Iowa State or Rutgers? Any Advice?

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by john_r, Nov 14, 2014.

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  1. john_r

    john_r New Member

    My friend was accepted to both schools with their online bachelor's program. But he really wants to go Rutgers University because it has moved to Big 10! (He is a big college football fan ever!), but the problem is he will pay out of state tuition, while Iowa State offered him in-state tuition, because he will take classes entirely online. Here is the stats;

    Rutgers University- New Brunswick
    School of Management and Labor Relations
    Bachelor of Science in Labor and Employment Relations
    $12,866 tuition per semester
    $3,000 scholarship per semester
    He needs only 30 semester credits

    Iowa State University
    College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
    Bachelor of Liberal Studies
    $3,324 tuition per semester
    $1,750 tuition per semester
    He needs 45+ credits with World Language, etc, requirements on CLAS

    Which school you think is more worth it? Is Rutgers worth its name? Any advice?
     
  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    As someone who has jokingly suggested that schools be chosen based upon the ranking of the women's soccer team or the school colors I can honestly say that your friend would becrazy to choose Rutgers simply because of the football team.
     
  3. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    Don't settle

    Rutgers it is. He will regret it later if he passes on his top choice.
     
  4. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    Years ago, I thought I would regret missing out on the opportunity to take a month-long trip to Asia. Since then, I have spent much time lamenting that I can never get that money back.

    Sure, I learned a valuable life lesson, a lesson about SAVING thousands of dollars that actually COST me thousands of dollars. Yeah... so... I lose :banghead: If I had never gone on that trip, I might have imagined that I left an adventure on the table, and I would have been wrong.

    10 years after graduation, what will really be the bigger deal, the experience he might have missed or the loans he might still be paying off? That's obviously not for me to say. I would say that unless he can be more sure of the worthiness of the experience- something he can easily convince himself will be much better than it actually will be, I would opine it more prudent to go for the "sure thing". Going one route, you KNOW hill will save more money. If he wants to, he can spend his savings on a trip to India, or a shoebox full of iphone 6s.

    Just one man's humble opinion, of course, and assuming that we are being serious that a consideration here is the football team. Is he really considering a Bachelor of Liberal Studies, instead of finishing a major if he goes to Iowa? Without this being my area of expertise, at all, it sounds to me like a BS in Businessy type stuff and things from a well known school might produce more fruitful job hunts than a BS in Just Something from Just Somewhere.

    Not that such degrees are useless, I mean, just look at MY sig line ;)
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 14, 2014
  5. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Assuming he's a full time student, and takes fifteen credits per semester, that would be $19,732 for Rutgers and at least $4,722 for Iowa State. (I'm assuming that you meant to say the $1,750 figure is a scholarship).

    I suppose only your friend can decide whether fifteen thousand bucks extra is worth it just to enroll in a school just because it has an exciting football team, but to me, I think that's even considering it is bat shit crazy.

    And that isn't settling, that's arithmetic.
     
  6. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    If you're a distance student, you're not going to ATTEND the football games, so I don't see the point.
     
  7. Koolcypher

    Koolcypher Member

    You hit the nail on the head. :hail::notworthy:
     
  8. novadar

    novadar Member

    Iowa State. Seriously there is no valid reason to spend the extra money. Neither of the schools are Harvard, Yale, or Stanford frankly if there is nothing unique about the program you will pursue it will be just another Bachelor degree. Why pay more?
     
  9. Lavendar

    Lavendar New Member

    IOWA State University should be the choice because of the low cost. Save the money for graduate program.
     
  10. taylor

    taylor New Member

    Between those 2 schools I have a bias towards Rutgers since I have a sibling that graduated there as well as many friends from HS who are alums as well. But if your friend's reasoning for wanting to go to Rutgers because of their football program that has me scratching my head. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think Rutgers has ever been a top 20 team in Division 1 Football. And in fact Iowa State probably has had more success and recognition in college football than Rutgers. If he really wants to go to school to feel connected to their football program for school spirit or what have you. I get it. But if that's the case there's many better top 20 football programs to choose from that he can acquire a degree from online such as University of Alabama. As long as Saban is around he can probably "Roll Tide!" for the next 10 years.

    Also when Rutgers started online degrees a few years ago I don't think they charged out of state tuition but things must've changed.
     
  11. john_r

    john_r New Member

    The tuition fees per semester is a full time course load 12+credits, so there is no increase if he takes 15 credits, still the same amount for full time student.
     
  12. john_r

    john_r New Member

    He was also drawn to the location which is very close to NYC! He is an urban guy (living in Albuquerque), and when we checked the U.S, News and other college rankings, Rutgers has more advantage than Iowa State! Considering Rutgers is a Big 10, with school from U of Michigan, Northwestern, UW-Madison, Penn State, etc. Also, Rutgers is the birthplace of college football, which he always mention it when we argued! Lol! But I told him, its still his choice, if he wants loans or not.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 14, 2014
  13. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    I think they both good choices, but if he's stuck on Rutgers he should go there.

    A lot of people pick their school based on athletics. I'm not saying I agree with it, but if they like it I love it.
     
  14. Koolcypher

    Koolcypher Member

    Is he going to be living on campus? Or is he attending online? If he will be living on campus then Rutger makes sense for him, since he wants to be near a large city. However, if he is attending via distance then the location is a moot point.
     
  15. Koolcypher

    Koolcypher Member

    Some quick fun memes:

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    [​IMG]
     
  16. LearningAddict

    LearningAddict Well-Known Member

    Like most schools, Rutgers is not an Ivy League school, sure. But Rutgers is no chopped liver either. I'd also think the type of degree being sought there is one that will have more cache.

    But ultimately, one has to ask whether the extra cost is worth it. If he can afford it, I say Rutgers without even a second thought.
     
  17. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

     
  18. cookderosa

    cookderosa Resident Chef

    edit- removed my comments. DeRosa out.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Nov 15, 2014
  19. lawrenceq

    lawrenceq Member

    Sports over Everything!

    You haters. Colleges were built for football and basketball.:ugh2:
     
  20. TMW2009

    TMW2009 New Member

    Outside of the college football angle, I'd like to point out the degrees themselves. Liberal Studies vs. Labor and Employment relations. If he's looking at going into the labor and employment relations field, it may well give him a good leg up, especially if he's going to NY/NJ to do so. As LearningAddict mentioned, the Rutgers degree will have more value concerning that field. Liberal Studies continues to be either a check the box degree or a degree to have to get into a graduate program where they'll study for whatever field they're really trying to get into.
     

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