Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Return vs. Investment = The Ivy League Experience

During August, I read an article titled, "Ivy Leaguers' Big Edge: Starting Pay ". This article was eye opening, because I operate under the belief that it does not matter where you attended school (as long as you obtain the degree). As a child of a single parent, I knew that my parents could not afford SAT/ACT prep or afford private school tuition. Therefore, I sought scholarships at public schools.

One of the most surprising statistics was, "According to the survey, graduates of Dartmouth College, an Ivy League college, earn the highest median salary -- $134,000." I graduated from a public, mid-sized higher education institution in Texas with under $2,000 in student loans (thanks to scholarships). Yes, I think that an Ivy League education is wonderful, but I do not think the debt is worth it. Here's the clincher, I worked with a wealth of people who received the Ivy League experience and have the Ivy League experience debt. The most interesting aspect of this clincher is...we earn the same salary and I have less student loan debt. 

Is an Ivy League education worth the debt?

2 comments:

  1. That's a good question, Jennifer. I see similarly-themed questions all the time in various librarian online communities I participate in. Prospective librarians wonder if it's worth the debt to attend a more prestigious library school. I guess it depends on where you ultimately plan to work. Perhaps if you are aiming for an Ivy League or other prestigious school, it would matter, but otherwise I don't think it does.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I just could not imagine having THAT much debt. If I am complaining about my loans from graduate school, I can just imagine the loans from an Ivy League education.

    ReplyDelete

Hi! Please contribute a comment (or two) about the post! :)