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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Only 10 percent of CEOs of Fortune 500 companies graduated from Ivy League schools. More of them went to the University of Wisconsin than Harvard.  http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB115853818747665842
Where you go to school matters very little, unless you want to be an academic, in which case, I hope money is no object. [/quote]

Yes, [b]only[/b] 10% of CEOs graduated from ivy league schools.  Of course, only .5% of people graduated from Ivy league schools, so I'm not sure that number shows what you think it does.[/quote]

I'm not sure it shows what *you* think it does, actually. Yes, a higher share of CEOs graduated from ivy league schools compared with the general population of college grads. But that will be true no matter what high-level field you look at. Ivy League grads will likely be more concentrated in medicine and academia, as well. I think the research shows, though, that these grads aren't more concentrated in "elite" professions *because* they went to the Ivy League, but rather because they were elite students to begin with, and elite students are the ones who predominate in those professions. The research shows that elite students tend to excel no matter where they go to school. And that explains why 90% of CEOs went somewhere else and still got to be CEOs.[/quote]

Yes.  It is directly relevant to OP's question regarding whether a "Stanford" degree was worth paying (much) more for than a free degree from a state university.  Despite the posters on this site who have convinced themselves that anyone who doesn't have an Ivy League degree is hopelessly handicapped professionally, the only data cited here shows that Ivy League graduates have an initial advantage in salary directly out of school (which could be explained by where they go to work -- Recent graduates in the Northeast make more because the cost of living is higher), but that advantage dissipates quickly.  Long term success is based upon the ability and drive of the students.  My purely anecdotal experience in the corporate world is that Ivy League grads are often (not always) handicapped by their degrees.  I've seen quite a few show up and expect to be handed the keys to the C suite within the year.  The state school grads know they have to prove themselves, no matter how smart they are.  I went to graduate school at a well-regarded state university that has been referenced in this thread, and all that the Ivy League graduates that I started work with had that I didn't was a lot of debt.  Decades later, we are all still comparable in terms of our levels of professional success.  On the other hand, if your child wants to be an academic, the Ivy League degree may matter.  [/quote]

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