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Preface
I chose to write about a financed-based topic because money is without a doubt an issue that
everybody will face at least once in their life, so I figured I could definitely find something interesting to
write about. If you remember, this project was assigned while I was in Hawaii for a family event, and Ill
admit that at first, I did not give much thought to what concentration of finance I was going to write
about. I originally chose to write about the economic value of college majors, but I soon realized that
there was no clear solution to this problem- there is no real way for a student to fix the issue that some
careers will pay more than others. Instead, I thought about a financial issue that I faced about a year ago
during the process of applying to college. The issue I faced was feeling as though I will not make as much
money graduating from UNC Charlotte as I would if I graduate from UNC Chapel Hill. In fact, I entered
as a student at Charlotte with intentions of eventually transferring because of this issue I feared. To my
surprise, by October I knew that Charlotte was the school for me- the friends I had made, sorority I had
joined, and outstanding professors made me realize that I did not want to transfer anymore. Not only this,
but after doing brief research in the fall, I found out that a UNC Charlotte Graduate had every chance of
making.
So, the backbone of this paper comes from a first-hand experience. After I decided the problem I
was going to write about, that of the most common financial problems that many young people face today
is the belief that they will not be successful unless they attend an expensive, prestigious school, I began
researching statistics that proved success via a variety of colleges through graphs and conducted studies.
The biggest issue I faced while writing my essay was that I constantly felt as though I sounded like I was
bashing or looking down upon elite students. Without a doubt, Ivy League schools are incredible
institutions, I just believe that they need to be approached in the right way. I want this paper to help
students who attend lesser-known schools realize that you dont necessarily need to transfer to an elite
college in order to gain success. I tried to approach this issue by stating in my conclusion that in terms of

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aesthetics and quality, Ivy League institutions are great schools as well- but the purpose of this essay was
not comparing the quality of education, it was comparing the quality of a graduates outcome.
Another issue I faced was addressing the measure of the return of a college investment. We
generally measure a return in terms of money, but for some people it may be different. Assuming they
are happy with their career, many peoples goal is to make as much money as they can with their careeryet there are outliers to this idea. For many people, the value of a college education is in friendships made
and new experiences, something that cant be given a price tag. So, Im sure that some people will argue
that greater experiences may be gained from Ivy League schools than public schools. However, I want to
emphasize that the purpose of this essay is to illustrate how similar financial outcomes from the two
institutions can really be- not compare the ascetics of public and private colleges.
Im quite happy with this essay. I originally thought I was going to use the true story about the
NYU student just for the introduction, but I liked how I was able to constantly tie her story back in to
each of the three points I addressed. I tried my best to stay on topic and to constantly reintroduce the issue
and solution. I was really thankful to find such great studies and statistics that helped back up and add
detail to the points I made- pulling together all of my evidence also made me feel even more confident as
a student of UNC Charlotte.
Finally, writing this essay made me realize that even though I dont attend one of the Ivy League
schools I spent hours researching, college is a great opportunity for me to expand and diversify I know, as
well as to broaden my frame of knowledge and become much more fluent with society.

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Adrienne Hill
Professor Rothwell
UWRT 1103
April 18 2016
College: What Really Matters?
You knew that it was notoriously expensive, yet you still spent your entire high school career
aspiring to attend New York University for its prestigious film program. Its finally graduation day and
you couldnt be more excited to walk across the stage with your diploma that youve worked so hard for
throughout the past four years. As you await for your name to be called, you reflect on why you chose to
attend NYU for your film degree. You ask yourself a number of questions, such as what would my life
be like had I accepted Bowling Green State Universitys full ride? What if I took my parents advice and
attended Mesa Community Colleges film program instead? With a diploma finally in your hands, you
almost feel ready to conquer the film industry. However, there is one issue holding you back from feeling
as invincible as you expected: the $129,240.55 worth of student loans you owe. This is Betty LG
Camerons story.
When Betty LG Cameron went through the
process of choosing a college, she only had a
vague idea of how much student debt would
effect her life post-graduation.
In her The Billfold article I Chose the Expensive
Private UniversityAnd Got the Debt to Go
With It, she explains, I was dazzled by the
prospect of NYU and, frankly,
money in amounts over a couple thousand meant
nothing to me. I had no frame of reference.

Figure 1: College Factuals graph shows that based on a

growth rate over the past five years of 3.9% in tuition and
2.1% in fees, students will pay roughly $53,612 in 2018 2019 for tuition and fees.

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Cameron is just one of the thousands of students that are unable to grasp the outrageous and increasing
prices of private institutions as depicted in figure 1(New York University Tuition And Fees). One of the
most common financial problems that many young people face today is the belief that they will not
be successful unless they attend an expensive, prestigious school. Regardless of popular belief,
graduating from a prestigious school does not equate success and in order to understand these
beliefs, this paper will analyze drives that cause people to choose private over public college, the
real financial and physical differences, and what results may come from degrees obtained from
public verses private schools. As shown in Betty Camerons example, students applying to colleges
would agree that getting into a good college will mean success in life. What drives people to believe
this?
It is no secret that every high school senior class
has a handful of students who fill their schedules with
higher level classes and do extracurricular activities in
effort of seeming like the perfect candidate for their
desired prestigious school. During high school, each of
these students have found a reason that has caused them to
reach for a prestigious, expensive (as shown in figure 2,
Ivy League 2015-2016 Tuition & Fees Comparison and
2017 Estimation) school, but how legitimate are these
reasons? In 2012, a member of College Confidential, a
Figure 2: The 2015-2016 costs officially
published by IPEDS, U.S. Department of
Education.

website with advice on choosing a college, getting

accepted, and how to pay for it, asked the question Why
do people want to go to prestigious/top schools? in a
forum. Answers ranged from so I can be with a group of

people who really care about school to an acceptance is a trophy, an indicator of our intelligence and

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abilities. However, even though the pressure for intelligent individuals to get into top schools has never
been greater, the differences between these schools and the next tier down have never been smaller. In
an article on The Blue Devil Hub, guidance counselors and students from David Senior High School
(David, California) were interviewed about the pressure in which students feel to attend prestigious
schools. Senior Linda Li explains, I definitely feel pressure to attend a highly competitive school and a
lot of that pressure comes from wanting to live up to expectations of family, friends, teachers, classmates.
Everyone at DHS has this mentality that if you dont get into an Ivy or Stanford or something, that means
youre not good enough, so thats really stressful, (Hsu, Kacey). Likewise, a Washington Post interview
with Frank Bruni, New York Times columnist and motivational author (see figure 3), explains that an
obsessive focus on elite schools commonly begins with parents, some of whom he said are rightly
concerned about launching their kids into a much more competitive world and
want to give them every advantage. but some parents are simply trying to
flatter themselves, (Selingo, Jeffrey). These examples demonstrate that it is
incredibly common for students to enroll in a private, prestigious school in
effort of being accepted or living up to ones standards rather than the program
or amenities in which the institution offers.

Figure 3: Through statistics, surveys, and the stories of hugely successful

people, Bruni's book explains that what matters in the end are a student's efforts
in and out of the classroom, not the gleam of his or her diploma.

Recall Betty LG Camerons situation: A college graduate who states her regrets by
explaining, I should have done more research on what a reasonable amount of debt is for an
undergraduate degree, I wish Id thought harder about the opportunity of that full ride at state college,

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rather than dismissing it so quickly. We know that numerous exterior factors such as family pressure and
self-esteem drive students to believe that prestigious schools will guarantee automatic success, but its
important to understand the assets and drawbacks in which both private and public schools have to offer.
According to My College Options, there are four overall differences between the two institutions- Tuition,
size, graduation rate, and in state verses out of state demographics (Public Vs. Private Colleges). While all
four play a significant role in differentiating both institutions, I was curious to know what the average
student considered to be the largest difference between the two. According to a Facebook poll I created,
about 91% of my sorority sisters view
tuition cost as the largest difference
between public and private college (see
figure four). Almost all public colleges
were founded by state governments to give
students the chance to receive an education
at an affordable rate and are still funded
today by state governments. On the other end

Figure 4: What does the average student consider to

be the largest difference between public and private
college?

of the spectrum lies high-priced private

colleges who do not receive funds from the state and rely solely on tuition and private contributors. For
an accurate idea on the difference in tuition prices,
figure five illustrates the average tuition
differences between private and public colleges in
Texas (Footing the Bill: Rising College Costs,
Deepening Debt). So, what does this mean? Short
and longterm, what should a Harvard student get
tomorrow in return for $57,950 a year? Along

Figure 5: Private college tuition (left) is threeto-four times more expensive than public
school tuition- both nationwide and in Texas.

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with the physical differences between public and private institutions are the interior differences that many
elite students experience. In his New Republic essay Dont Send Your Kid to the Ivy League, Yale
Professor William Deresiewicz explains that while spending four years at an Ivy League school may
result in a smart, talented, and driven person, students often become anxious, timid, and lost, with little
intellectual curiosity.great at what they are doing but with no idea why theyre doing it, (Deresiewicz,
William). Ultimately, a students college experience and success in school as a student depends on how
well their needs, abilities, and expectations match up with what the college provides. When making the
decision on whether or not to attend an elite, public school, it is important to consider not only the
financial sacrifices involved, but also the toxic, self-destructive side effects that may come along with the
commitment.
In Betty LG Camerons article, she explains that before enrolling at NYU, her post-graduate
expectation was, finding a job in the industry would help me pay off the loans easily. However, she
proceeds to explain that post-graduation, she wonders if its possible for her to repay the $129,240.55
worth of loans with her elite degree. Even though there are hundreds of correlations of success based on
money and prestigiousness, two studies conducted by Princeton Universitys Alan Kreuger and
Mathematica Policy Researchs Stacy Dale reveal new discoveries about the return on college investment.
Their research looked at the 1976 freshman class at 30 schools, public and private, ranging from Yale
(4.19 average acceptance GPA) to Denison (3.6 average acceptance GPA). The duo compared the
earnings of students who were admitted to the same colleges but made different choices and found that a
student who rejected their acceptance letter to an elite school and instead attended a less selective
institution still made just as much as the Ivy League graduate with similar SAT scores. When they
conducted their follow-up study in 2011, the duo found even more results: Students, who possessed high
standardized test scores, yet were rejected from Ivy League institutions, were bringing in the same
average earnings 30 years later as the Ivy League graduates. So, as compared in figure six and seven, a
rejected Yale applicant with the same average Yale SAT score that instead attends Miami University

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would, on average earn as much as that Yale graduate
(O'Shaughnessy, Lynn). This study shows that it is just as possible

Figure 6: Miami University tuition

for a student paying $27,190 in tuition per year to make the

same income as an undergraduate student paying $68,605 per
year. Since Kreuger and Dales results were discovered,
similar studies conducted found similar ideas: For example,
sociologist Michael Lindsay's Platinum Study which found
that 2/3 of the 550 American leaders (CEOs, head of
nonprofits, politicians) he interviewed had not attended elite
colleges for their undergraduate degree (Aleem, Zeeshan).
Another factor that determines the return of college
investment is the degree in which the student obtains, as Anthony

Figure 7: Yale University tuition

Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on

Education and the Workforce explains, It is not where you go, but what you learn that determines what
you make after graduation, (Bernick, Michael). In some cases, a diploma from a prestigious college
means higher pay. However, the college attended may make almost no difference at all in another field.
Rather than attending an institution for its all-around reputation and social-status, students must instead
consider the economic values of their degrees in the current job market and then decide which school will
provide the best return of investment. In fact, two surveys produced by the Lumina Foundation, an
organization who emphasizes the importance of having a college degree, found that the average hiring
manager is not concerned about where the applicant attended college. According to the 91% of the 500
business leaders surveyed, whats really important is a candidates knowledge and skills in field, not the
institution on their diploma (Kane, Libby).
At the end of the day, both private and public institutions are designed to prepare a student for
their career, and as Krueger and Dales study proves, high-achieving students are likely to have high

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earnings regardless of where they go to school. It is no doubt that in many cases, higher education is a lot
like any other expensive product. With such a price tag, it is expected that a student paying over $40,000
per year should expect to receive perks including academic excellence, a close-knit community, and topnotch professors. In many cases, you can get what you pay for by attending a private university, but
before investing in an elite school, it is crucial that students gain an understanding that attending an elite
college does not guarantee automatic success and that the school a student attends isn't the only factor in
determining potential earnings- it is the major a student pursues and experience in which they have that
really matters to employers. Unfortunately, there is not one specific solution to this issue that will satisfy
the problem of this common misconception. However, if students consider different factors such as the
real reason they aspire to attend a college, what the average elite student sacrifices as their career as a
student, and the predicted and practical outcomes, it is likely that less students will become victims like
Betty LG Cameron, and more will thrive by attending a school that feels comfortable and that helps them
get closer to their career goals. Thats what really matters.

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Works Cited
Aleem, Zeeshan. "Here's Why It Doesn't Really Matter If You Get into the Ivy League." Mic.
Policy.Mic, 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 12 Apr. 2016.
Bernick, Michael. "It Doesn't Matter Where You Go to College." Time. Time, 10 Apr. 2014. Web.
9 Apr. 2016.
Deresiewicz, William. "Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League." New Republic. The New
Republic, 21 July 2014. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
Hsu, Kacey. "Students Feel Pressure to Attend Prestigious Universities." Blue Devil Hub. N.p., 9 Dec.
2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.
Kane, Libby. "Do Hiring Managers Care Where You Went to College?" The Muse. LearnVest,
n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2016.
O'Shaughnessy, Lynn. "Why Ivy League Rejects Earn More Money." Why Ivy League Rejects
Earn More Money. CBS Interactive, 3 Mar. 2011. Web. 5 Apr. 2016.
"Public Vs. Private Colleges." My College Options. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Apr. 2016
Selingo, Jeffrey. "Forget Harvard and Stanford. It Really Doesn't Matter Where You Go to
College." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 16 Mar. 2015. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Images:
"Footing the Bill: Rising College Costs, Deepening Debt." Comptroller. N.p., 9 Dec. 2014. Web.
12 Apr. 2016.
"Ivy League 2015-2016 Tuition & Fees Comparison and 2017 Estimation." College Tuition
Compare. College Tuition Compare, 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
"New York University Tuition And Fees." College Factual. College Factual, 20 Feb. 2013. Web.
11 Apr. 2016.