Does it make sense to pay big money to attend a fancy college? Maybe not. But as with so many things, the devil is in the details.
First, here’s a reminder of how much a top name college can cost. Tuition for an undergraduate degree at Harvard University is $43,280 for the current school year. Plus, there are some hefty fees and the cost of housing, eating, books and other things. The total comes to as much as $72,100, according to Harvard’s website.
Of course, the degree program will take four years, and tuition costs will likely increase if history is anything to go by. So figure on around $300,000 when all is said and done; in other words, the price of a nice house.
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That’s a lot of money, and is certainly is daunting for many people who may shun the idea of going into debt.
Is it worth it, or is there a better alternative?
What you get. Top colleges help graduates open doors that may typically be closed to them, says Joan Adams, owner of Pierian Consulting in New York. “High-end colleges give you an entry pass,” she says.
Depending on what type of work you might want to do that could be important. But it doesn’t necessarily get you everything.
“College matters less than experience and classrooms don’t give you the experiences,” Adams says.
Learning how business works in the real world is important. Academic institutions have long been seen as disconnected to the real world. Still, a name college like Harvard may open the doors to a better class of internship and then a better class of first job. Those internships and first positions are very important in terms of gaining the experience that Adams mentions.
Learning to think. Opening doors isn’t the only thing. “Critical thinking is what a place like Princeton is supposed to do,” says Adam Johnson, Princeton University alumni and author of the Bullseye Brief newsletter.
Critical thinking is the ability to look at a problem you’ve never seen before and figure out a reasonable answer. “If you have that [latent] ability, Princeton bring that out in you,” he says.
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That particular skill is very useful in a world where what you need to know changes so very quickly. Your finance knowledge from 20 years ago may not be so important now in the working world. What will trump any knowledge is your ability to get your head around new, potentially complicated, ideas.
Colleges other than Princeton will help you do that, and potentially at a lower cost. As with many things, doing some research about what you might learn at the institution is important.
What subject do you want to study? “The prestigious schools are not always the best schools for every subject,” says Peter Morici, professor of business at the University of Maryland.
For instance, if you want to study electrical engineering, it might make sense to skip schools that built their reputations on liberal arts education.
Likewise, some specialties are so much in demand that the university you attend doesn’t really matter. There is huge demand for doctors relative to the number of qualified individuals, no matter where they went to school.
“A medical degree is a medical degree. It doesn’t matter where you went,” Morici says.
Those professions that are in short supply will vary over time as the economy changes, so the current one-way bet of becoming a doctor may not last forever. “If there are more people than jobs, then going to a better school does pay off,” Morici says.
An alternative route. One obvious option for anyone daunted by the vast cost of a fancy four-year private school is to pursue an undergraduate degree from a state or city college, and then go for a master’s degree from a big-name institution.
For instance, in New York residents of the city get a great deal on tuition when attending the City University of New York. It’ll cost $6,330 per year for tuition. Even out-of-state students get a good deal: $16,800.
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Do well with that first degree and then apply for graduate school. Typically, grad school programs are shorter than undergrad degrees.
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Why Knowledge is More Important Than the Name of Your College originally appeared on usnews.com
