How should I compare the financial value of Michigan State and Notre Dame?

Compare the schools using each college’s four-year net cost, not the first-year sticker price. Include tuition, housing, travel, expected annual increases, grants that renew automatically, work-study, and the amount you would need to borrow. Separate grants and scholarships from loans. A package that looks generous but relies heavily on parent borrowing or private loans is less valuable than one that keeps federal student borrowing manageable.

Then assess outcomes within your intended major. Look at departmental career reports, internship access, recruiting employers, undergraduate research, advising, graduation rates for the program, and the location where you hope to work after college.

Choose Michigan State if it leaves you with markedly less debt and offers your major and career infrastructure at the level you need. Choose Notre Dame only if the remaining price gap is affordable without burdensome borrowing and its smaller environment, network, and program-specific opportunities are clearly more aligned with your goals. A higher-ranked or more prestigious name is not, by itself, enough reason to take on substantial additional debt.