Top private vs public universities: quality of college experience and future job prospects

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering between OOS public university and top10 private university.
One of the common advices I received is that public universities will make it difficult for students to get a personal attention and care.
I'm curious how much this is true compared to private universities.
Also, another advice I received is that the brand name of the private university will make a difference in the career.
I can see this in the case of HYPSM but other top10-20 private schools do really have a brand name recognition and advantages?

Would you like your student to get tucked in at night?

An unreasonably high percentage of people here would unironically answer yes to this question.

Oh please, people are talking about being able to graduate in 4 years as they don’t have to fight for classes they need. Quality and personalized advising for med, law, grad school. Smaller class sizes where you can have closer relationships with profs for LOR, and so on.

THis 1000%

The perks of a smaller private university are huge. Not having to fight for the courses you want/need, great advising and advisors that know your student.

For ex: my kid was at a T100. Spent 1 year in Major X, then needed to switch. The "main advisor for Major X/School X" only knew my kid for less than 1 year, as they helped my kid figure out how to switch majors in April of Freshman year (on the day of Registration, 2 hours before reg none the less--so under intense pressure). That Advisor saw us at graduation and came over to talk. They knew my kid's name and remembered what major they were switching to. This isn't a school with 2k students, it's a school with about 8K undergrads.

That's what some of us want for our kids. When you have an ADHD kid, Anxiety ridden kid with Zero EF (except what you have trained them in), sometimes we and our kids know they need a bit extra care. The benefits of providing that means they excel in life.

I hear you. Intuitively, it makes sense. But do you have numbers to show this to be the case, as we look at student outcomes?

I don't need the numbers at all univserisites. I know my own kids experiences (3 of them) at schools in the 5K-8K size. I know from their friends who chose to attend a variety of schools as well. I know from our now (T50ish) state flagship where it is difficult to graduate in 4 years, most who do have to sacrifice getting into many courses they wanted and "settle". And many are forced to major in something they really didn't want, because they couldn't get into "the impacted major".

So while you can "have a great experience at a large state U", the personalized service and attention to students (who are only 18-22) is higher at most private Universities.
Heck even start with housing. The smaller schools have 1 RA for 30 students versus 1 RA for 75-90 freshman year. May not matter to you, but if your kid has a bad roommate and/or trouble adjusting to college, it helps to have a Real RA who is avaialable and well trained to assist (and able to assist because they are not covering 3x the number of students

This is one of the funniest, not-actually-real things I’ve read on this forum.

I’ll update the bullets that I posted earlier to reflect the all important RA to student ratio. Is this a criteria use by US News in their rankings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Based on this post, I'm surprised that at a public university anyone can:

-Register for a class without camping outside the registrar's office for weeks
-Do research without bribing their way into a lab
-Navigate a campus without specialized GPS and wilderness survival training
-Find peers that care about learning rather than just partying
-Graduate with a desired major instead of settling for underwater basket weaving
-Graduate within the intended timeframe of this century

Apparently, public university students must possess superhuman determination just to overcome these insurmountable obstacles that private college students never face, thanks to those magical $60,000+ annual tuition payments that somehow eliminate all administrative hassles and provides a magical educational experience.

Seriously. My takeaway from reading this thread is that some private university parents feel their young adult college students need a tremendous amount of handholding. Also, that they are extremely insecure and to compensate, feel they have to make up nonsense about what occurs at large universities that they know nothing about.

This.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are considering between OOS public university and top10 private university.
One of the common advices I received is that public universities will make it difficult for students to get a personal attention and care.
I'm curious how much this is true compared to private universities.
Also, another advice I received is that the brand name of the private university will make a difference in the career.
I can see this in the case of HYPSM but other top10-20 private schools do really have a brand name recognition and advantages?

Would you like your student to get tucked in at night?

An unreasonably high percentage of people here would unironically answer yes to this question.

Oh please, people are talking about being able to graduate in 4 years as they don’t have to fight for classes they need. Quality and personalized advising for med, law, grad school. Smaller class sizes where you can have closer relationships with profs for LOR, and so on.

THis 1000%

The perks of a smaller private university are huge. Not having to fight for the courses you want/need, great advising and advisors that know your student.

For ex: my kid was at a T100. Spent 1 year in Major X, then needed to switch. The "main advisor for Major X/School X" only knew my kid for less than 1 year, as they helped my kid figure out how to switch majors in April of Freshman year (on the day of Registration, 2 hours before reg none the less--so under intense pressure). That Advisor saw us at graduation and came over to talk. They knew my kid's name and remembered what major they were switching to. This isn't a school with 2k students, it's a school with about 8K undergrads.

That's what some of us want for our kids. When you have an ADHD kid, Anxiety ridden kid with Zero EF (except what you have trained them in), sometimes we and our kids know they need a bit extra care. The benefits of providing that means they excel in life.

I hear you. Intuitively, it makes sense. But do you have numbers to show this to be the case, as we look at student outcomes?

I don't need the numbers at all univserisites. I know my own kids experiences (3 of them) at schools in the 5K-8K size. I know from their friends who chose to attend a variety of schools as well. I know from our now (T50ish) state flagship where it is difficult to graduate in 4 years, most who do have to sacrifice getting into many courses they wanted and "settle". And many are forced to major in something they really didn't want, because they couldn't get into "the impacted major".

So while you can "have a great experience at a large state U", the personalized service and attention to students (who are only 18-22) is higher at most private Universities.
Heck even start with housing. The smaller schools have 1 RA for 30 students versus 1 RA for 75-90 freshman year. May not matter to you, but if your kid has a bad roommate and/or trouble adjusting to college, it helps to have a Real RA who is avaialable and well trained to assist (and able to assist because they are not covering 3x the number of students

This is one of the funniest, not-actually-real things I’ve read on this forum.

I’ll update the bullets that I posted earlier to reflect the all important RA to student ratio. Is this a criteria use by US News in their rankings?

Certainly one of our criteria when evaluating colleges - student to RA ratio! Especially during the one year most kids actually live on campus. Hilarious.

[Anonymous]

When the WSJ published a list of pay by industry (finance, tech, etc.) of college graduates by undergraduate institution not long ago, they separated it into public and private. In very few cases would public schools have made it into the top 20 private lists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When the WSJ published a list of pay by industry (finance, tech, etc.) of college graduates by undergraduate institution not long ago, they separated it into public and private. In very few cases would public schools have made it into the top 20 private lists.

You mean the list linked below where George Mason ranked above Brown and San Jose State ranked above Yale? You should notice a common theme here, and it's not public versus private. It's engineering or tech-focused schools, regardless of ranking, that rule the salary roost.

If you're interested in salaries, then you should really be interested in ROI. The smart move would be going someplace like Missouri S&T, which will put loads of cash on the hood for out-of-state students, making it very cheap while ranking #9 on the salary list.

WSJ does a "net-price" calculation as a component of their ranking, so one could argue that this would compensate for an ROI argument because ROI is sort of baked in into the list, but full pay type families would only be able to get merit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - My advice would be to send your child to wherever they will be happiest and where you think they will perform best. These two factors are generally related, I think. I personally slightly lean toward public colleges and high schools because I prefer to avoid intellectual and economic snobbery when possible. I live in a wealthy area and know many of these "everything is better private" tools. We can afford private college and HS, so it's not an economic issue for me. My preference is for my children to be challenged academically while building their self-reliance skills. I also have been on several tours of private colleges and know when I'm being marketed to, both by the school and by others dug into perceived advantages.

A top public university will have all the necessary resources and opportunities to help your child succeed. The processes might be challenging at a larger public institution but nothing insurmountable. If your child is leaning toward a major where one school is substantially better than the other, then let that guide you. For example, I would think that a business graduate from Penn would have more opportunities than a graduate from Penn State, but an engineering graduate from Penn would fare no better than one from Penn State. Just my two cents.

ITA with this. I happen to have an engineering junior at Penn and an engineering freshman at Penn State. My younger son enthusiastically chose Penn State for the culture, the resources (the Engineering buildings and equipment are actually way better than Penn) and because he wanted a more robust social life. He is whip smart and knows that he is going to succeed wherever he goes.

We visited a mix of private and public universities, but once my son saw the new cathedral of engineering at Penn State the decision was made. After reading these posts I am concerned about the RA to student ratio though. We failed to look into this important issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When the WSJ published a list of pay by industry (finance, tech, etc.) of college graduates by undergraduate institution not long ago, they separated it into public and private. In very few cases would public schools have made it into the top 20 private lists.

You mean the list linked below where George Mason ranked above Brown and San Jose State ranked above Yale? You should notice a common theme here, and it's not public versus private. It's engineering or tech-focused schools, regardless of ranking, that rule the salary roost.

If you're interested in salaries, then you should really be interested in ROI. The smart move would be going someplace like Missouri S&T, which will put loads of cash on the hood for out-of-state students, making it very cheap while ranking #9 on the salary list.

WSJ does a "net-price" calculation as a component of their ranking, so one could argue that this would compensate for an ROI argument because ROI is sort of baked in into the list, but full pay type families would only be able to get merit.

NO. https://www.wsj.com/news/collection/college-pay-80428504

Requires a subscription.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When the WSJ published a list of pay by industry (finance, tech, etc.) of college graduates by undergraduate institution not long ago, they separated it into public and private. In very few cases would public schools have made it into the top 20 private lists.

You mean the list linked below where George Mason ranked above Brown and San Jose State ranked above Yale? You should notice a common theme here, and it's not public versus private. It's engineering or tech-focused schools, regardless of ranking, that rule the salary roost.

If you're interested in salaries, then you should really be interested in ROI. The smart move would be going someplace like Missouri S&T, which will put loads of cash on the hood for out-of-state students, making it very cheap while ranking #9 on the salary list.

WSJ does a "net-price" calculation as a component of their ranking, so one could argue that this would compensate for an ROI argument because ROI is sort of baked in into the list, but full pay type families would only be able to get merit.

NO. https://www.wsj.com/news/collection/college-pay-80428504

Requires a subscription.

That article is from 2023. I would think their latest data set would be most relevant.https://www.wsj.com/rankings/college-rankings/salary-impact-2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When the WSJ published a list of pay by industry (finance, tech, etc.) of college graduates by undergraduate institution not long ago, they separated it into public and private. In very few cases would public schools have made it into the top 20 private lists.

You mean the list linked below where George Mason ranked above Brown and San Jose State ranked above Yale? You should notice a common theme here, and it's not public versus private. It's engineering or tech-focused schools, regardless of ranking, that rule the salary roost.

If you're interested in salaries, then you should really be interested in ROI. The smart move would be going someplace like Missouri S&T, which will put loads of cash on the hood for out-of-state students, making it very cheap while ranking #9 on the salary list.

WSJ does a "net-price" calculation as a component of their ranking, so one could argue that this would compensate for an ROI argument because ROI is sort of baked in into the list, but full pay type families would only be able to get merit.

NO. https://www.wsj.com/news/collection/college-pay-80428504

Requires a subscription.

That article is from 2023. I would think their latest data set would be most relevant.https://www.wsj.com/rankings/college-rankings/salary-impact-2025

That has nothing by field. The issue with something like this is you don't know if the results are skewed by the major degree (e.g. having a higher percentage of engineers, who have nearly 2X average college graduate earnings through mid-career.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - My advice would be to send your child to wherever they will be happiest and where you think they will perform best. These two factors are generally related, I think. I personally slightly lean toward public colleges and high schools because I prefer to avoid intellectual and economic snobbery when possible. I live in a wealthy area and know many of these "everything is better private" tools. We can afford private college and HS, so it's not an economic issue for me. My preference is for my children to be challenged academically while building their self-reliance skills. I also have been on several tours of private colleges and know when I'm being marketed to, both by the school and by others dug into perceived advantages.

A top public university will have all the necessary resources and opportunities to help your child succeed. The processes might be challenging at a larger public institution but nothing insurmountable. If your child is leaning toward a major where one school is substantially better than the other, then let that guide you. For example, I would think that a business graduate from Penn would have more opportunities than a graduate from Penn State, but an engineering graduate from Penn would fare no better than one from Penn State. Just my two cents.

ITA with this. I happen to have an engineering junior at Penn and an engineering freshman at Penn State. My younger son enthusiastically chose Penn State for the culture, the resources (the Engineering buildings and equipment are actually way better than Penn) and because he wanted a more robust social life. He is whip smart and knows that he is going to succeed wherever he goes.

We visited a mix of private and public universities, but once my son saw the new cathedral of engineering at Penn State the decision was made. After reading these posts I am concerned about the RA to student ratio though. We failed to look into this important issue.

[Anonymous]

For me it’s less about public/private dichotomy or the student hand-holding and more about how much attention is given to undergraduate teaching and learning.
When people say, well the really big classes with grad student instructors are only in your first year or only the intro level etc. I don’t find that very compelling because that is still part of the education you are receiving. Why choose that at all? Why is that a good thing?
I understand if it’s an affordability issue and the larger school is cheaper. And I believe that many students get a great education anywhere. But when the big state school is as expensive as an undergrad focused school … why are you choosing that?
And the “more course selection at bigger schools” argument also doesn’t make sense to me. As an undergrad you should mastering the fundamentals of your discipline. You can write your papers or pursue projects /
professor supported independent studies etc if you want to explore additional topics. You don’t need quirky electives. I appreciate this may be different for something like engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t actually understand what parents see as the benefit of paying ooo for a school like Michigan. I get it’s a fun atmosphere but do you really think the academics and teaching are as good as a T20 private?
I understand going to a public if you are in state and / or getting merit. But I know people paying full price for these schools (UCs also) and that surprises me. Michigan is a lot more expensive than UMD or Pitt and I don’t understand what it offers in terms of quality of education for that price. I would prefer many lower ranked mid-sized private schools and LACs.

Well since you obviously worship USNWR rankings check this out:

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching?_sort=rank&_sortDirection=asc

Michigan #14

Its PA score at USNWR is also among the top 20.

Michigan just does so many things well.

I don’t worship UNSWR at all. I would prefer a lower ranked school with a focus on teaching and learning. Most LACs and mid-sized schools care about undergrad teaching and I want my child to go to college primarily to learn. For the cost of Michigan oos I would much rather pay for a smaller private school. I am not saying I think large state schools are bad but if I could afford better I wouldn’t choose a large state school for undergrad.

So tell me, how did you determine what a, “top 20 private” is? After all, you were the one who brought it up. Then you had the temerity to compare Michigan to schools that are not at its academic level like Pittsburgh and UMD. I know it’s hard to believe for some of the naysayers here on DCUM, but not all large public schools are equal and alike.

DP: Well, I guess I also have the "temerity" (along with the unmitigated gall -- IYKYK) to suggest that. I'll concede Pitt's a tier or so below, but UMCP is every bit UMich's peer.

Have you visited Silicon Valley lately? It's practically a mini-virtual Terp village.