You like both campuses but Lincoln is very different than smack dab in Austin!!
Can you afford the UT cost - which is $60K+, not $50K - for CS I believe?
Raikes is special and their outcomes aren’t to be denied.
UT probably garners higher salaries than Raikes - but if you look at the attached, that may be for a select few.
Is the ROI for UT likely there? I’d guess not - especially if you want to end up in the midwest.
But if you want UT and it’s affordable to your family, it’s a great choice.
But $250K is a lot of money - can help you buy a car, home, or grad school.
No wrong choice here.
PS - have you looked at the curriculums? I’m assuming Raikes has less CS content - does one appeal to you over the other? If both affordable, that might another thing to consider.
If your parents are very well-off and/or they planned for this, and this money won’t impact them, Texas is the obvious choice.
If “willing to pay” means they can do it but it will sting (and likely impact their retirement), or they will have to take out loans, then UNL all the way.
I got my bachelor’s degree at Texas. I had a wonderful experience and have certainly benefited from the alumni network. However, I think there is only a small list of institutions for which incurring debt is worth it, and Texas isn’t on that list.
Why?
All Raikes students choose a major, on top of the interdisciplinary core curriculum (which already includes the equivalent of minors in both CS and business). If the student chooses CS as their major, there’s no reason to assume they’d cover “less CS content” than a CS major at any other school. Further, the student would seek a CS+X degree at UT, and these are typically a bit diluted in terms of CS content compared to a full CS major.
OP both schools/programs are excellent. I understand that going OOS to Austin feels more exciting, and it’s certainly a top CS school. But Raikes is a phenomenal opportunity too, and even more so for free! The $250K you’d save by the time you’re done could fully fund the master’s degree of your choice, or help you buy a home… or it could just be invested - imagine what it could be worth by the time you retire! Even if you have an incremental preference for UT, is it a strong enough preference to justify the price difference? You could well get more individual attention, mentoring, and networking opportunities at Raikes.
The above makes UN-Lincoln the easy choice if you would be satisfied with regional placement.
Several months ago, another thread discussed Raikes versus other options and posters pointed out that most Raikes students get internships & jobs in the geographical area as opposed to placing nationally.
Also, consider the possible impact of AI (artificial intelligence) on your targeted industry. Due to rapid developments in AI leading to uncertainty about entry level jobs/positions, therefore it might be wise to attend college for free.
Oof - my brain must have refused to take in that detail, because it doesn’t make any sense to me. Why would a student who wants CS+ling at one school choose econ at the other?
If linguistics is a proven area of interest (because lots of students who think they’ll love it end up not loving it at all, and many who do eventually love it stumble into it later), then UT could have an edge for that reason. But if it’s just as likely that the OP would end up switching into econ at UT, I would question the value-added of a $250K undergrad econ degree from UT vs. UNL-Raikes for free.
If the student just has multiple areas of interest and is unsure, that would be a point in favor of UNL in my opinion, because they could focus initially on the Raikes core curriculum and find out which subjects within that interdisciplinary core they really love best, before making a final decision about a major.
I think you should take the ‘sure thing’ at UNL. You have a lot of spinning plates going to TX.
Do you have a green card so you can qualify for some financial aid (even if it is just loans)? Will UT accept your health insurance or make you buy theirs as you are an international student? You are talking $60k in COA but you’ll also have travel coasts, maybe insurance, maybe other hidden costs and fees.
I got a perfect score on my ACT and since I am a Nebraska resident, I qualify for the presidential scholarship which is a full ride & 5K stipend per year