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[quote=Anonymous]I went to a decent but not "elite" state university for college and graduated with no debt due to a combination of scholarships and in-state tuition. I then went to a very prestigious graduate program, for which I borrowed close to 100k to attend.

My takeaway having been educated both places is that if you can get an education at a reasonably good school without debt, that is far more important than the relative prestige of the institution. If you get scholarships or your parents have the funds and you can go somewhere more prestigious without incurring debt, there is no reason not to -- certainly it can help on the margins.

But the sticker price of these schools, even Harvard/Yale/Stanford is not worth it if you need to finance it through the bank. In this day and age, having a college degree and zero debt is a huge gift. If you can get into Harvard, you can probably get a full-ride to a less prestigious school. I'd take the full ride in a heart beat. I wish I'd understood this when I decided to go to grad school. I worried my college degree wouldn't get me where I wanted to go, and didn't adequately consider how my grad school debt would close doors for me all by itself.

So yes, where you go matters. But it's not simply a question of going to the "best" school you can get into.[/quote]

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