stayfocused posted:I am probably going to get bashed for this, not trying to step on any toes, but I see mention of all of these expensive D2s and D3s, etc... and baseball and I am always wondering why.....unless money/cost have ZERO bearing on the decision. I have a cousin who went to Washington and Lee, went into extreme student debt for the "prestige" of having that degree. Was it worth it? Don't know but he ended up at the big in-state public school for grad school....which he would have ended up at anyway if he had gone to one of our in-state schools to begin with. If you are a fan of Dave Ramsey......and know what he says about paying for college, then get the most bang for the buck.....in my opinion a degree is a degree, as long is comes from an accredited school. I could sit here all day and add more schools to the list below, but I just stuck with Maine.
School Yearly Tuition (in-state) Average Starting Salary of Grads
Bates $52,042 $41,000
Univ. of S. Maine $7,336 $38,000
Univ. of Maine $8,580 $59,000
Stayfocused - I somewhat agree with you. However, in your example it really isn't always about just the school. It is about what you study at school + the school + how the student performs + alumni network at the school that makes a graduate's skills/experience/education marketable to the world.
Washington & Lee is a great school, and I know a handful of successful grads as I don't live that far from campus. They recruited my son, so I'm very familiar with the school. Yes, finances are important but it isn't the only consideration. When you look at LACs it is somewhat squishy (my opinion) to compare. When you look at STEM and business degrees (for example) I think it is easier to evaluate schools on a more level playing field. Furthermore, I think you need to look at the avg starting salary for each major at the specific college within the University. The devil is in details.
PS....Full disclosure - I have many extended family members who went to USM and UMaine Orono. We have four UMaine Orono engineering school grads in the family.
As always, JMO.