People are starting to get the message that attending an elite school is not necessary for future success. I just wish those “people” were students!
There is solid research out there dispelling the myth of the elite college, but it is often out of reach for the average student. One example is a recent study by Mathematica Policy Research entitled: “Value of an Elite College April 8, 2011 , http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2063935,00.html).
According to the article, “students rejected by highly selective schools go on to bank the same average earnings as Ivy League graduates.”
Curious about this claim, I checked out the report. It is very academic, full of statistical jargon like coefficients, regression models, variables, etc. The purpose of the report was to measure “labor market return to college quality,” i.e., whether attendance at an elite college results in higher income. The answer is no.
There is more encouraging news for rejected students. The study found that for students with “unobserved student characteristics” such as ambition and persistence, the elite factor had an insignificant relationship to future earnings. Students who applied to elite schools displayed ambition, and students who applied to a long list of schools were considered persistent. So simply applying to an elite school shows you’ve got the stuff to make it, regardless of the end result.
According to Alan B. Krueger, Princeton economist and co-author of the study, "Even if students don't get in, the fact that they are confident enough to apply indicates they are ambitious and hardworking, which are qualities that will help them regardless of where they go to school.”
To be fair, it must be noted that there are three exceptions to the findings. For black, Hispanic and students with parents who have little education, attending an elite college does impact their future earnings. The authors suggest this could be because elite colleges offer these students access to connections and networks otherwise unavailable.
The TIME article also makes the point that applying to graduate school from a safety school could be easier than from an elite school, where it is harder to stand out from the pack of overachievers.
Getting back to my initial statement about students receiving this positive news. The thing is, this is old news. The researchers published another report with similar findings ten years ago, yet in the past ten years the pressure to attend an elite college has only intensified.
A New York Times blog posted the following quote from Krueger, and it is particularly applicable to students reading this blog.
Krueger’s advice for students: “Don’t believe that the only school worth attending is one that would not admit you. That you go to college is more important than where you go. Find a school whose academic strengths match your interests and that devotes resources to instruction in those fields. Recognize that your own motivation, ambition and talents will determine your success more than the college name on your diploma.”
Krueger’s advice for elite colleges: “Recognize that the most disadvantaged students benefit most from your instruction. Set financial aid and admission policies accordingly.”
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