at what cost is MU undergrad worth it

[Eldon]

Working with my a HS senior on colleges.  Wants to go to MU.  Decent, not great, student, was recently admitted with a 18K/yr scholarship; Bus Adm major.  The total cost still dwarfs the cost of a state school.  So, we need help.  In short, is a MU undergrad degree worth it, and if so, at what cost?

It's likely worth it if student:

1) Loves--and I mean loves--MU
2) Wants to stay in Milwaukee long term
3) Is going to stick with business

I know students change majors, but which major within BusAdm?

[#UnleashSean]

They are not. The two year schools have merged into the four year. Which actually likely mitigates what forgetful is talking about.

I knew they partnered with them, is it a full on merge? And did they do away with the transfer system then, or was it always a full uw transfer

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

It's a merger.  UW-Waukesha credits are now UW-Milwaukee credits.  A transfer to UW-Madison is simply a transfer from UW-Milwaukee.

The two year campuses have been losing popularity for years.  The tech colleges are better funded and offer more of the tech based majors.  And not enough people were taking the route you took.  They would rather go directly to a four year program.

[forgetful]

Likewise in Wisconsin all UW community colleges (they're now partnered with a UW school, but regardless) have a pre accepted transfer to any UW school when you achieve above a 2.0 gpa after 2 years (2.5 for Madison and Lacrosse) The course work is the exact same. You just miss out on freshman & sophomore year dorm life.

I'm an RN with a masters, soon to be PH.D in ABA therapy. Thinking about hitting up the med school vs APNP route. I was able to go do this much schooling in this amount of time because I went the route I did. Maybe back in the 70's it was a bit different, but classes at UW-community colleges are the same course work as at Madison.

The UW system is very different than everywhere else. I've actually commented on it here before. The UW system is very well designed and pretty rigorous. Not so elsewhere.

We track student success pretty closely. The students who come from community colleges score on average a little over 1 full letter grade worse in science and math courses, than your typical student.

[muwarrior69]

The UW system is very different than everywhere else. I've actually commented on it here before. The UW system is very well designed and pretty rigorous. Not so elsewhere.

We track student success pretty closely. The students who come from community colleges score on average a little over 1 full letter grade worse in science and math courses, than your typical student.

As I said my cousin has done very well here in New Jersey and has a great job because she networked with her community college instructor. Not all stem students want to be academics and do basic research. Like my cousin they can work for great companies that provide therapeutics and products that make a difference in our everyday lives. It was her community college experience that led her to that job. As for grades she was just a B-/C+ student but in my book still a success as she is earning a low six figure salary with just a BS and no student debt. All her community college instructors taught her how to network.

[WarriorFan]

Working with my a HS senior on colleges.  Wants to go to MU.  Decent, not great, student, was recently admitted with a 18K/yr scholarship; Bus Adm major.  The total cost still dwarfs the cost of a state school.  So, we need help.  In short, is a MU undergrad degree worth it, and if so, at what cost?

Unfortunately my experience is that the universities still don't understand this question.  I recently raised a similar question to the dean of students (manager of the Admissions director) at a well known east coast Jesuit university, explaining that "their value proposition no longer comes close to the cost of attendance".  After a couple clarifying emails they just couldn't respond.  My intention was to negotiate the tuition down due to a 60% pay cut I took due to COVID.  I even gave them a number I was willing to pay.  It was pretty clear that they are not running a business, they will fix prices and watch enrollment decline or accept less capable students.  The result:  my son transferred.

I did the same at his new university, and they at least engaged in the dialogue and we had a couple meetings, but they fell back on transfer "rules" restricting scholarships.  (scholarship = discount). At least the new school is a state school with much lower costs.

My hope would be that every parent starts doing this... Do you buy a $50k new car without negotiation?  a house?  Then why not start negotiating university tuition!  The schools will then learn that most of them cost too much and that loans are not the answer.