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Yes, but it was an offer they couldn't refuse. Not quite that simple - students have tons of choices. They could choose a school with a lower tuition. They cou

Yes, but it was an offer they couldn't refuse. Not quite that simple - students have tons of choices. They could choose a school with a lower tuition. They could stay in-state so as to avoid the much more "out of state tuition". They could opt for a degree with a higher chance of getting a job. They could opt for a degree with a higher average salary. They could work full-time to pay off the loans while they go to school (as my wife did). They could live with their parents instead of paying rent/dorm.

zeteo 13y ago
That would be fine and dandy, except employers discriminate against lower-tuition schools and even those are getting more expensive each year.
- enraged_camel 13y ago
  This is absolutely true. Graduating from a top tier (most of the time that means private) school will give the person a tremendous amount of leverage in their job search, and greatly increase their chances of landing a high-paying job. What that means is that telling the students to "just go to a lower-tuition school" simply perpetuates the current class system and undermines social mobility.
  - L_Rahman 13y ago
    It's not just job search. One of the things I've discovered in the process of interviews + networking in the consulting and finance industries is that the graduates from the elite schools are their own tribe. We all seek each other out when we're starting out and that provides an invaluable personal network to start off and grow with. I feel bad for the few people I see who aren't from the feeder private Ivy League tier schools because they have to start from nothing and even if they're successful they'll constantly face barriers.
  - JonFish85 13y ago
    I'll call shenanigans on that (at least in my experience). In this area (Boston), in my experience, there are 2 tiers of schools: elite and "the rest". Harvard, MIT, Stanford, etc. are all "elite" schools and move you to the top of the pile probably. Beyond that, the school is in the "and the rest" category, and you have to dig a bit deeper: GPA, jobs, specific interests, etc. "Undermining social mobility" because not every student can afford to go to a Stanford/MIT/Harvard $50k/yr school is.... a stretch. Sure, if every not-rich student was forced to go to University of Phoenix or a "school" of that ilk, maybe I'd buy it. State schools aren't really discriminated against that much (UMass has a great reputation (engineering/CS wise at least), U of Rhode Island, U of New Hampshire, as do the California state schools and I'm sure many, many others).

zeteo 13y ago

That would be fine and dandy, except employers discriminate against lower-tuition schools and even those are getting more expensive each year.

enraged_camel 13y ago
This is absolutely true. Graduating from a top tier (most of the time that means private) school will give the person a tremendous amount of leverage in their job search, and greatly increase their chances of landing a high-paying job. What that means is that telling the students to "just go to a lower-tuition school" simply perpetuates the current class system and undermines social mobility.
- L_Rahman 13y ago
  It's not just job search. One of the things I've discovered in the process of interviews + networking in the consulting and finance industries is that the graduates from the elite schools are their own tribe. We all seek each other out when we're starting out and that provides an invaluable personal network to start off and grow with. I feel bad for the few people I see who aren't from the feeder private Ivy League tier schools because they have to start from nothing and even if they're successful they'll constantly face barriers.
- JonFish85 13y ago
  I'll call shenanigans on that (at least in my experience). In this area (Boston), in my experience, there are 2 tiers of schools: elite and "the rest". Harvard, MIT, Stanford, etc. are all "elite" schools and move you to the top of the pile probably. Beyond that, the school is in the "and the rest" category, and you have to dig a bit deeper: GPA, jobs, specific interests, etc. "Undermining social mobility" because not every student can afford to go to a Stanford/MIT/Harvard $50k/yr school is.... a stretch. Sure, if every not-rich student was forced to go to University of Phoenix or a "school" of that ilk, maybe I'd buy it. State schools aren't really discriminated against that much (UMass has a great reputation (engineering/CS wise at least), U of Rhode Island, U of New Hampshire, as do the California state schools and I'm sure many, many others).