Going for Broke: The Cost of a Degree in Computer Science

Going to college is one of the most financially impactful decisions you will make if college is your plan. You can get up to your eyeballs in debt and it gives you the ability to pay that off with a new job! Hopefully with a better salary. This will be an ongoing series where we break down potential jobs, college tuition and fees, how many years, and which degree it is.

Today, we are going to be looking at a Computer Science B.S. at the University of Central Florida. The goal in mind is a job as a software engineer.

What is the pay for this role?

A software engineer's median salary in Florida is $99,274. The average American salary is $59,428. The average person in Florida is $55,980. A bright future.

Going down the college route to qualify for this role, I have heard of jobs in tech being able to do boot camps to learn to code or to do some certifications, or even do projects on your own that are so good that an employer will take a chance on you. We will be breaking down the costs for the University of Central Florida in-state tuition. To make it easy we will be adding scholarships later but first, an approximation with all the fees. Your situation may vary.

In total, there are 123 credit hours according to the plan of study on the UCF catalog that need to be completed. The average in-state per credit hour cost with all fees baked in according to UCF is $212.28. We will put in $38.72 per credit hour for books and any other fees that will pop up. Some classes have an extremely expensive book, software, others have no book at all. So, our total per credit hour will be $250 to make it look fresh and clean. In total, our cost will be $30,750.

A good chunk of money for sure and if we spread that over a ten-year repayment default plan for federal loans at a 4.66% interest rate will be a monthly payment of $321. The total interest amount paid over 10 years of interest will be $7,778 on top of the $30,750 original loan amount. $38,528 and ten years of your life in debt.

Even though we are below the average student loan debt of $37,338 we still don’t feel good about having to borrow $30,750 and have it hung over our heads just so we can be marketable in the job market of the career we want to pursue. So. What are our options?

Scholarship Opportunities

We did the Florida Bright Future Scholarship last article so this time we will do something different. There is an incredible scholarship that is much harder to get called the SMART scholarship from the Department of Defense. They pay a full ride of tuition and an annual stipend of $30,000-$46,000. You do have to work one year for every year they pay for at the Department of Defense. Being set up for an actual job after graduating is pretty nice. The median pay for a software engineer at the DOD is $113K with government benefits. I read multiple different reports on the percentage of entry and average GPA which hovered around 10% and 3.75. Hard to get into but wow it is a great deal.

Pell Grants

Depending on your financial situation you can take advantage of a government program that will pay a fixed amount for your college. This becomes available if you live on your own and don’t make enough money. You can also qualify if your parents don’t make enough money. The average amount the recipient gets in Florida is $5,049 per year. If we took this approach the total amount being paid is $20,196 which brings our bill to $10,554.

Tuition Reimbursement from Employer

More and more companies have been offering some sort of tuition reimbursement which makes me very happy. If you take a degree path, they can use you. Unfortunately, I have seen these hurt majors in the arts and healthcare degree paths. Best Buy employees have access to a tuition reimbursement program of $3,500 per year which will be $14,000 saved leaving the bill to be $16,750.

Cash-Flow

If you want to be able to cash-flow it might take the most years to do so if you are paying for your living expenses as well. We need to figure out how to save $7,687.50 per year. How can we do that? Saving $147.83 a week for four years straight is how you do it. It is a huge investment, but it is a lot better than $321 per month for 10 years straight. It is a tough way to travel but if you handle your other debts and live below your means it can be done. Depending on your pay you might even have to get a second job a couple days a week to pay for that $147.83 a week extra you need to save for your school fund.

Live at Home and Take Prerequisites at Small College

Living at home for as long as possible and as long as your parents can stand the sight of you is a great way to get a head start. For example, Valencia College charges $103.06 per credit hour. Adding in the $40 of extra fees per credit hour brings a total of $143.06 per credit hour. If you take sixty of your credits, the cost will be $8,580. The cost for those same credit hours is $15,000 at UCF. Saving $6,420 and living costs is huge. This is only if the hometown college has the classes you need. Typically, the prerequisites are offered at smaller colleges.

Any little cut helps when we think about college. You can really get creative with how to pay with even a combination of everything. This didn’t mention the military but that is another option as well to further your education with the least amount of debt possible.