“I am only responding to the error in their financial calculation as a financial calculation—and pointing out the effect of subsidies. In no way was I trying to suggest that college choices more broadly should be about financial return.”
Well, apologies for that - but I do think that ROI IS a reasonable thing to do, even in the subsidized environment. There is a great flaw in the Ivy League expectation in my opinion. It is true that on average, Ivy Leaguer’s do make more money in certain areas. The answer to this is probably more tilted towards their entrance standards - which select for higher IQ (on average) than, for instance, a public university. It would follow that smarter people, on average, will be more successful.
Connections can help, but rarely, in my opinion, can connections alone make someone successful - the performance is the biggest part, and that correlates with IQ (on average).
So, all things being equal, I don’t think it is a legitimate comparison to compare an Ivy League student’s salary (where the average IQ is higher) to a bright student from another venue who may have the same IQ, but whose earning statistics are diluted by a fair number of folks who are not as bright, as is the case with most public universities.
I think you’d find that IQ and starting/mid-career salaries is a greater correlating factor than anything else.
Yes, Ivy paper may help in certain specific circumstances, but I think that when all is said and done, there is a financial value component to education, and an ROI is a reasonable way to assess it - as long as you have statistically similar assessment populations. A higher cost institution would have a lower ROI - and that wouldn’t work to Ivy league’s advantage by that measure.
Subsidy or no, it is a reasonable question to ask, and the results could be of use in selecting or not selecting an Ivy League education.
An Ivy pedigree has never in and of itself influenced a hiring decision that I’ve made - it’s always capability and motivation that I look at. I suspect it is what counts for most other folks too.
I don’t dispute really anything that you say, except for a couple of things. In a number of fields, Ivy or equivalent is a common screen for top job opportunities. Connections sure do help in a number of areas.
And, back to my original point, on a financial level, in a subsidized environment, it doesn’t really matter if an education that costs 3x as much only ‘returns’ twice the lifelong salary: you’re better off earning twice the long-term salary, because that income dwarfs your original education costs—and you’re not paying those costs fully anyway.