Lots of good points by all. ihs76 - not crazy at all picking and paying more for an elite education. Just a choice and a probably a better one than spending money on a fancy car. I suspect your child is getting an education and experience they will never forget. While we (really my son) made a different choice - just as many people thought it was crazy for him to not attend the more “elite” school. It is tough to compare salaries at larger schools with salaries at elite institutions, and it is just as tough for smaller elite schools (outside of MITs and CalTechs) to rank as high as large research universities in STEM fields. The salary comparison under rates how the top big school grads do in the real world, and the STEM academic rankings under rates the quality of a STEM education at an Notre Dame type of school. The ND CS, engineering students, and business students especially are getting a great education and great paying jobs. Foobar, you hit the nail on the head in pointing out that salaries were not broken down by major. IL has a 60% acceptance rate, but their CS program is more like Ivy League acceptance rate and their salaries will blow most grads at most schools out of the water. MN engineering has 14,000 applications for 1000 spots and a 32 ACT average. IN & WI have great business schools and their grads will compete for the good business jobs. When you have nursing schools, and ag schools, and a huge arts and letters student populations, acceptance rates will go up and average salary will go down, but in the end the top MI, IN and ND business grads are getting paid the same. The Purdue, ND, MN, WI engineering grads are getting paid the same (and IL maybe a little more). I had a friend transfer from Yale to ND…a step down academically in most eyes…but the perfect move for him. There is the money side (tuition and salary) and the experience side - and the balance for each student and family is different, but I suspect the students on this forum (or being discussed on this forum by their parents) will do just fine in life if they remember one thing. Getting into …Ivy U, Elite U, Honor Program…is just the start…you have not made it, and if you think you have, you will be disappointed. But if you realize you are off to a great start to your unique journey and take advantage of what the schools have to offer, you will be ready for launch in 4 years.