"Private college" is a waste for middle class well-connected white students: WaPo

Parents Forum
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<p><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/18/private-colleges-are-a-waste-of-money-for-white-middle-class-kids/"&gt;http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/12/18/private-colleges-are-a-waste-of-money-for-white-middle-class-kids/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Of course the headline is misleading. The study supports the notion that debt load has a great deal to do with post-college happiness. Earning potential does not seem to be clearly connected to elitist schools, but to the student. URMs do not apply to selective schools as much as they should, given that the actual cost for them is often much lower than other places because of scholarships and grant eligibility. </p>

<p>Universally, though, taking on a lot of debt is a bad idea, regardless of class or economics. </p>

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<p>I would encourage students seeking financial aid to apply to a range of schools as they don’t know which college will offer the best package until they do. It is true they can check the school calculators, look up statistics, and go by word-of-mouth to make some kind of guesstimate. When they are accepted and the numbers come in, then they can compare. One thing to consider is how many years it will take to graduate.</p>

<p><a href=“Fast Facts: Financial aid (31)”>Fast Facts: Financial aid (31);

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<p>The article is right that, all else equal, it is better to choose a less expensive school. However, it is stupid to assume that therefore it is always true. There are many factors to consider and everything is rarely equal. </p>

<p>An improved title: less expensive public colleges are usually a better choice, unless there is a solid reason why a private school would be better for you.</p>

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<p>There are many things to consider, but I know that amongst my relatives, those who went the pricey route didn’t end up with better situations. Two cousins, one went to pricey, one went to a CSU, both engineering…both got hired by similar companies making the same amount of money. Sure, the parents of the pricey college kid are scratching their heads.</p>

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<p>This article and many discussions are predicated upon the assumption that attending a private college will be more expensive than attending a public one. Sometimes the net COA for schools that are most seriously under consideration may not be much different. Some publics aren’t that inexpensive and some privates put out competitive offers to students they hope to attract. Middle class, too, is a wide range. There are many more facets to this discussion. </p>