Are We Crazy for Questioning a $250k US Degree and looking abroad?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are many excellent public universities in the US that will end up being cheaper than the international schools you list above, even if you are OOS.

I know when we looked at Toronto two years ago for a STEM major it was going to be around US$62k/year. Cheaper than privates, but more than many public options in the US.

On the job front, it's really only the first job...but Toronto, McGill, UBC, Waterloo, Oxbridge, UCL (and like 10+ other UK schools), Zurich (the tech school that is like the MIT of Europe) et al are all generally known. I can't imagine your kid would really be looking at random European colleges anyway.

Right. I realize Toronto is expensive. Although I mentioned Canada, we really were not looking at Canada. EU prices are a fraction of that and considering English universities are just 3 years, they end up being much cheaper even with the current exchange rate. Unfortunately neither kid wants to stay in-state. So I’m trying to be open about this and get others perspectives with experience at colleges other than Oxbridge/Imperial/LSE.

Oxford says international total COA is between US$50k and US$80k per year depending on course of study. You will of course have to add in travel costs.

So, if you study STEM, you are still at $240k for three years. I get it's Oxford, though you could go to GA Tech and study stem even OOS with zero merit for $200k.

Remember, all the international schools are public schools.

[Anonymous]

Look at Canadian schools, including how much credit they will give for AP and/or IB classes. Similar to the US college experience and depending on the school both annual tuition can be much less expensive and may be able to graduate in 3 or 3 1/2 years if your child scores well on AP/IB tests.

[Anonymous]

How are you getting away with $250,000 degree? More tuition is 80,000 x 4 yrs. And you know it will increase.

[Anonymous]

The major and future career plans would be very important. As well as your local affordable options.

[Anonymous]

It makes sense if one of the reasons for doing it is to broaden the kid’s experience by living abroad or some other similar reason (e.g., learning a foreign language).

It makes very little sense if it’s purely to save money. Yes, these foreign schools have a sticker price that’s a fraction of the sticker price of an American private school. But dig deeper & you will find the foreign schools have expensive transportation costs, crappy living conditions (most foreign universities think undergrads should live in hovels), pressure-filled degree programs (everything’s based on a few major exams), & isolated social lives (often not a lot of locals are eager to be buddies with Americans). (None of these drawbacks really apply to Canadian universities, which aren’t all that different from schools in the US.)

If the goal is just to save money, I’d recommend your in-state publics or a solid American public university in another state that has a low sticker price & gives good merit aid to bring the net price down significantly (Arizona, Kansas, Florida State, Nebraska etc).

—American who attended universities in US, Canada, & Scotland

[Anonymous]

I told my kids to work hard and get huge merit scholarships, or look into other options. Armed forces, merchant marine, etc.
college tuition isn’t worth the price tag.

[Anonymous]

Our child wanted to go to undergrad abroad and we said no. This child has some issues and if there ever was an emergency, I wanted to be able to drive to them in xx hours rather than have to find a flight and spend thousands of dollars. Told them they could go abroad for grad school (and that is what they are doing).

There's a big difference between 18 and 22

[Anonymous]

I’m going to guess it depends on your field, The UK has some very good engineering schools. There are a bunch of US tech companies with larger offices in Ireland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I told my kids to work hard and get huge merit scholarships, or look into other options. Armed forces, merchant marine, etc.
college tuition isn’t worth the price tag.

Merchant marines? Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, curious why you aren’t considering your instate universities? $250k is absurd.

Not OP but you do realize that many of posters on DC Urban Mom actually live in DC, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, curious why you aren’t considering your instate universities? $250k is absurd.

Not OP but you do realize that many of posters on DC Urban Mom actually live in DC, right?

Sure, but state schools anywhere will always cost less than privates.

[Anonymous]

US Military...Your kid will get college for free.

Check all branches for current deals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It makes sense if one of the reasons for doing it is to broaden the kid’s experience by living abroad or some other similar reason (e.g., learning a foreign language).

It makes very little sense if it’s purely to save money. Yes, these foreign schools have a sticker price that’s a fraction of the sticker price of an American private school. But dig deeper & you will find the foreign schools have expensive transportation costs, crappy living conditions (most foreign universities think undergrads should live in hovels), pressure-filled degree programs (everything’s based on a few major exams), & isolated social lives (often not a lot of locals are eager to be buddies with Americans). (None of these drawbacks really apply to Canadian universities, which aren’t all that different from schools in the US.)

If the goal is just to save money, I’d recommend your in-state publics or a solid American public university in another state that has a low sticker price & gives good merit aid to bring the net price down significantly (Arizona, Kansas, Florida State, Nebraska etc).

—American who attended universities in US, Canada, & Scotland

kids want to go abroad for a variety of reasons. None of it is related to being cheaper. My husband doesnt care. I’m the one who brought up cost being an additional factor (for my little brain) to consider.

Other than my husband, my only other reference point here is son of a colleague who went to Bocconi for undergrad. Yes, they saved a TON of money for a pretty decent degree. He did not have expensive transportation costs or crappy living conditions. His dorm was actually amazing and his social life was great. So not sure where you went to school, but my point is that it is tough to generalize (American is amazing, everything else is terrible). My kids do not want to stay in-state. Our in-state options are not great (we dont live in DC).

[Anonymous]

Inclined to agree with PPs who say think about your kid, their interests, personality, etc. There are so many paths to success, and it will look different for different kids.

This is purely anecdotal, but my general belief is that non-US undergrad can work particularly well if there's an interest in grad school/academia. I went to a Canadian university you've never heard of, but in the academic world, people know Canadian universities are excellent; I got a full ride to grad school at a top US east coast school and about 1/4 of my classmates were from Canadian universities (many of them "ones you've never heard of" - not Toronto or McGill or UBC) - this is not a coincidence. There were also many, many kids from other countries, with non-US undergrad degrees.

I then wound up getting a full ride to law school when I switched careers, but that was probably more about having the graduate degrees from the prestigious US school, and I suspect that's probably typical - if your kid is interested in professional schools (law, med, pharm, dent etc.) and wants to go to a competitive program, I wouldn't send them to a non-US undergrad unless it was a well-known, well-respected one, because I think name/prestige matters more in that admissions context.

My purpose in sharing the anecdote is, if nothing else, to show that I found my way even though my parents spent next to nothing on my undergrad education. In wanting "the best" for our kids, it's so easy to get caught up in the fallacy that there is one "best" thing, when of course so much of it is field- and person-specific.

Re saving money, I'm all about it (my kid is going to Canada b/c of domestic rates from dual citizenship), but would keep eyes open for those hidden costs other PPs have mentioned. Also keep your eyes on currency exchange, which can change dramatically.

[Anonymous]

Also consider that some students are allowed a 2 year work visa after graduation. If they then decide to go to grad school overseas, you may find them out of the U.S. for more like 6-8 years just for school.