<p>Does this make any sense? From a finanical standpoint, it may not be the wisest decision, but there are some aspects of private education that I really like. I'd love to hear some viewpoints.</p>
<p>Neither of my kids did ed, but a close friend of my D’s went to Loyola MD for that, and loved every minute of it. She got an excellent education and enjoyed the smaller school, OOS experience. She stayed in MD and has a wonderful teaching job that she adores. Her parents (also close friends of mine) consider it money well spent.</p>
<p>It doesn’t make sense if there will be a lot of student debt involved.</p>
<p>It can make sense. There are a lot of private colleges that do very well with education majors and offer a lot of merit scholarships combined with financial aid.<br>
The Catholic U’s do a great job with education - so they have a pool of incoming teachers each year for parochial schools (though teaching in a Catholic school certainly is not a requirement or expectation).</p>
<p>Consider this - a lot of grads with teaching degrees never teach or only teach for a few years and then move on to another profession.</p>
<p>LMNOP–I would say that there are very few majors (can’t think of any of the top of my head) which *do *make sense if there is a lot of student debt involved. Absent that, why not reap whatever benefits of the private school experience one perceives that any other major might enjoy? </p>
<p>Edit–not saying private is better than public. Just that I don’t think the major being education so much changes the question.</p>
<p>I’ve been asking myself these same questions. </p>
<p>Junior D thinking about becoming a teacher. This is a very new development in the “What do I want to be…” thought process. Her Dad, grandmother, uncle and aunt are all teachers. They all went to SUNY colleges and think there is absolutely no reason to go private if you’re planning to be a teacher,particularly a NY state teacher(which is where I know she’ll end up) My brother actually did 3+ years at Hartwick then transferred out to Oneonta to get his teaching degree. He made great friends, but ultimately what use did it serve to there?</p>
<p>My daughter went to a private college OOS for an ed degree. With her merit aid, the cost was similar to an in-state public. Their program was excellent for education majors and she had three student teaching experiences in three different settings starting sophomore year. The only downside is that our daughter had to figure out how to get her certification in other states since the college had to go with it’s own state’s certification process. The other difference is grade level certification. For instance, in IL she was certified K-9 and in PA it’s K-6. I’m not sure what she is in NY but she’s teaching fourth grade there. For a student that wants to teach secondary this may make a big difference but as long as the student knows what’s needed in the state that she actually wants to teach, it will probably work out.</p>
<p>I totally agree with Garland here! Thank you Garland, because I’ve never understood why this question comes up with education majors in particular. If one sees value in a private college education- or a particular school for that matter- why is it valuable for one major but not another? </p>
<p>I think the same pros and cons can be made for private vs public, no matter what the future plan happens to be. And that is important because most people do not accurately predict their dream career while teenagers and most do not end up in a career identified in highschool. </p>
<p>And fortunately I think for every occupation, the majority of people went to public, and the rest to private (either option works for most career paths). While I don’t think anyone should go into big debt for their dream school, to me the point of college is an experience and an education of the mind, not job training or ROI based on future earnings potential.</p>
<p>I had a parallel discussion with my kids today, but it was about highschool not college. They go to the very best private highschool in the region- it’s demanding and expensive. One said “what a waste to have gone to our highschool if you are just going to go to the state school for college!..” And I said, no it’s not at all a waste at all: the point was to give you the best possible education and experience, regardless of what your future plans are.</p>
<p>I think that in this economy it’s not so much private/public that’s the issue but the ability to student teach. My D was at an out-of-state private when she got very sick which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Had she student taught there, she would have been out of the pipeline to get a job here (not that there will be teaching jobs here for years), but wouldn’t have been able to support herself financially there on the starting teaching salary. It might not have mattered a couple of years ago and might not matter down the road, but if one really wants to be employed as a teacher, it can be important.</p>
<p>I don’t think that the choice of major should be the deciding factor.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, and you think it is a better choice for your daughter, I think it makes sense to go to the better school.
If going there will involve major economic hardship, or unreasonable debt, then it does not make sense.</p>
<p>Some students count on future income based on their chosen major to justify taking >100K in loans. Most of them regret it I think.</p>
<p>Odessagirl is a secondary ed major and attends a private school. She loves it.</p>
<p>BakerAve - your family makes some very good points.
Public univeristies in many states (PA is one) do a very good job of teacher education. This is especially true in elementary education.
It is faulty to make the assumption that a private college education is “better” than a public college education.</p>
<p>Agreed the choice of major shouldn’t matter - while a teacher doesn’t make the salary an engineer does, many other majors ARE in line with a teacher’s. </p>
<p>Besides, always remember that while they may walk in day one with the intent to become a teacher, no telling what career they will walk out with. </p>
<p>Also, now that education majors - especially secondary ed majors - don’t walk out with just a teaching degree (instead for instance, a math “teacher” walks out with a degree in math with the ability to be able to teach or do other things) the options become more broad.</p>
<p>Isn’t being a HS teacher one of the more popular professions for Harvard grads? </p>
<p>I think it makes sense to look at the practicality of the plan - i.e. particular private cost vs particular public cost (since they all vary depending on circumstances with merit/financial aid), major, grad school plans, economic situation of the person paying the tuition, etc. Of course that doesn’t mean cheapest is best or most expensive is best. There are lots of variables.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Amen, Garland! Not to pick on teachers…</p>
<p>Starbright: "Thank you Garland, because I’ve never understood why this question comes up with education majors in particular. If one sees value in a private college education- or a particular school for that matter- why is it valuable for one major but not another? "</p>
<p>This question comes up with nursing majors, too.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard from people here before is that private schools (and I guess by which I mean HYPSM, Wharton, Chicago, some others) are much better at placing students in certain industries (Finance, Consulting, maybe some others) than public schools, and that people doing any of a number of majors which places people in those industries, if you’re of that caliber, it’s best to go there even if it means debt. And obviously that’s arguable, but some people say that.</p>
<p>The same does not however exist for nursing majors, education majors, some others. At least not to the degree that it does for Finance and Consulting, and maybe not at all. If this question is asked I think it’s more about employment opportunities than the actual quality of education itself.</p>
<p>I think that paying extra for private school is a big waste of money. I say that most majors in general.</p>
<p>Why? Because a high school friend of mine went to Caltech and I went to my state university. Today, I have a superior job over hers. I have mine because I the passion to keep pursuing better employment.</p>
<p>^^Ah, so you believe that the biggest benefit of education is the job you get?</p>
<p>“^^Ah, so you believe that the biggest benefit of education is the job you get?”</p>
<p>I was just talking about what some say. That is the main reason that I see why someone would find it reasonable to send their kid to a private school for one major but not for another.</p>
<p>But yes. Again though, that’s irrelevant to what I was saying.</p>