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I would say its worth it for a degree from Stanford or Harvard or Yale but not USC. If you are rich then sure no problem but if not, I would consider a cheaper but still reputable school.
If you don't major in something like engineering, no.
We're looking at the reckoning for private institutions because they have not taken cost containment seriously. After all, why worry about it when student loans are so profitable? But given a $200,000 student loan at 4% amounts to $945 a month for thirty years, an almost impossible debt for the large majority of people to retire.
1979 Entered Cal State Northridge, $350/semester, $100 books, $50 everything else ~ $1000/year. Lived at home. Earned my Electrical Engineering degree for around $6000 - not easy to get out in four years especially when you're a goof off like I was (am).
Got engineering jobs which paid for my MS in Engineering at UCSB and MBA at Cal Lutheran. Free to me. They even paid my salary while I lived at UCSB for a year.
The most for the least.
My recommendation to my kids is to either attend Saddleback Community College for two years then transfer to UC Irvine or go to UCI right out of high school, and live at home the whole time and most importantly, major in something practical like engineering.
Yes, they'll miss the "whole college experience" living at home but for most kids, living on campus gets old after one or two years.
it's a good school, but few if any schools are worth that weight in gold...I think that the only, possible exception would be the TOP 3 Ivys (HPY) and even that depends on what one wanted to do there and after graduation.
To those who think that an Ivy League degree is not worth $60K, well, there are a number of i-bankers, lawyer, and medical alums making $300K-$3 million that would question the idea that there is no value in expensive undergrad programs.
S.
An Ivy (or other prestigious degree) is not the same as USC.
This argument is akin to asking someone: would you rather pay $10 for a delicious green chile enchilada dinner served in a bland, cold, cafeteria setting amongst a bunch of random strangers, or $30 for a delicious green chile enchilada dinner served in a close-knit environment, with a small group of warm and friendly people around you, good service, perfect temperature, and comfortable seating?
Whether or not it's worth it for someone to attend USC is entirely subjective. Some people are willing to pay the higher costs for miscellaneous reasons and/or the overall experience. It's not just about the practical investment payoff for everyone...
And I think it's safe to say that most kids going to USC likely have family members willing to pay for a significant portion of tuition costs, if not all of them. The kid then graduates, gets a good job, and pays for his/her kids education... so on and so forth.
Last edited by ryanst530; 08-26-2013 at 09:32 AM..
Not worth it to me... Only rich people can afford that. I'd send my kid to CC first two years then tranfer to a good public university for a degree. I'd try to avoid student debt as much as possible too, but the problem is I have no kids or wife, either!
I finished undergrad in 2009 with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at SC. After graduating my debt totaled $95,000. Generally, the rules is to not graduate with more debt than your starting salary.
Unfortunately with the bad economy I took advantage of my dual citizenship and moved to Canada where opportunities are plenty and am working in Oil & Gas earning six figures. Within a few more years my loans should be paid off and the journey has been no doubt a character building one.
The academic rigor at USC was staggering, but not impossible for anyone. About half of my friends had their tuition paid through a combination of scholarships and loans while the other half relied on their generous parents to cover all of their costs.
In hindsight, the moderate reputation and unique Biomedical Engineering major was not the least helpful in securing graduate admissions or employment in the Medical Device industry. Skills and experience matter the more in the real world than bragging rights. A graduate from a CSU or UC would have just as many opportunities as any graduate from USC.
Couldn't believe how expensive it was in this story...I thought it was in the 20's or 30's. Any USC alumni that can comment, do you think the story is generally accurate?
I'm thinking....that's a house purchase in many parts of the country for four years, even with money left over. Is something wrong with this picture?
The power that the college lords have in this country is scary. They can up prices almost at will, with a magic wand. And applicants break into tears if they can't get in. And it just keeps spiraling upwards, with no end in sight.
That includes on-campus room and board.
At my first university tuition was $29K/year and dorms were another $20K or so and this was an unknown (outside of the city/state) university. Considering USCs "name brand", yeah, I think it's worth it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by missionhome
In short: NO, especially considering UCLA and UC Berkeley are great schools for less money
Its the reason my son picked a public university. We got no financial aid and UCLA was $25,000 (expected budget: includes room and board, transportation, tuition, books, etc...) and USC was $53,000. I just don't see why people would pick USC over UCLA. Even 50% off USC tuition only makes it break even with UCLA and UCLA is slightly higher ranked and in a much nicer neighborhood. I just don't see how people justify paying $25,000 more to go to USC over UCLA.
Then again I know one kid who is going there and paying full tuition and also got into UCLA, but picked USC due to the "family legacy."
UCLA and UCB are only cheap for California residents. I am from California, born and raised, so I feel I can say this: Californians need to stop moaning about the cost of tuition. UCLA and UCB, for out-of-state students, are around $50K, too.
In case you are not aware of this, UCs and CSUs heavily favor in-state applicants because so much of the State's budget goes to subsidize higher education (and because so many remain in the State; it's a good, or was, ROI for the State). Some of the UCs, UCB in particular, are looking at increasing the rate of non-resident admits because they pay full price but last I read (a few years ago) the increase is relatively small: something like by 12%.
USC has a larger out-of-state and international student body. For non-Californian students who want to study in SoCal it makes no difference in terms of price if they go to USC or UCLA, but USC is going to give out more merit aid and scholarship, too. At the school I mentioned above, I only had to pay $3K/year out-of-pocket.
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$95K in debt
