The Ivy Lie

Actually, this applies to just about any private university or even public school if you’re from out of state. With some schools now costing over $50,000 per year – and that’s only including tuition, room & board, etc. (not travel fees or other personal expenses) – you might think twice before attending an Ivy League university. Sure, statistically it pays off, but unfortunately those statistics “don’t tell you about the economic handicap of repaying a six-figure college loan over decades or the resulting diminished ability to buy a house, car or comfortable lifestyle.”

In other words, your salary will most likely be higher if you attend an elite private college, but how much of those additional earnings are going to have to be used to pay off loans? And God forbid you’re one of those unfortunate souls that can’t find work at all – then what? You could spend decades dealing with financial hardship, but you at least you can say, “I went to Hah-vahd. I’m broke and the bank is coming after me, but I’m still smarter than you, you lowly state-school grad.”

Besides, now that we’re in the Great Recession, a lot of Ivy League schools are cutting back what I would consider essential services. Do you still want to fork up $200,000 if you have to deal with cut-backs like these or these or these?

In my experience, Ivy League schools are surprisingly bad when it comes to penny-pinching on basic expenses, even though they have multi-billion-dollar endowments (which they won’t touch). When I stayed on the Princeton campus in the summer of 2000, I was told that our dorm was one of the best on campus – but many of the crank windows didn’t work, the desks were rickety and looked like something from a one-room school from the 1800s, and the bathroom – all two toilets and three showers of it – had to service over 50 students.

My advice to all prospective “elite” school applicants: Don’t even consider it unless you can get a full-ride scholarship. And even then, it might not be worth it. I mean this seriously when I say it: Your local community college may give about the same education than you’ll get at Harvard (it’s likely to be more practical, at least). And if you’re going to be facing $200K of debt – well, honestly, what’s to like about the Ivy League?