Private vs. Public Colleges..which is better?

Often private institutions are viewed as exactly that [private] with high tuition, competitive acceptance process, and higher quality of education. This is a broad generalization and before attending one must determine whether that particular private college is worth the significant debt.

In the last 25 years the cost of college has gone up approximately 439 percent, which should make one question whether they are getting the biggest bang for our buck while choosing which college to attend. To be clear this isn’t questioning whether you should pursue college at all, but the question is rather if accepted should you attend a pricey private one. To address this question a student must ask themselves what will you gain from going to a private college that has a tuition of $35K/year or higher. Each private college should be viewed individually to determine whether you are getting your money’s worth.

If you are a resident of Virginia and graduate from the University of Virginia (UVA) your “mid-career” would most likely be around $90,000 about $24,000 less than if you had attended an institution like Harvard. This difference in income would justify attending Harvard. BUT let’s say you had attended the $52K/yr Middlebury college that has a lower “mid-career” income than UVA it just wouldn’t be practical to attend this particular private school.