He’s not going to get the “American college experience” in India (and a Master’s is not the same type of experience).
How much does that matter to him?
Don’t expect money from the UC schools.
You say you are paying state taxes? To what state are you paying taxes?
Given the options, I would encourage you to have your son acquire his undergrad degree in India, and aim for a graduate degree in the USA. For one thing, a good engineering grad school in the US will often cost you nothing. Your son should may receive a stipend and tuition waiver. My son is in graduate school in engineering, my daughter is in grad school in psychology, and all of the good programs provide financial support.
And also, once he has a graduate degree, no one cares where his undergrad degree came from. He’ll have better options for advancement with an MS. Although, a PhD might be overkill unless he really wants to go into academia.
I should add that both of my kids are currently in Master’s programs. While funding for master’s is less common than for PhD’s, it can definitely be found for a good student- especially in engineering.
jym626, I pay state tax to California.
PBD, yes. thats the dilemma I am in right now. Do undergrad in India or USA. Thanks for your insight and your personal experience.
I think the son should have a strong say in this decision unless he truly doesn’t care.
Purpletitan, definitely. He will have the final say. I am just trying to decide what options to present to him 
Paying state taxes does not make your son eligible for in-state tuition in California. http://www.ucop.edu/residency/residency-requirements.html
Yes, I understand. It is just one of the requirements.
The main requirement from what I have understood from my communication with California universities is that one parent needs to be physically living in California one year prior to school starting. If the child is below 24, child gets residency through the parent.
But after hearing opinions from folks here, I think it is risk free to rather apply as OOS to good quality Universities which are in my budget. There will be no surprises later on.
So for now, I don’t think I will be trying for California residency.
No need to go to grad school if he gets a bachelors in CS from a US university.
How much he makes right after graduation will be very dependent on which part of the country he ends up working in. If he’s in New York or San Francisco/Silicon Valley, he could be starting out at $80,000. If he’s in Ohio or Missouri, he might start out at $50,000.
You have asked this question in one form or another several times.
If your kid gets an engineering job in the U.S. after completing an engineering degree, he will be able to support himself.
He needs to attend an ABET accredited engineering program.
Where does your kid want to live after college? India? Here?
You can’t afford the UCs and you likely won’t be able to get instate status for tuition purposes. Plus…you say your income is $50,000 a year…so really…the UCs will not be affordable regardless.
There is a third option: Do undergrad outside the US. Then with a BSc from outside the US, get a job in the US. At least in my company (in the US) the hiring managers in software engineering are nearly all from India. As such they will know the quality of the computer science departments in universities in India. In the past we used to hire a lot of software engineers who had a Bachelors from India and a Master’s from the US. By now I think that we are just hiring folks straight out of universities in India. It is not clear whether Trump will change H-1 visa rules to make this more difficult for our company, but since your son is a US citizen this potential problem doesn’t apply to him.
Also, in software engineering as far as I know salaries are based on what you can do, and what you have done. As such, I think that you might assume that the salary will be the same for the same capability. Thus just look at the total cost of the education. I am guessing that this “third option” will generally win from an economic point of view.
Thanks for posting this question. I have wondered the same thing. My US-born dual-citizen daughter is on her way to a very good highly ranked very inexpensive small university in Canada. I have wondered to what extent hiring managers in the US will care that she went to university outside of the US (although to be honest I have no idea whether she will want to return after graduation).
My CS job son has coworkers from both India and Canada. What you know and how well you perform matters so much more than where you went to school. Of course, you will get a better education from some schools than others.
Two other points brought up by other posters. How important is the US college experience to him? Whose idea is it that he either choose CS or engineering? He may not realize other fields are more to his liking- something he is more apt to discover at a US school.
So, he spent perhaps the first years of his life here but all of his schooling in India. If he chooses to return to the US please assume he can live like an American. This means that he doesn’t need to do as you did. His being here should not mean you can assume he will later accommodate you in your old age making sacrifices like you did your family. Yes, most Americans, like Indians, do care about family. But you have to except that decades later he should do what is best for his wife and kids, not you. Disclaimer- we have always made room for and accommodated my H’s parents, although with an American twist because of my background and ways of doing things.
You have given your son the Indian experience. Be sure it is his choice whether to embrace your homeland or leave it and you behind.
I have a terrific young colleague who is Indian. He did his undergraduate degree in India and Master’s degree in biomedical engineering at a public university in Texas. He is a very hard worker, very dedicated and well-liked all around!
simba9, Good point. Won’t the University ranking matter in getting the 1st CS job ?? Even if we strike out the really below average colleges, there will be atleast couple of hundred mid ranked Universities offering CS degree. Is the USA tech industry able to absorb all CS undergrads every year ??
“He needs to attend an ABET accredited engineering program.”
When someone says “engineering”, I think that some of us hear “software engineering” (where ABET is not needed, and to the best of my knowledge doesn’t exist). Some of us hear “Mechanical or Civil Engineering”.
I am not completely sure whether the answer to OP’s original question will differ between different types of engineering.
For new graduate CS recruiting:
a. Many employers recruit at local schools out of convenience. For example, San Jose State seems to be better represented at some Silicon Valley companies than one would expect for a moderately selective non-flagship state university (though the CS major has become much more selective than the school overall, due to its popularity).
b. Larger employers are more likely to recruit widely. For example, “Google recruits here” seems to be mentioned a lot by posters mentioning a lesser known school for CS, but Google apparently recruits widely because it has need to recruit relatively large numbers of employees and has the recruiting resources to do so.
c. Some employers favor larger schools (or those with more CS majors) because traveling to recruit the 5 CS majors at some small college may not be worth it to them.
d. Non-local employers (that are not large enough to attempt to recruit at as many schools as possible) are more likely to travel to recruit at schools that they have heard about. This tends to have some relation to the prestige and reputation of the CS major more than the school overall.
Some schools may hit multiple buttons. For example, a school may be local to many companies hiring for computing jobs, be large (at least in terms of CS majors), and have a high level of prestige and reputation in CS to attract non-local employers to recruit.
“Won’t the University ranking matter in getting the 1st CS job”:
Skills and experience will matter more in getting the first CS job.
Better skills will be taught by better schools for CS. Some Indian schools will be known as will some US schools. Skills in other fields, such as also including a math major, may be useful as well.
Software engineer is the same as a software developer- title depends on the company in son’s experience. It is not at all “engineering” as in hardware engineering or the traditional fields. Think of the use of the verb engineer, not a noun.