Outside of the top 10 universities/colleges, all of the others are way over priced.

[Yavin4]

And the only reason why the top ten is worth its value is because their alumni network helps land them jobs. In fact, a lot of corps will ask their HR depts to hire Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. grads.

My advice to HS students is, try to get into a top 10 school. If you don't get in, go the cheapest route you can find to get a college degree. Go to a Jr. College for 2 years then maybe a cheap state school for the upper class studies.

Sorry, but Colgate University is not worth $60,145 a year:

http://www.colgate.edu/admission-financial-aid/tuition-and-fees

[Kber]

1. And the further irony is that the top 10 are often actually cheaper

Both in absolute terms and in "real" costs because the financial aid is more.

So you're right. If you get into MIT, go. Otherwise in state schools all the way.

[GeorgeGist]

2. For most kids they'd probably be better off starting at JC ...

even if their parents could afford a 4 yr college. Less stress, better teachers.

[KurtNYC]

3. I don't think any of my employers ever checked out my degree

I could have just gone traveling for four years then start job shopping in May of the 4th year and it would all have been the same for my employers. I don't regret going to college although I initially did not want to go but college is a fairly archaic way of learning at this point -- lectures, notes, whiteboard, frats, binge drinking and fees out the wazoo. Paying $5 million a year for football coaches says a lot about the priorities of these institutions of higher learning...

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/salaries/

[Yavin4]

4. Trust me. I know several employers who only want Harvard/Yale grads.

E.g., Sat. Night Live recruits writers directly from Harvard.

[COLGATE4]

5. As a Colgate alum, I completely

agree that Colgate's tuition of $60,145/yr is way overpriced.

[devils chaplain]

7. I can't even fathom going to a private university without a full scholarship...

Even state schools these days are dauntingly expensive.

[devils chaplain]

6. Individual college educational return on investment link:

[link]http://www.payscale.com/college-education-value-2013[/link]

[Proud Public Servant]

8. It really depends

If you think the point of college is to get a you job, and that evaluating the worth of college can take the form of a mathematical equation that divides lifetime earnings by expense of education...then you have a point.

But I've never accepted that analysis; I've always assumed that teh purpose of higher education was to mold you as a person, not as a worker. My daughter's school was pretty elite (top 20 among liberal arts colleges) and VERY expensive, but it gave her exactly what she needed -- it educated her, nurtured her, placed her in a community of supportive and like-minded individuals, and made her a forthright and confident young woman. I honestly don't believe a lesser school could have done as much for her.

(As for the alumni network, she's involved with it but it's had nothing to do with her securing her excellent job, in which she's been promoted twice in 18 months).

[Yavin4]

10. It's still not worth the debt.

Sorry, but $60K a year for 4 years comes out $240K in debt.

For far less than $240,000, one could travel the world, read books, watch videos, join meetup groups, etc., and get a much better overall education experience than sitting in a classroom.

[Proud Public Servant]

12. That's not the calculation, though

My daughter's school did indeed cost $60k/year. But that's not what we paid. We had about $70k in a 529 going in, and we STILL got financial aid, even with a household income that put us in the top 20% of US households; total, we borrowed about $40k for her education, which means we paid all told less than 50% of its sticker price. (Useful fact: we repeatedly appealed the school's financial aid decisions, and got more money about half the time we appealed.)

So, you may be right: if we'd had to have borrowed the full $240k, it wouldn't have been worth it. If you're hitting college without a dime saved up for the experience, by all means don't choose one of the 10 most expensive schools in the country. But financial aid still exists -- and, in fact, elite schools are more committed to it than many others. And that's worth remembering and exploring.

[exboyfil]

9. Don't agree

State schools offer value for specific majors (for example engineering). Numbers are not quite so good but nursing at our public university or a local private college is also a good value.

I do agree with getting every credit possible prior to stepping on campus. My older daughter did this while in high school for her engineering degree. She is on the 2 1/2 yr plan when she steps on campus and that includes a semester overseas (at state tuition prices) and 6 hours of BS/MS dual applied credit her final semester. My other daughter may have all her science and liberal arts done before she starts her nursing classes (she would get a B.S. Nursing 15 months after graduating high school or possibly two years if she goes to the state university).

Placement rates are great for engineering (her university has one of the largest career fairs for engineers in the country). Nursing students at the state university have 100% placement rates and 70% placement rates for the local private college.

I can't imagine paying $60K/yr for any degree (even medical school).

[Yavin4]

11. Go the cheapest route possible

It's simply not worth a quater of a million dollars in debt for an undergrad degree.

[maggiesfarmer]

13. Anecdotes should never trump trend data, but what the hell....

I graduated from college in 2006 and 2007 after spending 16 years in restaurant management (I dropped out of college at age 19). I resumed my education at a 4 year state school, although I took transferable out-of-major classes at a local community college because (a) tuition was cheapter (b) the cc offered more evening and online options (c) the risk severity of my non-technical classes not having the rigor as my technical classes was low. It cost me ~$26k to finish my BS, the last year to get my MS was funded through a research assistantship. Throw in the (adjusted for inflation) ~$17k I pissed away in my teen years, and call it $43k for my college degree.

Right out of school, I got a job in my new career with a starting base salary $30k higher than I made in my best year as a restaurant manager including bonuses. In the restaurant industry, my schedule included nights and weekends, now I'm in an 8 - 5 M - F job. In the restaurant industry, I left work stinking and sweaty every night; now I can go to a concert or party after work without stopping to shower and change. Since launching my new career, which required a four year college degree, things have only gotten better financially. But as noted elsewhere, college isn't just about giving you a better more income in a better job. The education and background I have supports me being a more informed voter, has led to me make better choices about how I invest my money, made me a more sociable and confident person and has helped me gain skills that made me a better negotiator.

A lot of DU'ers will think this point is petty, but following my alma mater's football and basketball teams is also something I enjoy tremendously -- I'm a big sports fan and always liked both pro and college games, but the passion I have for my alma mater's teams is far beyond anything I ever felt for the pro teams or other college teams I follow (no, not worth 10's of thousands of dollars).

I do feel bad that college didn't work out as well for some here, but especially w/r/t the OP, applying your experience to everyone's college education is a stretch.

A few other notes:
- I'm damn proud of my alma mater, but freely admit they're not in anybody's list of top 10 universities, yet the ROI on my education was absolutely worth it.
- The academic standards at the community college I attended were far below that of the 4 year school; the level of learning required to achieve an A grade was almost laughable. In a totally different state, my son also attended a community college his first year out of the military service before transferring to a 4-year state school and he reported similar academic differences. Only two data points, which may or may not be low outliers. In most cases, I would not advise someone to spend time and money taking classes at a community college based on my family experience.
- I don't know too much about Colgate, but I'm a bit of a "state school snob"; I believe that paying for a private university tuition rarely makes sense (now, private universities do have scholarship options that state schools do not). Colgate also has a reputation as a religious and liberal arts school (could be just rep and not reality -- I never took a class there or worked with an alum), and those majors don't correlate to higher salaries in recent US history.
- I did not leave school with an aluni network working to hook me up with a job. The university did a good job of courting employers, setting up job fairs and preparing us for the job search. The credibility of my university degrees, along with my performance during the job search and interview process was what got me my job offers. I think there are careers where such a network makes a difference, but I don't believe that engineering is one (I'm sure there are exceptions within the field, though).