Hard Program Decision- Prestige vs Price?

[temz]

This scenario will make more sense to people in the Chicagoland area, but basically I got into Elmhurst College, a super up and coming small program, and Northwestern University, number five in the nation.  With the former, I was accepted, got into their multilingual emphasis program (my interest in treatment), and got an assistantship where they'd pay half my tuition.  On the other hand, Northwestern seemingly has superior resources, facilities, and faculty along with the name/rank; however, their tuition is 100k which is a big sticking point for me.  I'm still waiting on another program, but I'm stuck between these two options at the moment.  Most SLPs and other allied health care professionals have told me to go with Elmhurst, but I'm wondering if it will make a difference if I go with Northwestern in the future if I move out of Illinois in terms of job connections (Clinical First Year and after) and/or name recognition.  All thoughts and advice appreciated!

[GradSchoolTruther]

Can you make enough as an SLP to justify the cost of tuition? How would you even pay $100K?

[juilletmercredi]

Think about it: Will the name recognition make a difference if you are $100K in debt? Over the first 10 years of your career, do you think that Northwestern's degree will be worth at least $100K more (about $10K per year)? I say 10 years because that tends to be standard repayment. That's not including interest. Moreover, particularly in a field like SLP (which gives a decent middle-class income but nothing stratospheric), how can you expect to repay $100K worth of debt?

Moreover, you have people in the field actively telling you to choose Elmhurst.

In some (many!) field, prestige and name recognition simply doesn't matter.

[Concordia]

If you're getting half the tuition from Elmhurst, that sounds like a $50K difference, not $100K.  Which is still not trivial.

Does Elmhurst have such a thing as a placement office, with useful stats?  Do you know anyone from, say, NY or LA in your field who can give you a quick and dirty response?