Return on Investment

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<p>[Fifty</a> Affordable Colleges With the Best ROI: No. 21: College of the Holy Cross - BusinessWeek](<a href=“http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110405/fifty-affordable-colleges-with-the-best-roi/slides/22]Fifty”>http://images.businessweek.com/slideshows/20110405/fifty-affordable-colleges-with-the-best-roi/slides/22)</p>

[DunninLA]

<p>My G-d, what moron at WSJ thinks this hasn’t been investigated in GREAT detail by real researchers. Here are some links:</p>

<ul>
<li>Brookings on the Krueger-Dale 1999 publicaction (2004)<a href=“http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2004/10education_easterbrook.aspx[/url]”>http://www.brookings.edu/articles/2004/10education_easterbrook.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
<li>The Krueger-Dale draft publication of 1998 <a href=“http://www.irs.princeton.edu/pubs/pdfs/409.pdf[/url]”>http://www.irs.princeton.edu/pubs/pdfs/409.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
<li>NYT commenting on the updated Krueger Dale research (2011) <a href=“http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/revisiting-the-value-of-elite-colleges/[/url]”>http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/21/revisiting-the-value-of-elite-colleges/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;
</ul>

<p>This question has been so asked and answered that is seems absurd to me that people still ask about a return on investment differential between one school and another.</p>

[top414141]

<p>i think i agree to quite a large extent. the list is interesting!</p>

[tk21769]

<p>

Absolutely not but Colgate is a much stronger feeder to Wall Street and business jobs than Middlebury so that’s where the difference lies. This list is basically a litmus test of how strong a school’s brand name is in the engineering or finance world.

</p>

<p>You’re making an analytic leap that is not supported by data (not by that data anyway). There may be a correlation between attending Colgate and getting certain lucrative jobs; it may be stronger than any correlation between attending Middlebury and getting similar jobs. However, correlation does not imply causation. </p>

<p>Now, I do think it is plausible that, if some critical mass of students at a certain school are interested in certain jobs, then it may be more convenient for recruiters to focus on those schools. There may be some benefit like that, but I don’t know that anyone has been able to isolate and measure it. So we’re speculating.</p>

<p>For many students, the same concentration of interests in those goals may be a negative factor in selecting a college.</p>

[Pizzagirl]

<p>

This question has been so asked and answered that is seems absurd to me that people still ask about a return on investment differential between one school and another.

</p>

<p>Personally, I don’t care what my kids wind up making – a little or a lot – as long as they are happy and self-sufficient. If they want to make a lot, more power to them, but that’s not MY expectation for them, nor how I’ll evaluate the ROI on what I’m spending on their education.</p>

[Pizzagirl]

<p>

Pizzagirl, I’m not convinced. There are plenty of other high ranking schools that offer drama/music yet their ROI rank is not as low as NU’s such as CMU, Brown, Yale, UCLA. NU has a superb engineering school, great graduate programs, and a huge alumni base. hmm.

</p>

<p>Right, but what’s the % of students in those schools who are theater majors compared to NU? I mean, NU’s got a whole school devoted to 'em; they are thick as thieves on the NU campus. Are theater majors as predominant at Yale or Brown as theater majors are at NU?</p>

[par72]

<p>Duke, Notre Dame and Holy Cross are also need blind for admissions, believe Colgate is not. All 4 schools have great school spirit which translates into strong alumni networks for jobs and internships.</p>

[irishevan99]

<p>Pizzagirl is right in pointing out that schools with great alumni networks and job placement might have an ROI that’s lower for no reason other than the presence of great arts programs (obviously a very good thing). And it’s also true that a high income after graduation isn’t desirable for all students, and in fact might be a turn off for some. But then again, the same might also be true of any other factor, for example prestige, athletics, location, etc that we often use to assess the desirability of attending a university. This list is by no means a perfect way to compare universities, but I thinks its worth considering to some degree.</p>

[par72]

<p>ND’s alumni network is fantastic in Chicago while Holy Cross and 'Gate are strong along the East Coast(HC does have very active Chicago alumni club). Duke alumni clubs are all over the major cities.</p>

[BillyMc]

<p>

ND’s alumni network is fantastic in Chicago

Notre Dame has the largest alumni network of any school, with 267 alumni clubs, including 64 international clubs. Wherever you are in the US, your area is covered by a Notre Dame alumni club. Many parts of the world as well. So yes, it is fantastic in Chicago… And everywhere else.</p>

[ricegal]

<p>CMU is on the list and yet it has a noted drama school, but, in general, I agree with other posters that it’s the major not the school that provides the ROI.</p>