Elite private vs. public college ROI: Which is better?
- Elite private college may not offer better ROI than public institutions
- Students who pay less tend to have more money years after graduation
- Some say college education invaluable, can't be assigned dollar amount
File photo of students in class. (Getty Images)
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(NewsNation) — Private colleges considered “elite” by many may have similar returns on investment as public institutions, according to a Bloomberg News analysis.
The review of more than 1,500 nonprofit four-year colleges suggests that “elite private institutions outside the eight Ivies” don’t necessarily offer a better ROI.
Vassar College and Oberlin College, for example, respectively return about 18% and 85% less, respectively, than the median ROI of all public schools included in the analysis, Bloomberg News reported.
More than 140 public institutions that admit most applicants have a 10-year ROI of about $135,000.
Students who pay less for school also tend to have more money in the years following graduation, the analysis found.
That’s not to say, however, that a costly education isn’t worth its money.
Colleges with more STEM graduates tend to see higher returns, and attending a more expensive school could earn students higher paying jobs down the road.
Some academics also argue that a college education’s full rewards can’t be accurately measured by the salaries of graduates.