Son accepted into LeTourneau...need advice

[paulcindy88]

Hi
My homeschooled senior has just been accepted into LeTourneau University in TX. We live in MA. He wants to major is secondary education. A History Teacher. The tuition is expensive. He was able to get a scholarship through the University of $6,000 per year. (The tuition is around $25,000 with room,board,meals).

First, being a teacher does not pay very well. So I am not so sure that going to a 4 year school may be worth the money. He could com out with a BS is secondary education making only $40,000 a year. We also have to come up with the balance of the tuition. We are not eligible for a Pell grant according FAFSA so we are waiting to see what else is out there.

Would you just tell your son to go to a community college for two years than transfer?? 4 year universities are very expensive in MA, almost as much as LeTourneau without commuting, and they are not very homeschool friendly. And forget private universities.

So what would you do???:confused:

Thanks;)

[1cat2ferrets]

I'm from MA and I read your post, obviously. :o
Have you looked into UMass Dartmouth at all?? I went there several hundred years ago...LOL and it's a very good school.
My son is interested in going there and the tuition is $8500/year without room and board; around $10,500 if you live in the dorms. I think it's a lot less expensive than the one your son was accepted into.
UMass DArtmouth has an education major as well.
Just a suggestion, BTW.

[paulcindy88]

We have UMASS/Amherst, but my son really wanted to go to a Christian College.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Hi
My homeschooled senior has just been accepted into LeTourneau University in TX. We live in MA. He wants to major is secondary education. A History Teacher. The tuition is expensive. He was able to get a scholarship through the University of $6,000 per year. (The tuition is around $25,000 with room,board,meals).

First, being a teacher does not pay very well. So I am not so sure that going to a 4 year school may be worth the money. He could com out with a BS is secondary education making only $40,000 a year. We also have to come up with the balance of the tuition. We are not eligible for a Pell grant according FAFSA so we are waiting to see what else is out there.

Would you just tell your son to go to a community college for two years than transfer?? 4 year universities are very expensive in MA, almost as much as LeTourneau without commuting, and they are not very homeschool friendly. And forget private universities.

So what would you do???:confused:

Thanks;)

I would ask him how he plans on coming up with the rest of the money. I think it would be awesome if he could go to his first choice school, but if the money isn't there, you can't just pull it out of the air.

If ds hadn't found enough money to go to his first choice school, he would have been disappointed, but his desire to go to a small private liberal arts school would have just had to be unfulfilled. We have no money in reserve for college education and have no desire to take out loans for another person's undergrad schooling. Second choice would have had to have been good enough. In-state tuition and lottery scholarships would have had to do. Or else he would simply have to work and earn the money and go later, though probably not at his first choice.

That's just life and The Way Things Are. Wishing and wanting doesn't change reality, unfortunately.

I hope you find a workable solution to this.

[Claire]

Hi
My homeschooled senior has just been accepted into LeTourneau University in TX. We live in MA. He wants to major is secondary education. A History Teacher. The tuition is expensive. He was able to get a scholarship through the University of $6,000 per year. (The tuition is around $25,000 with room,board,meals).

First, being a teacher does not pay very well. So I am not so sure that going to a 4 year school may be worth the money. He could com out with a BS is secondary education making only $40,000 a year. We also have to come up with the balance of the tuition. We are not eligible for a Pell grant according FAFSA so we are waiting to see what else is out there.

Would you just tell your son to go to a community college for two years than transfer?? 4 year universities are very expensive in MA, almost as much as LeTourneau without commuting, and they are not very homeschool friendly. And forget private universities.

So what would you do???:confused:

Thanks;)

Yes and no.

Here's the yes. As far as I can tell from your post, you are looking at spending $80,000 on a four-year education degree if he starts in TX as a freshman. IMO, that's too much money to spend to become qualified as a high school teacher. If he transfers after his sophomore year of CC, it would cost closer to $60,000 (no scholarship, prices stay the same, and CC costs $5,000 a year). It would be easier for him to pay off $60,000 in student loans than $80,000 in student loans. The difference could easily be the down payment on a house.

Here's the no. I'd have him look for a less expensive 4-year college to transfer into. He might still have to go out-of-state if MA is that expensive, but by that time he might be old enough to establish residency in a state with a less-expensive state college system.

Here we started out planning on $30,000 a year for a four-year degree in art at a private college. Then we started thinking about how much $120,000 really is and what exactly you can do with a four-year degree in fine arts. Current plans are for dd to go to a state CC for two years at $6,000 per year, then transfer into a four-year school.

[paulcindy88]

I am seriously thinking that is what he is going to do. Go to a 2 year CC, than transfer out to a local public in state University.

I am proud of my son though!! Proves that homeschooling through high school works, thank you:D

[Annie G]

Our oldest wanted to attend a Christian college but wasn't offered enough scholarship money. She had to attend the state university, but she had scholarship money for that one. She worked hard and applied for scholarships and by the time she graduated, she had $10,000 in the bank (excess scholarship money plus some money she earned at a part time job her first year of college) and no college loans.
I understand your son's desire to attend a Christian college. I might encourage him to seek other Christian colleges that are less expensive and perhaps try to work towards one of those.
And kudos to you...good job!

[Osmosis Mom]

Just wanted you to also consider Bridgewater State which is a fine school for education and teachers (as is Lesley but applying there might be too late this year). I think some of the private schools in MA have bigger endowments and could offer more in scholarships than either publc schools or smaller private schools. But perhaps you already considered these.

[strider]

I had a really fabulous experience with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on the campus of a large state university.

I went to a private, Christian high school that had also been a fabulous experience. I literally thank God that this school was a part of my life at a significant juncture of my life.

What the Christian school environment had to offer:

--Regularly scheduled chapel services.
--Specifically Christian courses such as Church History, Old and New Testament survey, Inductive Method, Doctrine.
--Smaller class sizes
--A good number of teachers who were very caring and very sincere in their faith
--It can be a wonderfully accepting, kind environment. (Not all are, but my school truly was. I also worked for a number of Christian businesses over the years--two of them had very loving environments; unfortunately one business at which I worked was rife with hypocrisy and emotional-spiritual blackmail.)

Negatives of a Christian school environment:

--At times in Christian subculture there are those who struggle to maintain healthy boundaries. Normal, everyday things are assigned a "spiritual" value that becomes a burden. An example would be a dear friend who worked at a Christian publishing house and was told that she should cheerfully accept a tiny salary because her work was her ministry (the salary was not a living wage and the company did have the resources to provide a little more).
--Daily, mandatory chapel services can lend itself to burn-out and cynicism. Not always though--there were definitely times I appreciated that aspect, as well as other times that I felt very jaded.
--Difficulties breaking into a secular job market after graduation (not impossible by any means, but this is a downer).
--$$$
--Disillusionment with those who do NOT behave or believe as Christians should--there is a tendency to think that sinful human behavior should never happen at a Christian school. This both hurts when bad behavior happens, but it also tends to inflate "smaller" sin issues into big ones (pressure to be morally perfect).

What a secular campus has to offer:

--Usually IVCF or other campus ministries or churches do offer regular prayer meetings, Bible studies, and worship opportunities. My campus had a large number of spiritual groups. If I had wanted to I could have attended some sort of spiritual service every day. IVCF alone did offer daily prayer meetings, weekly Bible studies, weekly large group meetings, weekly (larger) prayer meetings, as well as retreats and other extras. The teaching was every bit as solid as what I was taught in my high school chapel services, and often more so.
--Many secular campuses do offer religion courses BUT you really have to check into the credentials of the person teaching. On my campus the religion courses were taught from a specifically very, very liberal bias, and were often downright ANTI-Christian, believe it or not. If your son has an interest in the courses I mentioned above he might find them at a secular campus, though I would be quite wary. Another option, though, is to audit just those courses through a Christian college, or to do just one year at a Christian college. Another option is to take an extension course through a Christian college. For example, Trinity (Illinois) offers extension courses many places--I know several people who have enjoyed this option. (An extension course is one in which that course is offered in an alternative location--the professor travels out to that location. So even though Trinity is located in northern Illinois, the prof will travel two hours once a week to a Chicago site to teach.)
--Cheaper, without the difficulties of getting a job in a secular workplace with a degree from a religious setting. (Though I do know many who have had no issues at all getting a job after Christian college in a secular workplace.)
--It may be possible to get Christian housing on a secular campus. At UIUC, where I was a student, there were three good options. All operated in many ways like a fraternity or sorority (without the drinking!:p). Two were for women and one for men. You can probably even read up on them to get an idea--they are on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and are called Stratford House, Koinonia House, and Presby House. I had friends in all three houses--they were very positive, homey, "family" kinds of places.

As far as the negatives of a secular campus, people tend to really fear drinking/partying aspects. Honestly, that stuff exists on Christian campuses too. If your ds is strong in his faith AND if he plugs into a supportive spiritual community (church or IVCF or some other campus student ministry, for example) then the "temptations" are dealt with much more easily. I and many Christian friends co-existed quite comfortably with "the world." My dh was even a member of a fraternity--he was accepted, loved, and NOT pressured to drink. (Some people do not believe that, but it is true. His fraternity brothers really respected the person my dh is and many were dear, dear friends.)

If a campus ministry seems like a viable option, you can contact a few and try to find out what they have to offer. One thing that helped me in my decision to go to a public university was visiting a friend of mine. I went with him to an InterVarsity meeting and had a fantastic time hanging out with his friends and seeing campus. Any fears I had about being a Christian on a secular campus just melted away. Some organizations are IVCF, Navigators, or Campus Crusade.

I personally would take seriously your ds' debt-load post-college. I have friends who are STILL paying their student loans into their 40s. It's just not worth it to be 22yo and have so many thousands of debt to pay.

Hope this helps.

[Samuel]

Have you applied for outside scholarships? I think I got something like 2,500/year from some local and state scholarships. Many of these are only good in state though? It may not be too late to apply.

Is your son eligible for work study? That will add something like $2,000 for working something like 10 hours/week on campus.

Will he be able to work in the summer? That will add another $3,000-4,000 dollars.

Can you help him some?

Does he have any particular talents that might help him earn more money (music, arts, leadership etc etc)? Some schools have additional scholarships

a couple of thousand dollars a year in loans is pretty reasonable. 10,000 is hard.

There's also the oppotuntiy cost of going to a particular school. I looked at LeTourneau's department and it frankly seems pretty weak, relative even to other Christian colleges. The size would be a big concern--it seems like a lot of the degree would be from one person. Does your son have particular desire to go to that school, or does he want _a_ Christian school. I would encourage you to look at other schools that offer more financial aid. I know that in MA, Gordon has a very good reputation for history/poli sci and offers at least some more money, and I know that Easter Nazarene offers some full tuition scholarships (Their department is not nearly as strong as gordon)

Is commuting possible? That would save a lot of money.

Also, where does your son want to teach? He should get his BA in the state he wants to teach in.

Cheers,

S

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Also, where does your son want to teach? He should get his BA in the state he wants to teach in.


Good points, all. As for certification, at the VERY least investigate state-to-state reciprocity.

[debbiec]

My husband went back in his 30's to get his college degree in Engineering. He only had 1 semester (that would transfer anyway) under his belt from 15 years earlier. Due to money, he went to a good community college to get all his basics out of the way and mostly due to $$. As a result of doing exceptionally well, he was given a full scholarship to a great state university for his jr/sr years. We declined it, because of him having to commute 2 hours one way each school day, but he was also accepted to Vanderbilt as a junior, from a community college, and with a 60% financial aide package. It was too good to be true being about 20 minutes from where we live.

The only advantage of attending all 4 years at one school is friendships and the social experience. Obviously, with a wife and kids, my husband didn't care, it was about getting his degree. But for an 18 year old, that is probably different. We hope our oldest son will do the same, 2 years of CC and then transfer in to a 4 year. So we were able to get him out of two years of Vanderbilt for under 20K (tuition alone) and get Vanderbilt diploma.

Just our experience ~ which was really positive ~ Debbie

[WendyK]

A lot of loan programs participate in a program that offers loan forgiveness if one agrees to teach in a low income/urban area for a certain period of time. That might be something to consider.

[readwithem]

I heard SWB speak a few years ago and she strongly suggested not going into debt for college - the reason being that once students are out of school, they are more likely to feel "stuck" in a job they don't like, just to repay their student loans.

I agree with something in-state for a few years, if your ds has his heart set on this particular school.