Going for Broke: The Cost of a Degree in Industrial Engineering

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 off with a new job! Hopefully. 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 Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering at the University of Central Florida. The goal in mind is a job as an industrial engineer. Indeed defines industrial engineering as a sector of the engineering field where professionals focus on ensuring the efficiency of industrial processes. This includes production assembly lines, manufacturing layouts, and waste disposal systems. Industrial engineers aim to limit material waste during the production process.

What is the pay for this role?

An industrial engineer's median salary in Florida is $73,329. The average American salary is $59,428. The average person in Florida is $55,980.

You will need some college education to qualify for a role and we will be breaking down the costs for the University of Central Florida in-state tuition. To make it easy we will not be adding any scholarships. Your situation may vary.

Prerequisites have to be taken care of first and there are 57 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, 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 prerequisites will run us approximately $14,250. If we go to college full-time this will be the end of our second year.

Next, there will be 72 more credits that need to be taken which will mess up our timeline. If we take 30 credit hours a year it will take us four years and one semester to graduate in the Spring. $18,000 can be added to our bill for the last two years. Which brings our total up to $32,250.

A good chunk of money for sure and if we spread that over a ten-year repayment default plan for federal loans at a 5% interest rate will be a monthly payment of $342.06. The total amount paid over 10 years of interest will be $8,797.33 on top of the $32,250 original loan amount. $41,047.33 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 $32,250 hanging 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

When I was in high school this was the only way that I could pay for my college. My parents had not saved for my college, and my grandfather’s gift for college I decided to put a down payment on a brand-new car. I had to take the ACT three different times, but I was able to secure a Bright Future Scholarship. There are different levels to the scholarship so for this example, we will use the Florida Medallion Scholars Award which covers $159.21 per credit hour. It will remain with you for up to five years from high school graduation for a maximum of 120 hours. Here is more information about this scholarship here. This scholarship will be worth $19,105.20 by the end of 120 credit hours. Dropping our total cost to $13,144.80 out of our pocket.

Pell Grants

Depending on your financial situation you can take advantage of a government program that will pay a fixed amount of 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 $12,054.

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. Disney World employees have access to the Aspire program that pays 100% of tuition upfront if you have the right degree which industrial engineering qualifies for.

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 $8,062.50 per year. How can we do that? Saving $155 a week for four years straight is how you do it. It is a huge investment, but it is a lot better than $342.06 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 $155 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.

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.