Public University vs. Private University: which is better?

College Search & Selection
1

Hi there!

So my parents and I recently got into a discussion about the pros and cons about private schools and public schools. Here’s what we discussed:

Public Universities:

Pros:
-large variety of programs; lots of majors to choose from
-world renowned professors(specifically top public schools like UC Berkeley,UMich, Madison Wisconsin, etc)
-large student body, lots of diverse/different people to interact/make friends with
-usually has good college towns
-lively atmosphere
-large classes–> for some people, it feels nice to be “anoymous” in a lecture hall
-good research opportunities
-great school spirit

Cons:
-large student body, which means that there are too many students for the professor to concentrate on
-professors are largely concentrated on their research, sometimes more than teaching(not saying they’re bad teachers though)
-lots of TAs–> they grade your papers and lead discussions(not necessarily a bad thing, but some people prefer more expertise/professional experience)
-less attention to students
-too many people, crowded
-less aid available

Private Universities:

Pros:
-like public schools, they contain great professors who usually give more attention to their students
-generally smaller student body:smaller classes–> leads to hprofessor attention and easier opportunities to get great rec letters, can be more discussion based, higher chance that the professor will at least know your name
-less TAs? debatable
-closer community
-top-notch professors
-involved students

Cons:
-not necessarily as diverse
-tuition cost, much more expensive
-comparatively limited program offerings

Sorry for the bombardment of this information, but what are your opinions/experiences with these two different types of universities? For those experienced/interested posters out there(parents, alumni, college experts, students, etc), when you attended a public or private college, what was your experience like? My parents always question why I desire to apply to good public schools like UC Berkeley, UCLA, or UMich, when there’s great private schools that will give me a ‘better’ experience. I don’t necessarily disagree with them, but I just want to understand what it’s truly like. Thank you!

2

Many of your differences are size based.

There are small public schools like South Dakota Mines and University of Minnesota - Morris, and there are large private schools like New York University and University of Southern California.

3

@ucbalumnus Thanks for telling me that! I should’ve specified earlier, but I meant the big well-known public schools like the UCs, UVA, UNC-Chapel Hill, etc.

4

Lots of comparison factors are specific to each school, not whether it is public or private. The US Military Academy and Evergreen State College are both public, but are very different schools from each other and many other public schools.

5

I agree that many of the differences are size and the individual school rather than whether it is public or private. A school like UNC or UCLA may not be as diverse as a school such as NYU because the majority of the students may come from in-state rather than all around the world. A private school like Duke or Villanova can have a great school spirit while a medium sized public university like William & Mary has excellent professors focused on teaching and students rather than their own research. It all depends on the university and I would not compare schools based on these generalizations of public and private schools but your own comparisons of the characteristics universities themselves and your ability to afford them.

6

I disagree with a number of things on your list. It looks like you are comparing large public schools to smaller private schools.
-As discussed above not all public universities are large.
–Don’t assume public schools have more schools spirit - Notre Dame, USC, Duke to name but a few are very spirited private universities.
–Many public universities offer merit aid to instate residents.
–Huge private schools can have as many large lecture classes as the big public schools.
–Not sure I’d assume there are always better profs. at private universities.
–You should expect to see TA’s at large private universities
–Why do you think students at private schools would be more involved?
–Privates can be more diverse as they likely draw from a larger geographic area (not just mainly one state).
I think you and your parents should do more research and perhaps visit some schools.

7

Instead of discussing Public vs Private, maybe you should discuss Large vs. Small schools. That’s where you’ll see many of the differences you mentioned.

8

<<<
Cons:
-large student body, which means that there are too many students for the professor to concentrate on
-professors are largely concentrated on their research, sometimes more than teaching(not saying they’re bad teachers though)
-lots of TAs–> they grade your papers and lead discussions(not necessarily a bad thing, but some people prefer more expertise/professional experience)
<<<<

I’m not sure that profs “concentrate on” students either way. Private schools can easily have classes with 40+ students in them.

Profs are focused on research at both private and public. I think you may mean LAC vs Univ

there can be TAs at both. “leading discussions”??? I don’t think so. Grade papers? yes. TA’s tend to proctor tests, grade papers, and lead lab classes.

Some OOS publics (not UNC, UVA, or UCB) offer a good bit of merit to many students who have high stats. UNC, UVA, and UCB aren’t great with merit.

9

First you need to determine how much your parents will pay and have them run some NPCs. Schools like Berkeley wont’ give much/any aid.

UNC and UVA do promise to “meet need,” but only as THEY define it. They may determine that you have no need.

Privates may not give you as much as you want.


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currently have a 31-32 and would love to raise it to the 33-34 range. For those of you who did it, how did you do it? I find myself making petty mistakes, and I would love to prevent that. I've been practicing for months.

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Are you a junior?

10

each and every school is unique (both public and private)…,you can judge individual schools but not on a broad basis of public or private as to which is better.(IMO)

11

I feel this is very school, student, and family specific.

We like the idea of a larger public university where our son has more opportunities to get involved in things and find a tribe. We also look for value from a $$ stand-point.

That being said, one of our son’s tutors is a big believe in smaller, private LAC type schools. I think they can work well for the right student, especially with merit and/or need-based aid.

12

I realize now that you guys are right; it’s much better to judge by individual school rather than generalities. Thanks for helping me with that! @mom2collegekids yes I’m a junior

13

This is interesting… I like that you laid out a pros/cons list, because I don’t think one is better than the other. Both have completely different aspects that may benefit certain people but not others. In my opinion, private schools especially vary from school to school. I’m applying to mostly private schools, and diversity is one of the most important factors to me. (DePaul and Loyola New Orleans from my list are both very diverse.) I also want a bigger, more independent community, and while many private schools do have a close-knit community, there are a lot, especially secular schools that don’t. (Again, DePaul, and probably most-so, NYU.)

In my opinion, the biggest difference is price, followed by personal attention. Other than that, most of everything else depends on the school itself. I recommend looking at and applying to both.

Hope that helps :slight_smile:

14

There are lots of privates that have good college towns (this is totally subjective, but if you’re talking about small college towns, think about Amherst/Smith/Mount Holyoke/Hampshire in the Pioneer Valley, Wellesley, Ithaca, Durham, and South Bend), lively atmospheres, and great school spirit (think Duke or Syracuse). There are small public schools and public schools that don’t have any or many graduate programs that don’t use TAs (think New College of Florida or Truman State University). There are also lots of private colleges that are more diverse than some publics - it also depends on what kind of diversity we’re talking about.

I went to a small private college but my backup was a large public university in a small college town. I think I would’ve liked that one almost as much as my small LAC. But I think another false dichotomy is a lot of people think private schools are automatically “better” than publics. They’re not - there are a lot of really excellent public universities and colleges out there, and there are a lot of mediocre private universities too.

I will say, though, that unless your parents are wealthy going OOS to a Michigan or UCLA or Berkeley may not be worth it for you. They’re unlikely to give you much financial aid. What are your state’s public schools?

15

One thing that may be self evident will be the geographical diversity of the student body. By definition a public university will have the greatest portion of their student body from that state. National research universities and LACs will be more geographically diverse. Granted some state flagships will have greater diversity than other public universities in the state but not to the same degree as privates.

16

I live in Missouri, so the flagships are Mizzou, Truman State, etc @juillet