Greer 1 Andrea Greer Prof.

Presnell ENGL 1102 April 3, 2012 College Choice and the Importance of Prestige As I sat in the library contemplating topics that interested me, I took a sip of water from my clear, sea-blue colored water bottle I received for free one day last year while attending an event at UNC Wilmington. I placed it on my small cubicle desk and read, for probably the ninth time, all of the white writing printed on it, giving facts about UNCWs funding and statistics of participants that helped the schools success in previous years. It was then that I thought about how absorbed I had been the past couple of weeks in deciding whether or not I wanted to transfer schools again and where I would go. I liked living in Charlotte, but I did not like UNC Charlotte as much as I had hoped. I thought about how active UNCW was in promoting the school and factual information about it for its students, and I began comparing the different schools interesting me. It was then that I thought of researching the different schools I was considering attending and ultimately if the college I attended, especially regarding its prestige, truly mattered at the end of the day. My College Experiences: Past and Present I began attending UNCW as a freshman in fall of 2010 and lived on campus in a suitestyle dorm where I met several people. However, there were three of us living in one room so about a month into living there, I was moved into a different dorm. While it was great to have more space, it became difficult to establish relationships with people at my new dorm as they were already forming their own groups. I was easily able to access club and organization

Greer 2 information, and even roomed with a girl who started UNCWs first womens rugby team (See figure 1). The school (or clubs) focused heavily on students being informed about what was happening on campus and I always knew of events being hosted at the university. A large part of Wilmingtons budget seemed to
Figure 1: First UNCW Women's Rugby Team

be on a variety of activities that were almost always free of

charge for their students. While not all of the classes were challenging, many of them were in their own way and had more liberal approaches that actually enhanced my critical thinking skills. The beach was also only 15 minutes away, creating a fun activity on warm days but also distracting at times. While UNCW tried offering activities for students, the winter months were incredibly boring. Also, school spirit wasnt very high, likely due to the lack of a football team. Because of the location, I was also worried about difficulties with finding internships and work after graduation, although I was completely clueless what the statistics actually were about this. Finally, the schools financial aid was not so grand at first, but by the second semester they gave me a $3,000 grant for merit; after deciding to transfer, they offered me a $6,000 scholarship for merit and community service for the following year. UNC Charlotte thus far has not fully lived up to my expectations. Since it has been a completely different experience from Wilmington, it is difficult to truly judge which school is better. For starters, they claimed on their website to be the most transfer friendly school in the UNC system. I soon figured out that this was not the case at all. The orientation was a pointless waste of money and far from informative, especially on things I needed to know, such as there being a transfer student class to help students like myself in adjusting to Charlotte. Did they tell me this while signing up for classes? No. The second problem I found is that they lost my final

Greer 3 transcripts I sent to them from Wilmington, but proceeded to blame my former school. Third, they decided they wanted proof of my tax information the weekend before classes started and informed me that all of my classes would be cancelled if I did not have this verification in on time. When I turned the information in on time, they were very rude and said it would take about 2 weeks to process and my classes would still be cancelled. There are many more negative experiences I have had, and as a commuter I receive absolutely no information from the school regarding events or what is going on. If I want to find something out, I have to research it. I was not able to join any clubs because of their short time-frame to hold the organization fair, and my advisers were absolutely no help at all, putting me further behind in my majors. What is good about UNC Charlotte is its location. Charlotte is a wonderful city with countless activities offered for everyone. The problem is that most things cost a lot of money, and the campus is still secluded from most of the city since it rests in the outskirts of Charlotte and closer to Concord. Also, I realize that living in an apartment could be part of my problem with not feeling involved in the campus and with meeting new people. As my second semester has progressed, I have begun to meet more people than before. Coming into this, I know that UNC Chapel Hill is very well known, has always been one of the top public universities in the nation, and the students are very passionate about their school. I lived near Chapel Hill for a short time and drove through the main roads of campus to get on Franklin Street (the schools most popular road). From what I saw of the area, the roads were very narrow, everyone needed to take a bus or walked a lot, and everyone was focused on their destination. I also know, especially because I went to high school with many students that now attend Chapel Hill, that its very Old Money. This honestly worries me the most about the school because it could be difficult to find people that dont seem to be from a different world.

Greer 4 On the bright side, the location is practically in the middle of the state and about a 2 hour drive from any large vacation areas, such as the beach, the mountains, and even Charlotte (see figure 2). One professor that went there informed me that her degree from UNC Chapel Hill held a lot of weight and she has almost
Figure 2: Location of Chapel Hill on a Map

been hired for jobs purely because of the schools

reputation. Also, Chapel Hill has an excellent hospital and very established medical program. I found out mutually that they have programs with government medical centers that help pay ones loans off if graduating from Chapel Hill and working for that government center. This is beneficial for what I am planning on doing with my career. I also know that things to do in Chapel Hill are much more spread out than in Charlotte, and its an expensive college town to live in. Finally, I discovered that Chapel Hill offers extremely good need-based financial aid for its students, which is very important. A Few Comparisons in Rankings When it comes to prestige and value together in one package, a quick look finds that according to Kiplingers 2012 rankings, UNC Wilmington is number two in the state of North Carolina for best value, just below UNC Chapel Hills spot at number one. Nationally, UNCW ranks 15th and Carolina ranks 1st for best value (UNC Wilmington Leaps Forward). According to Kiplingers, Carolina boasts a highly competitive admission rate, a strong record for graduating students on time, an in-state cost that barely exceeds the national average and an admirable record on student borrowing with over two-thirds of Carolina students graduating debt-free. Further research shows that UNC Charlotte is not even ranked by

Greer 5 Kiplingers 2012 edition of 100 colleges that provide the best value to in-state students both nationally and state-wide, even after four other schools including NC State, 19th; Appalachian State, 33rd; UNC School of the Arts, 41st; and UNC Asheville, 45th (UNC Wilmington Leaps Forward). Kiplingers Personal Finance magazine isnt the only one with these kinds of rankings of UNC public universities. The Princeton Review also named UNCW and UNC as one of the nations best value Public Colleges and Universities for 2012 (UNC Wilmington Named). Again in contrast to these schools, UNCC is not ranked. Further digging found that the only ranking for the school by The Princeton Review was that is one of the best public business schools in the Southeast (UNC Wilmington Named). US News was the only reliable source that ranked UNCC, coming in at number 194 for national universities (Carolina) (See figure 3). These rankings are based mainly off of prestige, academics and programs provided, admissions rates, test scores, GPA entering the school, and overall student satisfaction. In contrast, UNCW ranked number 11 for regional universities in the South. Carolina defeated both of the schools rankings by coming in a staggering number 29 in the nation (Carolina). Not bad for a public school, but does
Figure 3: US News & World Report

it all really matter? These companies ranking schools have been doing so for several years and are looked at as being highly significant, but have they actually been to or even attended the schools, personally talked to students, or researched student success rates after graduation for these schools? Furthermore, are they even attaining a full amount of statistics from high percentages of students attending or who attended the schools, or is it just a small handful in

Greer 6 comparison to the amount of students actually at the universities? None of these sources actually say. Real Students, Real Experiences On March 20, 2012, I interviewed fellow student Katie Dean. She attended both UNCW and UNCC, so it only seemed fitting to interview her about her experiences at both places. By doing this, I hoped to find a good source of information from an actual student about the two locations. When I interviewed her, I did not expect the conclusion from her answers: college quality is based on perspective and experiences, not just rankings. It appeared that UNCW and UNCC were not so different from each other, just in location and size. Further confusion set in after deciding to ask my former teacher who attended Carolina, Crystal Moore-Archer, what her opinion was of the schools and her experiences with Carolina. She told me, The school is an amazing school. It's also a way to get your foot in the door for pretty much any job. Sometimes people see that I went there, and they almost automatically hire me. Her only problem was that she really didn't love many of the students there, and felt like they were very entitled and from a different world than I was. Mrs. Moore-Archers opinions were based on that Carolina was the only undergraduate university she attended. She firmly believed that attending UNC Chapel Hill was far more beneficial than any other school in the state. However, she also graduated in a time before the economy went south and closely prior to when grades began to be inflated and when a college bachelors degree held more weight. Mrs. Moore-Archer, despite her fantastic education, is also an academic teacher who went to college not just for a career, but for scholarly purposes. She continued to reveal that she was about $70,000 in debt from student loans and is struggling with two jobs and her ability to live and pay off her debt from attending college and graduate school.

Greer 7 Discovering this about her and interviewing Katie Dean brought me to ask an entirely new question. Why all the Hype about College Prestige? High school students have assumed for several decades that attending the most prestigious college possible is the best fit and choice for them academically (See figure 4). They believe that by attending the most elite college, employers will swarm to them and that their education is far superior to that of other students from lower tier colleges. The shiny bumper sticker one can put on their car is an added bonus. However, author Pamela Haag, an alumni of Swarthmore and Yale, is ashamed of this

Figure 4: Elite College Propaganda

idea and states that the true meaning of an elite college is that they are elite in the sense of rare, but not superior (Haag 4). So then what are the benefits of attending a highly-selective school? Economists from highly prestigious universities Brigham Young and Cornell found that strong evidence emerges of a significant economic return to attending an elite private institution, and some evidence suggests this premium has increased over time (Steinerg). By grouping colleges together by the same tiers of selectivity and calculating income10 years after graduation from high school, the same researchers concluded that students graduating from the most selective colleges earned an average of 40 percent more a year than those who graduated from the least selective public universities. Evidence also suggests that attendance at an elite

Greer 8 private college significantly increases probability of attending graduate school, and even more specifically at a major research university (Steinberg). Issues Questioning the Superiority of Elite Schools The greatest downfall to those studies in favor of top-tier schools is that the research itself is over a decade old. The price for an elite, name-brand university far exceeds the pace of inflation and the cost of schooling even ten years prior. This is not just with private schools, but also with public universities. States such as California suffer severely from budget cuts and the costs of education are soaring (Steinberg). Other issues that have not been considered is that this research does not factor the students with the same capabilities, test scores, and grades, as those who attended the elite colleges but instead attended less selective universities for various reasons. When research was performed to test this idea, it was discovered that the earnings of graduates in the two groups were about equal, and possibly shifting in the favor of the less expensive and less prestigious route. Further studies also found that Job satisfaction decreases slightly as college selectivity moves up (Steinberg). Professor Eide of Brigham Young University still believes that education is a long-run investment, and stated I dont think the costs of college are going up faster than the returns of graduating from an elite college. Arguing against this belief, one professor from Claremont, Scott L. Thomas, states, Prestige does pay, but prestige costs, too. The question is, is the cost less than the added return? His conclusion to this question is that It depends (Steinberg). So could financial aid be an aiding factor in college choice and return on investment? The Effects of Financial Aid on College Choice An interesting fact about the cost of college education is that between 1993 and 2005, college tuition and fees at public and private 4-year colleges rose by 63 percent and 43 percent,

Greer 9 respectively (Rothstein and Rouse). These rising costs make financial aid more important than in previous years. As of 2004, approximately 76 percent of undergraduate students received some sort of financial aid. With the increase of costs and aid, student loans have also increased. The average student debt after graduation increased from 1993 to 2008 by about $14,000 (Getting). In response to this increase of student debt, many universities are starting no-loan pledges (Getting). As of 2010, more than 50 colleges and universities throughout the nation, including elite private schools, have eliminated or capped the loans in their financial aid packages for their students. Nowadays, It may be less expensive to go to Penn than to go to Berkeley, for a middle-class student (Getting). However, the wave of no-loan pledges
Figure 5: Different Financial Aid Offered

has not halted the rise of student debt (See figure 5). Some colleges and researchers believe that by accumulating some sort of debt from loans while in college, debt reduces students probabilities of taking low-salary jobs. Loans also have a positive effect on academic performance (Rothstein and Rouse). Because college education is a long-term investment, students with a financial stake in their education are more likely to complete school and do better in college to achieve a high-income job. Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid expert, believes in the one-third rule, where one-third of projected costs will be paid from past income (savings), onethird from current income and financial aid and one-third from future income (loans) (Getting). Although students have a better outcome when taking out loans for their education, debt seems to have small effects in regards to choice of major and education. At most, there is a very

Greer 10 slight shift toward more career oriented majors as opposed to consumption-type majors. There is also very little change in academic performance (Rothstein and Rouse). A huge downfall to schools instituting more financial aid to students is that competition for admissions is increasing. Sarah Bauder, the director of financial aid at U-Md, thinks that higher financial aid, and especially the financial aid pledges several schools are making, is drawing more low-income students who likely would never have applied in the past. This is because they think they cant afford it, as opposed to times in the past where only the rich went to school (Getting). With more students attending and competing for college than ever before, the prestige that comes with obtaining a college degree is becoming diluted (Kim). It now takes far more than just a degree to attain a high-paying job. So Does College Prestige Matter or is it Worth the Cost? Author Pamela Haag questions whether or not it was worth it to attend Swarthmore and Yale. In her familys opinion, any college is as good as the other. With a growing number of talented students competing for spots in less-selective, more affordable universities that also offer honors programs (which are supposed to be the equivalent of an elite education), she questions if the money she invested in her education was worth it. These questions deepened when she recalled some of her friends from high school who attended state colleges. Most of them became very successful and attained careers such as powerful attorneys. To her, the elitecollege mystique is about minds more than about paychecks (Haag). Recent studies found her beliefs to be true, concluding that it is more beneficial for students who intend on earning a reliable salary directly after graduation in a specialty field, such as engineering, to attend a lesselite state school. This is the irony, given the dominance of the rankings mentality of whos No.

Greer 11 5 or No. 50, Professor McCormick from Indiana University adds, The quality of that biology major offered at School No. 50? It may exceed that of school No. 5 (Steinberg). Most high school students are clueless as to what college is the best fit for them. With propaganda and lack of knowledge from others, many believe that the best fit college is also the most selective. This belief is because students feel a level of self-worth to admissions and are rarely told different. Students need to be better informed that whether or not college prestige matters depends (Steinberg). If one is looking for a professional career directly after college such as nursing or computer science, a less-selective and more inexpensive college is likely the better choice. At the end of the day, college prestige only matters when getting that first job after college. Even then, work experience outweighs the degree. A great example of this is how there are several professors teaching at UNC Charlotte that graduated with ivy league degrees from universities such as Harvard and
Figure 6: Work Experience with a Degree

Brown, but UNC Charlottes chancellor graduated from a state university in Wisconsin and his experience is what landed him his career. As Pamela Haag states, It may be more prestigious in the future to find the best college bargain and to tell people about it (Haag). If students and Americans as a whole realized these facts, private colleges would be in jeopardy of receiving as many applicants and enrollees as in the past. They would be forced to lower the cost of their education as they would begin to be competing with low-cost state colleges for students of equal capabilities. Students need to be more educated about the assumptions of college prestige and presented with research such as this before making a college decision. I think that if they knew

Greer 12 some of these facts, the trend would definitely begin to lean toward the college bargain and the post-secondary education system as we know it could potentially be shattered and rewritten.

Greer 13 Works Cited "Biography of UNC Charlotte's Chancellor." Biography of UNC Charlotte's Chancellor. UNC Charlotte, July 2011. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. "Carolina #1 Best Academic Value for N.C. and Out-of-State Students." UNC News. 03 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. Getting That Diploma Without Piling on Debt. The Washing Post. (2010). EBSChost Discovery Service. Web. 28 Feb. 2012. Haag, Pamela. "Are Elite Colleges Worth It?" Academic Search Complete. The Chronicle of Higher Education Vol. 58. Issue 11. (2011). Web. 22 Feb. 2012. Rothstein, Jesse, and Cecilia Elena Rouse. Constrained After College: Student Loans and Early Career Occupational Choices. Journal of Public Economics. (2010). Web. 27 Feb. 2012. Steinberg, Jacques. "Is Going to an Elite College Worth the Cost?" The New York Times. 17 Dec. 2010. Web. 03 Apr. 2012. UNC Wilmington Named One of the Best Value Public Colleges in America by Princeton Review. UNC Wilmington News. 08 Feb. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. UNC Wilmington Leaps Forward 12 Places in Kiplingers 2012 Best Values. UNC Wilmington News. 03 Jan. 2012. Web. 16 Feb. 2012.