All schools won’t have that parameter, but some will. Regardless, their money, their rules.
Yes, you have to run the NPCs. You will see the impact of the assets on the need based awards. Do you have a firm budget? Have you filed FAFSA yet…if so, what is your SAI?
Here are MIT, JHU, NU NPCs to get you started.
Re: aid. There are a number of these generous colleges that also consider your home equity to some degree when determining their need based aid. So…if you have a lot of home equity, this could also diminish your need based aid.
Your student can become an electrical engineer at many many many colleges. He can study computer science at many many many colleges. For EE, look for those ABET accredited programs.
NY resident. It’s tricky here. UC would be his go-to if I was still a Cal resident; he’s very fond of Berkeley.
SUNY doesn’t impress him and I agree, engineering programs aren’t great. Need to do more research on RPI/WPI/RIT but he’s not thrilled with these options either. Planning to leave NY and will likely follow him wherever he goes once I go fully remote. The main considerations are moderately low cost and great EE program anywhere in the U.S.
He will be full pay at all the UCs, there is no need based aid for OOS students, and very limited merit aid.
Run the NPCs for all the schools on the list to see if you get estimates that you can afford. If the NPCs are not affordable at need based only schools, they come off the list.
Has he applied anywhere yet?
For the UCs in California, plan on nearly $80,000 a year.
Cal Poly SLO would be a less costly option.
Not the same thing, although there is significant overlap. EE contains many subareas, one of which is computer hardware design. Computer engineering is usually a combination of that plus some aspects of software that are closest to the hardware (operating systems, compilers). Other areas of EE include IC design and fabrication, wireless communication (like mobile phones using cellular networks or wifi) and sensing (like radar), control systems (with overlap with ME), and power systems (think of the electric utility and the design of electrical infrastructure for various facilities). Computer science usually focuses more on software and theory; hardware offerings can be sparse at smaller schools without EE departments.
CSUs like CPSLO are less expensive than UCs, though not necessarily cheap for out of state. Not being in the western region means not being able to get WUE tuition (1.5 times in state) for UC Merced and some CSUs (not CPSLO).
Can you elaborate on this? I’ve only heard good things about Tech. Is this specific to engineering or does it include CS etc. I know GT is a very large school and sometimes in-state students with low work ethic slip through the cracks.
This is essentially why I’m here. How do you research this? Few resources make any sort of meaningful comparison.
My opinion…shared by my career EE husband. Go to an ABET accredited program. If you can do internships or co-op, both are very worthwhile experiences that will help you in the future.
The brand name of the college doesn’t matter as much as people think it might…for most engineering jobs.
For EE, the breadth and depth of the various subareas can be relevant to a student unsure of specific subarea interests. Whether other engineering (and computing) majors (and perhaps other majors like math, physics, statistics, etc.) exist and are not difficult to change into can matter for a student who is less decided.
Your research focused employer will be more likely suited to students who get into undergraduate research at a high-research college. Of course, some research jobs focus on PhD graduates. But not all engineering employers and jobs are like that.
Definitely have your child look at the four year plan of study for EE and CS at all the schools on your list. At some school, like Purdue, EE and CS aren’t even housed in the same college so the requirements are very different.
Also a note on costs. Purdue’s out of state cost of attendance is still relatively low at around $46K. A strong student will get RPI down to about that with merit awards. Your best bets financially are going to be your SUNYs. Buffalo has a great reputation for engineering!
50K total CoA / year. No SAI just yet.
Your son will start college in fall 2027, right?
You say your wife isn’t working now…but need based financial aid uses prior prior tax year income information. So for the 2027-2028 academic year, the 2025 tax year will be used. If your wife was working then, her income will be included when the colleges compute your need based aid.
For the 2028-2029 academic year, the 2026 tax year will be used. Did your wife work any part of that year?
Did your wife receive unemployment or severance pay? All of those count.
There are plenty of EE and CS programs out there that will come in under $50,000 a year (Purdue, and Buffalo, and any other SUNY too).
I agree that doing the net price calculators is a good idea.
Remember too, that the very generous schools use the CSS Profile and that delves into much more financial detail than the FAFSA.
Also, if you are hoping for merit aid at some places, keep an eye on deadlines as some colleges have earlier application deadlines for their best merit awards.
2027 per the first sentence of the OP:
Run the NPCs, we can’t really help you more with schools/strategy until we know how much need based aid you will qualify for. It’s a completely different list if the need based only schools don’t come in at your budget.
It would also be quite helpful if you did a chance me/match me thread.
Remember, some of these tippy top schools have extremely low acceptance rates. Most who apply are very strong candidates and most get rejected. Your son could be a tippy top student…and might or might not get accepted…and he will never know why.
Your comment about Harvey Mudd had me flummoxed. My EE husband says it is one of the strongest engineering schools in this country.
That was 7 years ago. They were very open when I called. I set a $50K budget.
It was W&L that said 2x salary.
It’s a new world - but these new tables are often little different than they were already doing. Many of these schools have FANTASTIC aid - but they don’t give to you for free. They expect you to “invest” in your student so when you have things, you need to sell them off.
Run the NPCs and the aid counselors at most schools are glad to talk to you.
First thing you need to do is set a budget - and then you can go from there.
You may find some schools will be generous to help you achieve. Or you may find you need to apply to schools that will assuredly hit. Lots of brilliant kids go to those schools too.
Harvey Mudd is great, but they offer an “engineering” major which is not exactly taken seriously by traditional employers. That’s generally not a problem because Mudd has exemplary industry connections. My son is after EE specifically. I’m not keen on the idea of mixing engineering disciplines, which are all highly specialized. I might be biased because we only hire EE and physics at my workplace.
Too bad - we only hear fantastic things about Buffalo on this website and SB is a leader in Physics, which likely ties to engineering.
When you pick schools, your budget is first and foremost.
Do you think 2K kids from NY/NKJ/CT go to Alabama because they’re too dumb for SUNY?
No - they likely go for if they are top students - $20K engineering, $25K other majors.
Not sending you there but the point is - there’s a lot of “aggressive” schools financially - and kids choose them over the better known. Someone brought up Michigan State b4 - guaranteed some choose it over UM because who has $85K for out of state tuition when you can go for under half?
The kids at U M and name another state school are getting the same jobs fed to them through handshake (the college linkedin). I think you are over estimating differences with your opinion.
I do think certain schools - like Ivies, may not be stronger in engineering - but their kids have access to other jobs that might be a cut above income wise.
We know nothing about your student though.