<p>My Son’s choice is between Umich and NU. Numbers are below (approximately). He will do bio/pre-med. Our EFC is $9000.</p>
<p>Umich ( In State)-- Family contribution is $10,000/year. We can pay $8,000, and need to take $2,000 loan ($5500 loan available)</p>
<p>NU – family contribution is $14,000. We can pay $8,000, and need to take $6,000 loan ($6000 loan available)</p>
<p>My question: is NU worth of the additional loan 4 x $4,000 = $16,000?</p>
<p>This may or may not be applicable…however…NU is a private university vs a state university scenario. If your state budget is impacted, then graduating within 4 years may be difficult.
I can say, our DD was choosing between her flagship U…nice financial aid package vs. NU. For many reasons NU was a better “fit”…and the bonus was she figured out a way to graduate in 3 years and one quarter–saved us $$.
I hope this helps-APOL-a Mum</p>
<p>“This may or may not be applicable…however…NU is a private university vs a state university scenario. If your state budget is impacted, then graduating within 4 years may be difficult.”</p>
<p>The University of Michigan is well equipped to handle the downturn in state funding that has been going on for years. Michigan, unlike California publics, have been much better financially managed over the decades. The regents of the school knew years ago, thanks to the up and down swings of the state’s economy, that the only way to keep the school world class was to raise it’s endowment significantly. In other words, graduating within four years or less is not difficult at all to achieve if a student chooses to do so. The classes and framework are set up in a way to accomplish this and a downturn in the economy, while devastating to some states schools, is not changing the overall experience at Michigan.</p>
<p>If he’d be equally happy at either, and he’s sure he’s going to grad school, save the debt, no? Med school is expensive.</p>
<p>Both excellent schools.</p>
<p>Look into things like departmental reputation, class size and how your son feels on either campus.</p>
<p>Also, who will be repaying the loans, you or your son, and how much of a burden will this repayment be? </p>
<p>My guess is that $4000/year is not enough if your S clearly prefers NU, but really it’s difficult for anyone to evaluate someone else’s financial situation.</p>