Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but applying to and choosing a college seemed much less stressful and involved 35 years ago when I was applying than it is today. Today’s high schoolers are under immense pressure to make good grades, do well on standardized tests, and have the right activities to get into the best possible college. Is going to an elite college worth the investment of time, effort, and money? Based on research, probably not.
Imagine the situation of Darcy. She has a 3.9/4.0 GPA, a 33 on her ACT, is active in school sports and clubs, volunteers, and works a part-time job (and was promoted to assistant manager recently). She has applied to several elite schools: Penn, Princeton, and Duke. As a backup, she has also applied to her state school – The University of Illinois – and a few solid liberal arts schools. Much to her dismay, she does not get into any of the elite schools and instead heads off to the U of I. In terms of career earnings, is she worse off?
Research from two Princeton economists says no. In their paper, they found that the difference in career earnings between the students who went to super-selective schools and those with similar standardized test scores and other attributes who were rejected from those schools and went to less selective institutions was “indistinguishable from zero.” Thus, for most students, it matters
more who you are rather than where you went to college.
The researchers did find a significant exception to this conclusion: Black and Hispanic students and students whose parents didn’t go to college materially benefit from attending highly selective schools. The reason? The authors speculate that “while most students who apply to selective colleges may be able to rely on their families and friends to provide job-networking opportunities,
networking opportunities that become available from attending a selective college may be particularly valuable for black and Hispanic students, and for students from less educated families.”
So, if you know any high schoolers, tell them not to stress too much. Learn for learning’s sake. Do activities they want to do. Build character. Have fun and make friends. There will be a college that fits. Indeed, the study authors note that their research “suggests that the typical student does not
unambiguously benefit from attending the most selective college to which they were admitted. Rather, our results would suggest that students need to think carefully about the fit between their abilities and interests, the attributes of the school they attend, and their career aspirations.”
Since stating the college exploration 4 years ago with our son and again this year wit our daughter – I have pondered what an $80-90K per year college education gets vs an “affordable” college education – dedicated and excellent faculty also work for universities and colleges that aren’t elite, and may be more student centered than research focused – the tenure process, publish or perish still exists in academia, so do you want your kids to attend colleges where the faculty know your kid and invest time and energy toward teaching them in ways that are meaningful and subject matter that inspires them or just attend schools where profs are teaching because they are required to for their tenure and have the so-called reputation? Speaking from a completely biased view of having attended 3 state universities for my own educational endeavors and as someone who teaches in a metro regional university that is not the “elite” one! I will admit I think the doors and networks that elite schools offer through alumni connections probably is valuable, and reputation of those institutions does carry weight – but the insane price tag is hard to fathom and certainly prohibitive, particularly on a faculty salary. Also, there are excessive student fees at most universities, to offset tuition, the fees add up- so always ask and look at what this adds up to for real cost of school.
Great article! Multiple studies have been conducted over many, many years that have come up with the same conclusion. The student matters so much more than the school. Statistically there are 3 careers where it matters (anyone want to guess which ones??) but they are not all that common. The other 99% of careers, notsomuch. Just think about your boss…do you even know where he went to college? Do you care? It’s a shame that so many students/families see this as the biggest indicators of future success, and that so many people go into so much debt, or push back retirement, to send their child to the “right” college.
In terms of black and Latino students, the good news is that most elite colleges have HUGE endowments, and give tons of financial aid to students who need it. So it’s not as much of a fortune/burden for the family.
Finally, I absolutely agree with the final encouragement to take part in activities that students like and care about. Colleges are no longer looking for the student who does everything. They want a few strong extra curriculars that the student sticks with and has a leadership role in over time. Students, do what you love!
Thank you for this! I’ve got three grandchildren making these decisions at this very moment!!!
As it should be. Who you are should matter far more than what school you graduated from. Maybe the administrations should start looking at the very high cost of going to an “Elite School” since going there does not translate into a better education.