Does the name of your school guarantee you will get a better education? How about the price tag? In today's current economic times, more and more kids are transferring from their expensive private schools to cheaper public school alternatives. In fact, the article talks about one girl whose family started a college fund for her and was nearly wiped out after year one. She had attended Tufts University in Massachusetts paying nearly $50,000 a year. After one year, she decided to transfer closer to home and is now paying $15,000 a year.
Public colleges are reporting a spike in transfer applications citing many reasons but most notably money as the main reason students are transferring. Students are unwilling to pay the high price for private undergrad education when many have aspirations to attend graduate school and know a higher price tag is lurking in the future. It also seems that this attitude is filtering down to high school seniors who are now more aware of what they are spending on their education.
My personal opinion is education is what you put into it, not what the name of your school or how much the school cost. I attended Minnesota State University, Moorhead and so did my wife. We both feel we received a great education at a low cost. Through hard work in the summer and some help from our parents, we were able to escape college with no debt. To me, this is the most important part. Who wants to start a new career with the average college student debt of $21,000 hanging over their head?
At some point, private colleges will have to adjust what they charge or the amount of financial aid students receive if they want to keep their clientele. I don't feel that you receive a better education at these places but the networking possibilities you receive from attending a prestigious school does exist. Often times, graduate of these schools have enough connections to land better paying jobs right out of college. In the current economic turmoil, with job competition being at one of its highest levels, maybe this is worth the amount of debt you graduate with.
What I try to stress to students that ask for my opinion is education is about hard work and putting in effort. If you do these two things you can not go wrong. At the end of your undergraduate education, you should feel like you were challenged and you should feel well prepared for the real world. After that, it is all about presenting yourself to your future employer and impressing them with your skills, not about the name of the school on your diploma.
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And here is the other thing, Jeff. At a Valley City State, you know your teachers personally and they know you. At a major university you are, literally, a number in a sea of numbers and you often are taught by a grad student in a huge classroom with 600 other kids. I can't tell you how valuable it was and how it enriched my educational experiance to be able to walk into my teachers office and talk to them. In that way, the smaller colleges are actually better hands down than a larger, more expensive college. I think I also agree that size does not always equal more quality. I think it is sad that kids are working their butts off to be accepted at these great schools and they basically received the same education as me, only with 70K more in debt.
ReplyDeleteI think it is the education and it's quality and not the size or name of the school that makes the difference.
Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI attended a private college for two years prior to transferring to a more affordable public university. Ten years later I am finally done paying for the two years I attended the private school.
I agree the quality of the education, along with the money, should affect where a student decides to attend. As some universities continue to raise their prices, their enrollment will continue to decrease. Nobody wants to start life $60,000 in debt; not in today's economical times.
No college debt? Awesome Jeff!
ReplyDeleteI think I read this post twice. The first time I really had to think about it. When I started college it was suggested that I start at a state school or less expensive school and then transfer to something Ivy League. Then, as the person who suggested it, I would “get a degree with the name of Yale or Harvard and only have to pay for a few years there.” But this was before the crash of the job market. I am glad I didn’t do that. I decided, nearly last minute to attend a state college rather than a $35,000 a year tuition private school. Good choice now…especially when I decided to go into education. However, it was a tough call then. It doesn’t really surprise me that so many people are transferring. It makes sense. Students are afraid of coming out of school in debt in this market. And this makes sense. It is scary time to graduate college.
I also attended MSUM and do not regret it! It is all about what you put into college for sure. You only learn as much as you put into it. I think this is so true and it was what I said when I picked my school. Some people were disappointed by my choice but I am still happy with it.