[2006alum]

I'm sure everyone has a bunch of reasons to be skeptical of the obsession with elite colleges, but one reason sticks out to me: from what I can tell, researchers think a major reason for the growth in college tuition is the increasing number of administrators and amenities at schools -- i.e. an effort to "keep up with the Joneses." If kids and their parents were more focused on finding a good fit, I suspect that pressure would be decreased.

My sense is that the amenities arms race is even more of a problem at less highly ranked schools where there's less to differentiate the experience. How many people are going to to turn down Stanford because you live in an ugly Stern cinderblock dorm room your freshman year? I sure didn't! But I suspect for students choosing between comparable mid-tier schools, amenities is one way for those schools to differentiate themselves. I remember marveling at how much better the cafeterias were at my home state's state schools when I visited friends there. If one in-state school has way better facilities than the other, and they are otherwise relatively similar, wouldn't that be a reason to pick the nicer one?

So yeah, the food at my state schools was insanely better than Stern dining. I wouldn't have traded my lukewarm Stanford veggie burgers for all the state-school truffle fries in the world, but I might have picked it over a comparably ranked private school with worse facilities and even higher tuition.

[2006alum]

I'm sure everyone has a bunch of reasons to be skeptical of the obsession with elite colleges, but one reason sticks out to me: from what I can tell, researchers think a major reason for the growth in college tuition is the increasing number of administrators and amenities at schools -- i.e. an effort to "keep up with the Joneses." If kids and their parents were more focused on finding a good fit, I suspect that pressure would be decreased.

My sense is that the amenities arms race is even more of a problem at less highly ranked schools where there's less to differentiate the experience. How many people are going to to turn down Stanford because you live in an ugly Stern cinderblock dorm room your freshman year? I sure didn't! But I suspect for students choosing between comparable mid-tier schools, amenities is one way for those schools to differentiate themselves. I remember marveling at how much better the cafeterias were at my home state's state schools when I visited friends there. If one in-state school has way better facilities than the other, and they are otherwise relatively similar, wouldn't that be a reason to pick the nicer one?

So yeah, the food at my state schools was insanely better than Stern dining. I wouldn't have traded my lukewarm Stanford veggie burgers for all the state-school truffle fries in the world, but I might have picked it over a comparably ranked private school with worse facilities and even higher tuition.