The Ivy Lie

When I attended Duke back in 2002, a typical Ivy(ish) education ran about $200,000. As of 2015, it has breached $250,000 at some schools, and continues to rise:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-12/the-priciest-ivy-league-college-will-cost-you-63-000-a-year

Some of those who comment or write to me still don’t seem to understand the implications of taking out a quarter-million dollars in debt… nor do they see why I set such high standards for an education with such a superfluous price tag. Is it unreasonable to expect an extortionate experience to be anything less than golden opportunity on a silver platter?

Let’s consider the alternatives abroad.

Oxford or Cambridge, while among the most expensive in Europe, have costs that pale in comparison to their American counterparts. I’ll leave you to do your own analysis, but suffice it to say, it’s a lot less money for no less value or name recognition:

https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/choosing-university/oxford-or-cambridge

But of course, there are plenty of other choices around the globe, from Europe to Canada to Singapore. If I were to pursue another university degree, I’d either do it at a public institution (if I stayed in the US), or I’d do it abroad: the private American system simply doesn’t make good financial sense anymore. The costs are absolutely crippling if you can’t qualify for a scholarship, so unless you have an extremely compelling reason to attend a particular institution, it’s hard to see why it would make sense to bite off more than you can (probably) chew.

Maybe you wish to pursue a career in subatomic physics, and having researched your options carefully, one university stands out above all others. But unless you have such a justification for choosing a private American education above the alternatives, little will justify the sacrifice of two limbs and half your soul to attain a scrap of paper from a “coveted” educational institution whose only real gift to you may be a lifetime of debt to one or more financial institutions.

Let’s take consider some other foreign offerings for comparison. In France, the most expensive university is the École Polytechnique, with a tuition of just €12,000. In Germany and Sweden, the costs are even lower… even for foreign students. These are not Third-World countries with substandard educational systems… quite the contrary. Yet their fees do not result in decades of debt.

As borrowings mount, it’s worth asking: what’s an education worth to you? If you have to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars, just think how much more you’ll have to earn professionally to put your ROI in the black. While a select swathe of degrees may be worthwhile… are you sure that yours will be?

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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?

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