I’m guess over four years about $70k less. Of course that matters differently to different people. I’m assuming living at UT, not home.
Given the outcomes are indistinguishable, to me it’s a lot of Jack ($) just for a perception that doesn’t appear to matter.
For its accounting ranking, I was surprised how few accounting grads McCombs have - but maybe that’s a good thing (class size).
Is $11k the total net price of Texas, or only tuition (so housing, food, books, etc. is extra)? If only tuition, what is the total net price?
It looks like Alabama would be $4k billed, $11k total first year, and $14k billed, $21k total in following years.
How much do the costs matter to you and the student?
It’s not $11k. This year it’s $13,576. Not much different but $10k plus different over four years - unless there’s aid involved of course.
UT charges more for different schools with McCombs and the engineering school the highest differential.
The first post said he got the Competitive Achievement Scholarship, not the Presidential Elite. Very similar, but not the same. CAS has a $1,000 supplement for 4-years and no $2,000 research. But, the tuition covers 4 years still, regardless of undergrad or graduate or law school.
This is an important point. Adding on to this, one has to check into whether graduating in three years would still meet the requirements to sit for the CPA (or if even possible considering how often required core and major courses are offered)…look at both the state and national level information, because changes are happening quickly. You could contact each school’s head of the accounting department too. In some states, you might need a 4th year, whether at the undergrad or grad level…and whichever of those is the case the required COA could be quite different from school to school.
IMO if the cost difference between these two schools is not an issue, the student should choose the one with the best fit…academically, socially, overall vibe.
I wanted to circle back on this. The 26 number you reference for accounting from the placement report is not the number of grads, there were 143 accounting major grads in Class of 2024. OP would have to ask the career center about the difference between the 143 and 26. I could speculate, but won’t, since the actual answer is just a phone call/email away.
This seems like an easy decision to me. I can’t see turning down McCombs for Bama, especially given the comparative costs. McCombs is an elite business school and will open up other doors if your DS decides against law school or practicing accounting, which is very possible. My DD was an accounting major, and while she enjoyed the major, she has never practiced a day. She would not have had the same elite post-grad options had she gone to Bama compared to where she did end up (btw, she was accepted to McCombs and Canfield). If your DS ultimately gets into Canfield (decisions are not fully released yet), that would be a huge bonus.
Thanks for the correction - hadn’t seen that one. I saw free room so assumed. Appreciate you pointing that out.
It doesn’t change the math I quoted ($50K ish vs. $120K ish) as I didn’t include the freebie - but yeah..
I figured $5K the first and $15K the last three for room and board.
Texas $30K for tuition, room and board. Of course, we don’t know how tuition will bounce but it will cost a bit more to live there - and of course, living costs depend mainly on the type of apartment one gets and where, etc.
Value of tuition for up to four years or eight semesters for degree-seeking undergraduate and graduate or law studies.
$1,000 per year supplemental scholarship for four years (or eight semesters).
First year of on-campus housing at regular room rate* (based on assignment by Housing and Residential Communities).
Your son only has one shot at this. Attending Texas will make a massive difference in his career compared to Alabama. Feel free to message me if you want specifics.
If it will financially devastate your family, then of course he should select Alabama. If you planned for this and have the money, the ROI is worth it to attend Texas.
That’s interesting - on the attached, they show for accounting.
143 grads but 26 outcomes, but 13 reporting salary.
For Finance, 417 grads, 408 outcomes with 339 reporting salary.
It’s why they should provide a knowledge rate. I’m guessing some accounting doubled up majors but many also likely continue toward CPA - and require more schooling - but yes, they should call (maybe both schools) and find out why such a discrepancy, or get any questions they have answered. I don’t know the % of accounting majors that decide to continue on.
Nonetheless, published salaries are barely higher than Bama and Bama’s 2nd place of employment is Texas. They show a 90%+ knowledge rate (no quantity - but saying they have data on most everyone).
So OP has to decide:
All can say the “perceived” benefit of McCombs - to me, like an NYU, that’s really finance related. And perhaps the student will pivot there. And perceptions doesn’t necessarily equate to a better ROI. In some cases, sure. In others not.
But at least published outcomes wise, there’s little difference - and I’m sure at many schools, that would be the same. Accounting firms, like other businesses, are going to pay by location, not by school name.
But yes, the UT data does lead to some questions. And perhaps as @publisher pointed out earlier, they’re pursuing different paths. Thanks for pointing out the inconsistencies in their two pages.
This student is going to law school - so that’s another where one likely doesn’t impact the outcome. Law school isn’t going to care if you went to Bama or Texas.
Hopefully OP will come back after visits or going through their decision making process and let us know where they end up. I think both would be fabulous, but different, choices.
Best of luck to them - and congrats on two great admits/offers.
This. Was just going to say this. These both sound very affordable, and what we think shouldn’t matter. It should be the student’s preference at this point. While most of us agree that UT is the better choice for a variety of reasons, it really should be the student’s choice. Hopefully they can make a visit to both (even again if they have already been) of this helps to seal the deal. We all know that students change their minds, their direction and careers can veer all over the place, so outcome data should not be the deciding factor, IMO.
It replaced the scholarships given to recipients of various College Board recognitions when those went away. In Fall 2023, if you were accepted by mid-October you could still get that. If not, you were not able to. But they added the CAS to cover at least some of those students. I don’t know what the determination is to get it. I’m crossing my fingers for my son 
Let’s return focus to the OP, please. Further comments that don’t address the OP’s question will be deleted as off-topic
Folks on CC believe that accounting is a monolithic major with exactly one outcome- working as a CPA in public accounting.
I can’t find the citation, but there is evidence that a majority of mid-career “I majored in accounting” professionals do NOT actually work in public accounting as a CPA. There are loads of fine professional tracks that a young accountant can consider once they’ve put in their time at either one of the Big 4 or a well known regional firm.
So if I had a kid interested in accounting, I’d encourage him/her to consider many of the on-ramps, alternative tracks, etc. in addition to just looking at “how much money will I make the year after I graduate”.
Most of the accounting majors hired by the FBI, CIA, SEC, etc. are in roles which do not technically require CPA certification. They get hired for the other things they bring to the table- AND for their ability to understand and analyze financial statements, plow through thousands of documents to unearth evidence of financial crimes, money laundering, human trafficking, and in a couple of very sad cases- genocide. Someone is buying and selling the weaponry used by some governments against their own citizens– and those transactions leave a faint trace…
My point is that the OP has a terrific decision to make, but looking at first destination job reports is missing the forest for the trees. It is unlikely that OP will still be in Audit or Tax by the age of 40, and to my way of thinking, the educational path which opens the most doors long term is a better way to think about it. Whatever that path turns out to be.
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