[throwaway74829]

What a vulgar rendition: "little nothing no-name universities."

There's more to a college than how much money it's going to make you throughout your entire life. In the case of St Lawrence and Adrian: this is where you send your children to if you don't want them to end up "of the world." They're small campuses, in controlled environments, with people from similar backgrounds (i.e. long-time upper middle class, no intentions of "moving up" or down). $40-50k a year for a couple of years is absolutely nothing if you want to make certain your offspring don't end up silly (and if you're of that notion, you surely can cover the cost).

For Landmark, it's obvious from a cursory glance of their info that this is a "special case," and different from the rest: it's a college tailored towards those with learning disabilities. Whether or not this justifies the costs is another matter, but it cannot be seriously lumped in as a regular college for comparison.

T1 is more marketing than substance. Most of the "Ivy League"s have fallen off since coming into public consciousness, and being flooded by people other than those that once brought it a good name. Even the "grinder schools" (e.g. CMU, MIT, etc.) are following in similar fashion (again, appearance over substance). Will they expose you to a wide range of people that may end up being useful towards some end in the future? Yes, but it's obscene to even think such a thought.

[JustLurking2022]

What century is this? Most people would probably think it a bit ridiculous to spend $40-50k a year trying to prevent kids from being "of the world" or "ending up silly". Even as someone who went to a private university, these are not good reasons to do so.

I'd also be interested in any evidence in the supposed downturn among elite universities - last I saw they are still quite effective at putting graduates into the highest echelons of government and industry. Even the supposedly more iconoclast industries like tech are largely inhabited by graduates of top schools.

[throwaway74829]

You would fall into the "of the world" camp. There are others, a relative minority but prevalent everywhere, that don't want to be a part of this, nor want their children involved. You will likely never interact with them, and their thoughts and feelings will never reach you -- but that doesn't mean their worlds are inane (or rather, more inane than any other).

The deterioration of quality within the "elite universities" is self-evident if one goes by more nuanced measure than "how high up the industrial and political ladder" its graduates reach. What the contrary is, is a matter of values that I will not be elaborating upon (this conversation has become tiring).

[stjohnswarts]

also look at how big endowments of the "big" private schools is. It's almost obscene that they are just letting all that wealth sit rather than doing something with it.

[FrontierPsych]

The conversation right now is how expensive universities are. This is what most people are worried about. They are not worried about whether their children have a free masseuse at their school giving free backrubs.

And I am writing for what the situation is today. However, I did my first year at a private university a long time ago, when the room, board, and tuition was $4,500 for a year, all meals included for the board. This is the equivalent of $18,718.87 per year today. That same school is now $60,000 per year. I went there for one year.

Then I changed directions and went to community college, followed by public state university. I paid $264 per year at the community college which is $1,098.17 in today's dollars or $2,200 per year. My public state univesity was $300 per semester, or $1,247.92 in today's dollars, or $2,500 per year. So this is equivalent to about $10,000 in today's dollars. No sweat.

>There's more to a college than how much money it's going to make you throughout your entire life.

It used to be this way, when I paid what I paid. Now, with costs going to $240,000 to get an undergraduate degree, this statement of yours is .... I can't think of a diplomatic and tactful way of saying it. But it is the worst idea ever. Especially since most degrees you will be paying that date for forever.

>T1 is more marketing than substance.

This is not news. It's always been this way. People knew this 40 years ago, when I was going to universiity. The reason one goes to the T1 schools has always been known to get the connections. Always. I used to work at a firm and they ONLY would hire from T1 universities. Made boatloads of money, too.

>Yes, but it's obscene to even think such a thought.

Only to you and those who agree with you. I don't think that way and there are billions of parents all over the world who would literally chop of their right arm to get their kinds into Harvard, Stanford, or any T1s. So I'm sure you are outnumbered there.

The only reason you think it is obscene is because you have some idealogical glasses on about what "should be" in some kind of perfect world.

Finally, I noticed zero differences from the small private university vs the public state university. I think if one develops a good personality and isn't socially awkward, then one can succeed no matter where they go. But for sure, with a Stanford or Harvard degree, the world really is your oyster. For sure. You can do anything with an elite degree, comparatively speaking.