If your daughter is choosing the out of state school, then, it's important to educate her that she will have to be financially accountable to make the most of her degree. Paying the extra $15K per year could be a good opportunity to teach her about personal finance and the financial impact it will have on her career decisions post graduation. The co-op program is beneficial because it will give her a head start in terms of gaining work experience and developing professional relationships on her resume. Most kids struggle to get interviews when they apply to jobs in their junior and senior year of college because they lack internship or co-op experience. Ultimately, her success will depend more on the major she chooses, the hard and soft skills she develops and the professional relationships she builds.

Given the recent college admission decisions being announced, I had a friend who's struggling between sending his kid to an Ivy vs. a great state school. I was curious so I did a ROI analysis for families making $91K as well as those making $189K to which options had a higher 10-year ROI (after taxes and paying off the student loan debt). If interested, please feel free to check it out here:

https://stretchmypenny.com/the-10-year-roi-and-value-of-an-ivy-league/

Hope you found this helpful and best of luck to your daughter,

BG-Cook