-While we could have paid a lot less for me to go elsewhere, I’ve experienced things in college that I wouldn’t trade for anything. The people I’ve met, the things I’ve done, the doors that have opened to me, you can’t put a price on any of that.

-Eden is absolutely right. I think people get too caught up in overall college rankings when they should really worry about the rankings in what they want to do. After all, does it really matter if State U is ranked in the top ten if the major you want is known across the region for being weak? It just so happened that the school I landed myself at has ranked in the top 2 in CPA pass rate 9 years running. That’s great for me as an accounting major, but the students in other departments, especially ones that don’t have a solid reputation, might have been better served (both financially and in terms of their future) heading to a public school.

-I strongly disagree with the assertion that Ivies are the only private schools that are worth the money. Again, it depends on what you want to do, but there are plenty of private school educations that are comparable. A big reason the Ivies have better reps is because they’re a century older. That doesn’t make them any better. I think where it might be a good idea to seriously consider public school is when you’re thinking about a lesser known private school.

-I agree with some of you that public school educations can be just as good – but that seriously depends on where you live. If you’re in Michigan, Virginia, North Carolina or California, then State U. is a great option. In a lot of states, however, it might not be that great of an option.

To wrap up, I think it all depends on what you want out of school. If you just want a serviceable degree just so you can get a job, then state u is probably a good idea. But, money issues notwithstanding, if you know what you want out of those four (or more) years, then go for it, regardless of whether it’s public or private.

I went to my state school, and I am VERY glad I did. But, I lived in a state with a good public university, and I ended up going into science – where I found that the combination of being at a large university with a lot of active research, plus being not the only high-achieving student but still not one of 120 students per class clamoring for extra attention added up to some just fantastic research experiences that really propelled me forwards (I have a suspicion that almost anything non “contact” dependent may end up somewhat similar to this, but I can only speak first-hand regarding science). I also feel strongly that for me, being “in charge” of my own education was an important part of learning to shape my own career goals and move myself along in my pursuit of them – and I feel like some of my friends that went to more expensive private universities (including ivy leagues) were often babied for longer, which wasn’t necessarily good for them (although – this probably depends on the person!)

At this point, however, I think my school experiences were some of the best of anyone I know, whether they went to public or private universities, and have certainly not held me back in any way – and, it’s definitely helped me out a lot to have come through with no debt. My current career trajectory (which I am thrilled about) is not one that would be nearly as possible if I’d come out of undergrad with debt.

And it’s not just about what salary you can get post-graduation. That hardly depends on where whether you go public or private (though it IS important to note that many employers and even entire industries only recruit at a handful of top schools). As an intellectual wanting to study the liberal arts and really get to know my professors, a smaller private college was what I preferred.

Your best bet is to figure out what you want to do (even if it’s only generally like engineering) and find the best schools for that field. Then concentrate on getting the best bang for your buck at those schools. For science, engineering and other “hard” fields concentrate on schools where the professors are basically required to have research grants. Both my Ivy League and my husband’s non-Ivy but well-respected private schools don’t require that professors have grants. The professors then suck but are snobs. People complain about research professors being bad teachers – but it’s excellent experience for the real world and way, way better than out of touch, self-absorbed bores.
BTW – I do have college loans from U of M but they are less than half my take home pay (starting out). Ivy League is paid for by my employer. My husband (also went to U of M) has some student loans and is currently a phd student with a stipend approx. equal to the student loan balance (not paying now b/c they are in deferment). Even an expensive education doesn’t have to leave you with a ridiculus loan balance if you pick the right field.

instead of worrying so much on getting into a big name school, parents and prospective students ought to be focusing on what kind of career and picking a college or university that will fit with that career path. does it really make sense to pay $30k+/yr to go to a private liberal arts school in a field that won’t yield more than $40k/yr? that’s the math we ought to be doing rather than worrying about pedigree.

Incidentally, the article you mention also states that “Students from the very lowest economic strata do seem to benefit from going to an Ivy.” That was my experience. It opened up options that I might not have otherwise had. Much depends on whether you actually take advantage of the what the Ivies have to offer. If the alumni network, or concentration of grads in certain high-paying industries, or on-campus recruiting would mean little to you, then you’d be wasting half the value of attending an Ivy.

And if you already have great family resources, educated parents, a network of grreat friends in your target career choice, and/or a career choice that won’t be heavily influenced by where college pedigree, etc., then I’d have to agree, there probably would not be much benefit to going Ivy.

When I was 18 and deciding where to go, I had a lot of scholarships to good schools (some private too.) Teachers advised me to take the scholarships, but i had my heart set on Dartmouth. At Dartmouth, the class size, advising systems and trimester system were all terrible. Perhaps I would have felt this way no matter where I went to college, but at least I wouldn’t have blown $140k!

The flip side of this is you better know what you want to do with your education. If you change majors in school there’s a much larger penalty for it if you’re in a private university.

I remember when I was applying to universities 9 years ago that starting at a public university and then transferring schools was an acceptable option. Has that changed?

For some examples: UC Berkeley, UCLA, UM Ann Arbor, UW Madison, UIUC, UT Austin, U of Washington are all in the same class as Ivy leagues or other top private schools for most areas. There are others you can add to the list.