Students Wising Up?

Here's a fact I found in the January issue of Money magazine:

57% of students are considering less prestigious colleges for affordability reasons.

It's an interesting piece of information, though it doesn't tell us if this is an upwards or downwards trend, though I'm assuming it's upwards -- that more and more students are looking harder at the costs of college before they decide where they should go.

And they should. In particular, they need to match the cost of college (and especially the amount of debt they leave with) with their potential salary upon graduating. To do otherwise (like leaving school with $100k in debt and a career that pays $20k a year) is to lock yourself into a long, long, long time of debt repayment.

Personally, I'm not an advocate of going to a "prestigious" school unless that school can deliver. If it gives graduates better jobs/careers, then it could be worth the money. But if it's more expensive than other options and delivers the same (or even not as good) sort of career opportunities, I'd pass on the "prestige" in favor of the "money." ;-)

Comments

[Michael M]

I graduated (BS) with no student debt, now we're moving to Minnesota where we'll live for at least a year in order to get residency. That year's wait will save me $15,000 in tuition.

Although I'm looking for job that will get me the same or better pay as I have now, the $15,000 saved will justify minor pay cut especially when considering the lower cost of living in Minnesota compared to where we're at now.

Would I have had the patience to wait another year before getting my Master's degree in a better economy? It's hard to say...but I think it's safe to say that we did do a more thorough cost check than if the economy were all sunny.

[Brent]

I believe that the region the college is located is an important factor. Except for some of the very largest companies, most tend to look locally. So if you want a career in computer science or engineering then you might want to put schools in Northern California higher on your list than a school in the Midwest. I'm not saying that the Midwest schools aren't good, but it's much more difficult to get in touch with companies.

I worked with someone who had a degree from Carnegie Mellon but when he moved to California he didn't have any contacts at West Coast companies. All his contacts were on the East Coast. He started out working at a lower position just to get his foot in the door and probably worked his way up more levels than he had to. It just shows that a lot of the game is who you know, not what you know.

And since many of the top schools are now offering classes online for free, I say skip the high tuition and just find a good, solid school. If you want to dive into a particular topic you can always learn through online books and classes. After you first job it matters more about what you can do vs. the school you went to.

[Money Mentor Online]

A degree from a well known school might help get a job, but it will be the person's skills and dedication that keeps that job and helps them to move up to ladder (most of the time.)

I have had no problems with my community college education!! :)

[Traciatim]

I would much prefer to see stats that far more students are getting training with real skills involved, not things like an BA in Pottery of Ancient Civilizations with a minor in colour choice as pertaining to mood of the potter.

[thomas]

I've worked with graduates from prestigious colleges and I am not impressed. For some, that degree is just a piece of paper to pimp in interviews.

[Double Journey]

I've written on my blog before, Prestigious schools are much more affordable than people realize.

The reason being, these schools have huge endowments, and are able to provide much more financial aid then some of the less prestigious schools. Having a "prestigious" degree I can say that it definitely isn't everything, but it opens doors, and in times like this, you need to look in every available door you can.