Private vs. Public Does it make a difference?

[Harry]

Shelby Stall transferred to the University of North Texas after her freshman year at the University of Alabama. The out of state tuition for Alabama was getting too expensive for Stall and staying wasn’t worth the student loans.

Stall would have remained at the University of Alabama if tuition had been lower, but she doesn’t think the prestige of a university necessarily makes or breaks a person’s ability to find employment after graduation. Alabama is ranked No. 75 among national universities by U.S. News and World Report, while UNT isn’t ranked.

“For the cost, if you can’t afford it I wouldn’t say to take loans out for it,” Stall said.

No one wants to spend more money than necessary, and with headlines reporting that student loan debt is now exceeding credit card debt, people are rethinking how they spend their money.

Many people are led to believe that attending a university that costs more and has a more prestigious name will be more beneficial.

“When you’re fresh out of school a lot of companies look at where you graduated,” Marva McGrew, the assistant director for employer relations at SMU, said. “But many companies are just looking for what is the best fit for the position.”

According to the College Board, the price of a four-year public university has increased by an average of 8.3 percent this past year. A four-year private university increased by an average of only 4.5 percent.

Read more: http://www.smudailymustang.com/?p=42555

[greenminer]

I thought 1 year = established state residency, thus in-state tuition?

[GreenBat]

I thought 1 year = established state residency, thus in-state tuition?

I believe that you must have 12 continous months of not being in school to qualify for in-state tuition.

[Dr. Seuss]

I actually asked my mom this, shes been VP of HR for various companies over the past 20 years and she told me that its all about the paper and interview.

Yes graduating from an Ivy league looks better than UNT or any other school but once you graduate you use the tools of what you learned but more importantly you can actually learn and not give up.

From working with people (>15) that just graduated from TCU, they have a better business program than UNT. Now we have the same position but they are more prepared for the long run... Companies know this and thats why a lot of people from TCU get hired on at our company but it doesnt mean that they wont look else where.

I would never spend 40k a year, but I was about to but then didnt think an education is worth over 100k for an undergrad. Then again parents still spend 10k a year for private school. Its all about utililty

[MDH]

In my line of work (accounting) it makes zero difference where you graduated from as long as you get your CPA and experience. The only thing I might lack is some of the connections I could have made in a private school, but that's debatable.

Edited December 16, 2011 by MDH

[BeanCounterGrad'03]

In my line of work (accounting) it makes zero difference where you graduated from as long as you get your CPA and experience. The only thing I might lack is some of the connections I could have made in a private school, but that's debatable.

Same here...I landed the same job at a Big 4 firm that SMU and TCU grads got right out of school. The only difference between them and the "publics" like my self is that they paid 4 times more for their education than we did.

That said, privates do seem to do a better job with connections making it easier to land a job right out of school, but I don't think that comes close to justifying the price difference. For me personally though, I had no problem landing a job...I just had to be a little more proactive.

[Green Mean]

Unless you're going to get a ton of scholarships and/or have a college fund from your parents that virtually pays for all or most of your schooling should you decide to go to a out of state or private school the burden of school loans isn't worth one bit. My eldest brother is a lawyer and went to private school for both his undergrad(Austin College) and law degree (St. Mary's in SA) and he had about 200 or 250k in school debt total and to this day even though he does very very well his biggest regret was not going to state schools because he still pays a butt load every month on those loans.

The school experience etc I am sure is really nice and great but man when reality sets in and you have to pay that kind of money every month for so many years after you graduate that is when you really feel it.

In the end it makes no difference where you go to school as long as you take advantage of what you learn and know how to network. Also you have to have a good looking resume...that is so key when finding employment.

[Coffee and TV]

I thought 1 year = established state residency, thus in-state tuition?

Depends on the state. I know when I was toying with the idea of transferring to Arizona one of the big requirements they had was being financially independent from your parents. Can't be on their car/health insurance, have to pay your own rent/board, can't be listed as anyone's dependent. Basically at 20 I wasn't quite independent enough.

[meangreendork]

Reads like a marketing piece to me. "Well, at SMU, we charge this astronomical amount, but that's okay because prices at private colleges only rose half of what they did for public colleges. We'll also hope that you don't remember that it's still almost 2x as expensive to attend a private college in Texas, though."

[michagb]

I believe that you must have 12 continous months of not being in school to qualify for in-state tuition.

This is generally correct. Basically in Texas you have prove that you came here to live and work, not to go to school. Once you're here for 12 months and can prove that, then you may be eligible to be considered a resident.