<p>^^^^ Regarding the money issue.</p>
<p>Definitely call WPI and talk to them. </p>
<p>However, when I compared the state (CA) schools verses WPI it wasn’t that different. State schools in CA are now taking 5 years to graduate with a BS in engineering primarily due to class availability issues (which are only getting worse, not better). My son is at the state school and is in his 5th year, so I’m talking from experience. Living expenses plus tuition for that extra year isn’t cheap. WPI’s 4 year graduation rate is pretty good (can’t remember the number). For my case, I figured 4 years at WPI was about a push compared to 5 years at state school. WPI was a much better fit for my daughter, so she is attending WPI.</p>
<p>Also, you will be saving on the students home food bill. You can take them off the car insurance (assuming that they don’t take a car to school and I definitely don’t recommend a car their freshman year at least, and maybe at all). My insurance company doesn’t even require them to be on the insurance even if they are home for the summer. One caveat, they must be at least 160 miles from home to take them off the insurance (at least that was the number for my insurance company).</p>
<p>Freshman year would typically be in the dorm. After that an apartment, which can be cheaper especially if they do their own cooking. Both my kids know how to cook and enjoy doing so.</p>
<p>Take a look at the starting salaries for engineers and the terms of any loans. It will be some level of burden, but maybe not that much. I came out of school with what I thought was a large amount of loans. But by the end of the term of the loan, the payment almost seemed trivial to me. I know it was many years ago and a different era, but I was just as afraid of the debt.</p>