$10,800 a year for tuition, is it worth it?

[ssy]

I have been accepted into Software Engineering at UW, and I just found out the tuition for one year is $10,800!!!



What do you guys think, is it worth it to invest that much money? Is UW really that much better than say McMaster, considering that it is just undergraduate? I need to think about this because I am getting no financial support from my parents, and I live on my own (so I will also need to pay rent). I have no assets either.

[Tony]

How does the tuition at McMaster compare?

Also, that's $10.8K for two terms, and you average 1.5 academic terms per year, so that's ~$7.2K per year average year, and you might make $15K (pre-tax) per year in co-op. It might be tougher in the first couple of years, if you are starting out with no assets or experience for a good jobs, but that's what OSAP is for.

[ssy]

Tony @ Tue May 19, 2009 9:47 pm wrote:

How does the tuition at McMaster compare?

The tuition is $6700 a year at McMaster for Engineering I, including all supplementary fees (not sure if 10,800 at Waterloo includes it or not).

It really is a lot of money, if I consider all costs, it's going to be around $25,000 a year (listed on the Waterloo website)!

[btiffin]

Old guy votes yes, money spent on education is money well spent. Tough, but all worthy things are tough.

Old guy rambles
I've always thought Post Secondary Education should be linked to income tax. Pay back for your school on your tax form.

If someone with Grade 12 makes $1,000 a week and has $127.60 withheld on a T4032, then someone with a Bachelor and $100,000 in student "debt", has 177.60 withheld. Now, perhaps the Bachelor actually makes $2,000 so would be in the $367.35 bracket with the current table. Make that $500.00 and slide up the overpayment on the same scale as the tax bracket relative to "debt". "Debt" here is really "cost of education".

Everyone could go to post secondary, banks would fund it knowing the government backs the loans and we'd all feel a little better watching Lawyers suffer through their first few years of riches.

With an option to pay down the debt, lowering the overpay bracket accordingly, for those people that are fiscally responsible or experiencing "the good times".

Not to say, people could just slide through school. The cost of education would follow you through life until paid.

Just an opinion.

Cheers

[Prabhakar Ragde]

I think it's impossible to quantify whether one program is worth $16000 more than another. What is true is that that amount, huge though it seems, is small when amortized over your whole life. You should choose the program that you think makes sense for you. The money should probably come into play only when you have no clear preference and no real hope of distinguishing the choices.

The extra year of co-op at UW may help financially but there is also the current (hopefully temporary) difficulty faced by many first-year students in getting their first co-op placement.

[Dark]

I'm in your position...$10,000 a year for Coop Computer Science?!?! Plus Residence???

At Ryerson without rez plus 80 average scholarship I could have a very cheap tuition....I chose the expensive Waterloo route (I will also need a laptop at Waterloo, more money), and I'm relying on coop to make it all back :S

[ecookman]

worth it.

also if you think that is much...guess how much the 22week program for a degree at an aviation college i want to go to...55K

buuuut, its worth it because you get:
a diploma
200 +hrs of flight time (in the Cessna 172 trainer it burns about $50/hr of flight)
IFRating (instrument flight) [over 2K to get on your own]
VFRating (visual flight) [same as above]
commercial pilots license [14K-24K]
recreational license [5K-8K]
nighttime flight certification [no clue]
twin engine plane certification [no clue]
and a guaranteed job within the first 6 months

so, its less expensive then getting all of the certifications and licenses by yourself.

but still, i am still sopping

p.s apparently they are also world renown

[DemonWasp]

Assuming you get a decent co-op job, you'll easily make enough for your next term (assuming you know the meaning of "frugal" and "no I don't need that").

My starting salary was such that my hourly rate was around $17.50 - with no prior work experience. It has since risen to over $20 / hour. Over the course of the first work term, this means roughly $12k gross earnings, or around $8-9k once the various deductions are made. That's enough for uni + res + some other stuff.

I was lucky enough that I managed to buy a computer after my first work term (scholarships are win).

[Junaid2pac]

Last yr at Eng I at Mac was close to 8000, I doubt its 6700 now

[jernst]

When I was starting uni I often wondered the same thing. I actually partially chose my undergrad school because of a cheaper tuition. It wasn't the best choice. Investment in Education is never a bad idea. Don't let the cost hold you back, if you got into a good school like Waterloo I would recommend going. Just my two cents.