Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Research Questions
At first, I thought I wanted to write about who should pay for college and how. However, as I went further and further into my thinking process, I came up with a whole new topic. Something I would like to address would be the difference between public and private institutions. Is a $300,000 private institution investment truly worth it in comparison to an in-state school that is a fraction of the cost. Are the educations the same? What makes the private school so much more expensive. I would also like to explore why society has an obsession with the ivy league education and why often times public universities are over-looked.
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I think you might approach this question more from an economics perspective -- or even a "Freakonomics" perspective. Basically, what academics have done calculations -- especially in terms of future earnings -- between students at state schools vs private institutions? I have seen some such studies and they indicate that while college alone may raise your income over your lifetime by $1 million, an ivy league education raises it by $3 million. But your choice of major has an even more significant impact than your choice of college.
ReplyDeleteAs for the influence of high-ranking schools alone: What is the source of their effect? What do ivy league schools give students that state schools don't which can boost their earnings? Or are the people who go to ivy league schools already better prepared for success? Do they already have a sense of entitlement or do ivy league schools reinforce that or do they work together to be mutually enforcing of entitlement? D oivy league schools give you connections with rich people who can help finance your projects? Exposure to better ideas? A broader horizon and view of the world? More expectation of leadership? More likelihood of being chosen for leadership? And how could you use a non-ivy education to achieve some of the same ends?