Would you pick a college over a university

[Miguelsmom]

 

My son wants to be a web developer but all the jobs in the area require a Bachelor's degree. He already has his AS degree in web development. We can only afford 1 of 2 Schools. 

College 1: 

Estimated time to complete 3 years.

Program: Programming sub plan.

Skills: broad

Commute time: 30 min each way

Road type: local

Student life:less active

Car: not required

Cost: $11k

 

University 2:

Estimated time to complete 2.5 years.

Program: Information Architecture 

Skills: specialized 

Commute time: 1 hr each way

Road type: highway

Student life: More Active

Car: Required

Cost: $15k

Edited October 31, 2019 by Miguelsmom

[Mbelle]

Does he want a more active student life?  That could be helpful in his careeer to have connections.   College 2 could have him working and making money more quickly.   

[Miguelsmom]

6 hours ago, Mbelle said:

Does he want a more active student life?

I would say yes because he wanted dorms but they're unaffordable.

Edited October 31, 2019 by Miguelsmom

[catz]

Well spending 2 hrs a day vs 1 hr per day on the road is substantial.  Especially if transit is available for option 1 vs. option 2.  Is student life less active at option 1 because it's a commuter campus?  Are there still clubs?  Placement services?  An hour a day is more time you could spend on campus making connections too.  I think as commuter, you just need to be more proactive either way.  If a campus community is more engaged because there are more students living there, those options may not be as available as a commuter either.  

What is the weather like in your area?  Is the highway drive city or country?  Here in Michigan you have to figure in snow during the winter.  The longer the base commute, the higher the potential for a really long delay.  We technically live a 50 min commute from UMich-Ann Arbor, but I can’t imagine driving it myself everyday.  I worked around there one summer just out of college while still living at home and even in the summer it was 55 min there and an hour and a half home with traffic.

[Mbelle]

11 hours ago, Miguelsmom said:

I would say yes because he wanted dorms but they're unaffordable.

Yeah, for us dorms are the biggest cost at college.  I don't think my dd has made friends living in the dorm, but she has made friends through a campus ministry group and she's joining some clubs related to her major.  These usually meet in the evenings though.   If he has late afternoon classes that could easily  work as commuter student.  My dd had late afternoon classes her first year and then went straight to he group 1 to 2 evenings a week.   A friend of ours did commute for one year and he joined the robotics team and another computer team with no issues, but he did have to drive up especially for that.  

[J-rap]

Just curious, but how is a car not required for option #1?  Can he take a bus?  

Transportation would be a huge deal for me, and I think would get tiresome.  Would this be 5 days a/week?

Going 30 minutes each way on a bus feels very doable, and time could be spent on homework.  One hour each way driving myself would feel pretty old after awhile.

Also, has he looked into sharing an apartment with 2 or 3 other people (instead of dorm life and meal plan)?  That can be a lot more affordable, and maybe something to consider if he's more interested in option #2.

[8filltheheart]

2 hrs of driving a day, especially when tired and stressed, seems like a disaster waiting to happen. 30 mins is not a long distance and seems like an avg drive in most towns to any given general location. Adding an additional 30 mins may not seem like a lot, but it is huge in the scheme of planning and energy levels.

[RootAnn]

So, for those who don't remember, state is Florida. The U is likely USF. There are a couple of older threads that give some more background.

As far as the choice, it would be whichever one my kid felt was a better fit since you said you could afford either. (Kid is, I assume, getting Bright Futures although I don't get why it is so much if he's commuting.)

[teachermom2834]

As a USF mom, it really is a good school. It is climbing the rankings (not that I put alot of stock in that just to say if you weren't familiar with FL you might think it was a smaller regional state U or something that it really is not). There is a ton of opportunity there and they are very dedicated to student success. I'll also admit that my own ds there takes little advantage of most of that 😡 The school is huge but my ds has always had great support for whatever he needed. He has an internship for credit next semester that he needed approval for. He submitted the request and had approval in less than ten minutes. He has always gotten any classes he needed, etc etc. The Honors College has alot of perks too. 

I'm not familiar with the major the OP's son is looking at so I have no idea if what USF has is something special there. It might be. It might not.

I think USF is a good value school. However, as I expressed in an earlier thread about the commute time that would be a no go for me. I would not even consider that so USF would be off the table for me if commuting was involved. My next ds wants to go to our state flagship which is about 75 miles away from where we live. We have never once considered commuting an option. So I wouldn't even consider the long commute. So my opinion probably not helpful.

[teachermom2834]

1 hour ago, RootAnn said:

So, for those who don't remember, state is Florida. The U is likely USF. There are a couple of older threads that give some more background.

As far as the choice, it would be whichever one my kid felt was a better fit since you said you could afford either. (Kid is, I assume, getting Bright Futures although I don't get why it is so much if he's commuting.)

Yeah if it is USF then I don’t know what is being figured in to get such a high tuition for commuting to USF. In state tuition and fees is closer to $13000. So. I don’t know what other expenses are being added in. Also, USF gave us a modest FA grant in addition to a scholarship for ds. We were shocked as we have never been offered FA from a public university for either of our boys. They are quite generous so it surprises me to see that cost for a commuter. But I am certain there are some wrinkles here I don’t understand.

[Miguelsmom]

7 hours ago, Mom2mthj said:

 Is the highway drive city or country

City driving

 

4 hours ago, J-rap said:

Just curious, but how is a car not required for option #1?  Can he take a bus?

He would commute with his dad and/or take the bus

4 hours ago, J-rap said:

Also, has he looked into sharing an apartment with 2 or 3 other people (instead of dorm life and meal plan)?

he wouldn't be able to afford  $600+ a month. 

4 hours ago, J-rap said:

Would this be 5 days a/week?

I would assume so just to be safe.

1 hour ago, RootAnn said:

Kid is, I assume, getting Bright Futures

he is but not full that's how much it would cost for credits he has left to take not our cost. 

8 hours ago, FuzzyCatz said:

Is student life less active at option 1 because it's a commuter campus? 

Yes

8 hours ago, FuzzyCatz said:

Are there still clubs? 

Yes, he's not interested in any of the club's offered except 1.

 

8 hours ago, FuzzyCatz said:

Placement services?

I'm not sure. They each do have placement services.

 

7 hours ago, Mom2mthj said:

What is the weather like in your area?

It's really nice except the rainy session. 

 

[Bootsie]

If the university that has more active student life is primarily students living on or near campus, I think it would be hard for him to be too involved in all of that if he is commuting an hour each way.  Many of the activities will probably occur in the evenings or on weekend.  I think it would be easier to get involved as a commuter student at a campus that is primarily commuter students.

[mom1720]

Does the price for #1 include the cost of communing -- the bus when not riding with dad?

Does the cost of #2 include car, gas, insurance, maintenance for said car, any tolls, etc.?

Need to know if I'm comparing apples to apples on cost first.

[teachermom2834]

I see now the costs are total costs to complete the degree. My brain automatically goes to “per year” when comparing college costs. 

[Miguelsmom]

13 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

I see now the costs are total costs to complete the degree. My brain automatically goes to “per year” when comparing college costs.

Sorry I wasn't clear.

46 minutes ago, mom1720 said:

Need to know if I'm comparing apples to apples on cost first.

College 1 does include bus

University 2 is Just tuition and fees x credits needed to complete the degree. So a car, gas, expenses would have to be worked in but he'll eventually need those things anyway. 

 

 

[Lanny]

I read all of the responses, up to when I began to write this.  From what the OP wrote, for "Program" and for "Skills" for each school, based on those words, if I assume, I assume the 2nd school would better prepare him.  Ignoring  the commuting time, University 2 seems more likely to get him considered for job openings. I come from the Engineering world, and my Resume said that I am a "Generalist" and sometimes that's what they need, but in this case his goals are quite specific and the better prepared he is to do that work, the more a potential employer is likely to bring him in to work for them.

The cost differential is trivial.  The commuting time is quite different. The education may be extremely different.

If he has an opportunity to contact any potential employers, it would be interesting to know their reactions to graduates of the 2 schools and I would listen carefully to what they say.

Good luck to him!

[...................]

Neither. Seems to me for the vast quantity of time he would spend commuting, he could get an on-campus job (food services is usually well paying and desperate for workers) and earn about half of his room and board.  Working over the summer could net him the other half of room and board.  

Are you or dad able to take in any extra hours at work to put away a little for the difference? 

I just feel like a one hour commute is too much.

If these truly are the only two options, I would pick number one.  A one hour commute for a 20 year old young man is truly soul-sucking.  Sitting still doing nothing two hours per day, and  also being stuck on campus in between, killing time sounds truly dreary.  At least with the other one he would have the option to pop home and back sometimes, or at least have less of a commute.  

But I still think picking up 10 work hours each week and therefore being able to swing living on campus is preferable to 10 commute hours! 

[Miguelsmom]

On 11/1/2019 at 4:31 PM, Lanny said:

I read all of the responses, up to when I began to write this.  From what the OP wrote, for "Program" and for "Skills" for each school, based on those words, if I assume, I assume the 2nd school would better prepare him.  Ignoring  the commuting time, University 2 seems more likely to get him considered for job openings. I come from the Engineering world, and my Resume said that I am a "Generalist" and sometimes that's what they need, but in this case his goals are quite specific and the better prepared he is to do that work, the more a potential employer is likely to bring him in to work for them.

The cost differential is trivial.  The commuting time is quite different. The education may be extremely different.

If he has an opportunity to contact any potential employers, it would be interesting to know their reactions to graduates of the 2 schools and I would listen carefully to what they say.

Good luck to him!

I'll have him call around tomorrow.

 

1 hour ago, Calming Tea said:

he could get an on-campus job

He would be getting on on campus job to pay for books, gas, food, extras already. He would not be able to live on campus working 10 extra hours a week. That's only $85/week. He can't do food service. We are hoping he gets an internship this summer that leads to a part-time job during the year. We just can't swing living on campus.

[elegantlion]

I commuted 30 minutes to my undergraduate school. It was okay, it was all highway miles, and doable. 

I now attend grad school 1 hour from home and I moved and got an apartment. IMO, an hour commute daily is too much. It detracts from study time. It's hard to stay for evening get togethers unless you find a great place to crash for a few hours. I have evening classes as well, so I'd have to drive at night, which I don't like doing. 

I also TA and I know that some of my students who commute longer distances struggle with finding study time or place on top of adjusting to the rigors of college life. They may still have family obligations or chores or jobs that affect that ability to study too.