan though, so they did save a lot of money that way. However, tuition at UT these days has gone up significantly, so it is no longer thatmuch cheaper to attend than Michigan. </p>
<p>Finally, I do not think the price of oil is going to remain elevated for long. There is a threshold for the price of oil, and it currently stands at roughly $30-$50 per barrel. You can add 7% to that annually. Unfortunately, a weak dollar will keep pushing the price of the barrel upwards. </p>
<p>At any rate, I think UT-Austin is a great university and I agree that it has a bright future. In the long term, it is one of the few public universities I believe can reach the ranks of Cal and Michigan, but it is not there yet. However, as novi points out, we each have our personal preferences and many would much rather have direct access to Austin’s nicer weather, larger and more varried offerings (including its music scene) etc… But for undergrads, I can hardly think of a better college town than Ann Arbor.</p>