<p>The</a> Billionaire Universities - Forbes.com</p>
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Of the 469 Americans on Forbes' most recent list of the world's billionaires, 50 received at least one degree from Harvard. The school has produced 20 more current American billionaires than No. 2 on our list, Stanford University
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A small group of schools account for a disproportionate amount of billionaire education. Just 20 universities and colleges account for 52% of the billionaire graduates while 182 schools count for the remainder.
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Strong research programs in developing areas of tech are important too. Sergey Brin and Larry Page met at Stanford's storied computer science program. The Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) co-founders are now worth nearly $19 billion each. </p>
<p>Selectivity also helps. The best schools are overwhelmed by applicants each fall. Acceptance rates for nearly all of the top billionaire-producing schools are below 30%.
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<p>Maybe all the hype about Harvard is semi warranted.</p>
<p>Of course, Brin's undergraduate degree is from Maryland. And Page's undergraduate degree is from Michigan. </p>
<p>Michael Dell went to UT-Austin. Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed. And Warren Buffett got his degree from the University of Nebraska.</p>
<p>I don't think anybody is denying the fact that graduate schools matter a lot. But for undergrad, as long as you are going to one of the top 40-50 schools in the country (keep in mind there are over 4,000 colleges in America), what matters a lot more is how much effort and hard work you instill in your life.</p>
<p>So pick Duke over Michigan because you like basketball. And pick Berkeley over Penn if you want to stay on the West Coast. At that level, don't think that a higher ranking in U.S. News is going to give you any sort of stamp of approval.</p>
<p>Why going to elite universities are important...</p>
<p>Put it this way: go to a top notch school, experience four years of hard work and misery, put up a lot of money to pay for the degree, and you are financially secured for the rest of your life because employers will always be looking to hire you by virtue of your elite school degree, even if there's a major economic recession or depression.</p>
<p>Or: go to an average four year state university, have a great time there, make lots of friends, enjoy lots of parties for four years, but pray that the job market will be good when you graduate because if it isn't, you're out of luck because your average state university degree isn't worth jack in a down economy...</p>
<p>The choice is yours... (this is for both parents and students)</p>
<p>It's NOT the education that matters anymore, it's the BRAND NAME of your DEGREE.</p>
<p>There are reasons why I think it is useful to go to a top school.</p>
<p>Increasing the chance that you will become a billionaire from minuscule to marginally less minuscule is not one of them.</p>
<p>I think there is also some correlation/causation conflation going on.</p>
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I think there is also some correlation/causation conflation going on.
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<p>Exactly.</p>
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It's NOT the education that matters anymore, it's the BRAND NAME of your DEGREE.
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<p>If you think anybody is able to rest on the laurels of their degree in 21st century America, you are sadly mistaken.</p>
<p>what about accounting? top schools don't have accounting programs</p>
<p>The vast majority of people who attend college attend schools that are not considered prestigious and the vast majority of them are still employed and not badly off.</p>
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I think there is also some correlation/causation conflation going on.
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<p>I agree completely. People who do attend highly-ranked schools are generally quite intelligent and talented. It is this that makes them successful far, far more than the college they attended.</p>
<p>father, that is an extremely wrong -- and I believe extremely biased -- view of higher education in the U.S. You seem to think that all students at state universities do nothing but party and so they have no chance at getting jobs unless there are so many jobs out there that there aren't enough grads from "elite" schools to fill them all. (And of course, students at the elite schools do nothing but study and never party, so they are completely miserable for 4 years!) You are so wrong.</p>
<p>As Cayuga rightly pointed out, public schools turn out many brilliant graduates each year. I personally know kids that were accepted by highly selective schools (top 50) but opted instead for a state university. The reasons are varied -- usually because the financial package at the state school was just too good to turn down (especially for those who are also looking at med school or law school later on) but also for more personal reasons -- wanting to stay close to home, special honors college programs, etc.</p>
<p>Employers hire someone because they feel that individual has certain qualities and experience that would be beneficial to the company -- not because they happen to own a piece of paper that has a certain school's name on it.</p>
<p>I was using sarcasm in the thread title due to a number of threads that are recently asking if it matters where one goes for undergrad.</p>
<p>According to another poster on the Penn forum, Penn has the most undergrad alum billionaires, so it's not all grad school alums who are rolling in the big money.</p>
<p>I do agree with the two points in the last block of text I quoted though. Strong programs and strong research in emerging areas of study is good and will help introduce undergrads to new ideas that can help them come up with an idea for Google or something like that and also help them develope it. I also agree that selectivity helps because students are surrounded by a larger number of highly motivated and very smart peers. There are very bright students all over the place, but no one can argue that the concentration of amazing bright young minds is higher at MIT than at UMass. I am a believer that peer group has a strong influence in developing a young person's personailty and work ethic. </p>
<p>There is little difference between top universities as 6 are tied for 9th place, two being state schools, and the probability of becoming a billionaire is so low that choosing to go to Harvard thinking it's your ticket to big bucks should probably have the school reconsider your intelligence.</p>
<p>"I personally know kids that were accepted by highly selective schools (top 50) but opted instead for a state university"</p>
<p>(Raises hand)</p>
<p>The point people seem to never consider is maybe the people who become billionaires were destined to become them no matter where they went and just ended up at "elite" colleges because that's what society expects out of them. Heck I am the anti-elitist extraordinaire and I'll probably be looking to go to a top 20 school for my MBA.</p>
<p>It's terrible that our society deems success solely based on how much money you earn. If you become a top cancer doctor or an engineer who develops a revolutionary new technology and make less money than some guy managing hedge funds, it's like you've failed. That's why our society is headed for a decline.</p>
<p>I've been to Top 5 Private, Top 30 public. My wife Top 15 private, Top 30 public.</p>
<p>It DOESN"T MATTER!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>I think IAmYourFather was being satirical.</p>
<p>Steve Jobs says his inspiration for the Mac came directly from a calligraphy class at Reed, but clearly he could have taken such a class in many other places.</p>
<p>Schools are different, so they can make a big difference. One won't learn much about business at Reed, and one won't get much of a biology research background at Wharton.</p>
<p>The answer is somewhere in the middle: Brand name doesn't matter, and all schools are not alike.</p>
<p>I am your father- why on earth would you think the coursework is so much harder at say Brown than it would be at a school like Wisconsin or Penn State? Do you have non anecdotal proof for this statement?</p>