Is a College with Big Name Recognition Always the Best Choice?
Last Updated on January 19, 2024 by Jill Schwitzgebel
I’m going to violate every rule about writing and just answer the question in the title in the first sentence: No. Chances are, somewhere deep inside, you already knew that though. But, college is a huge investment and parents are rightfully concerned that maybe attending a college with big name recognition is the best way to set their child up for future career or graduate school success.
However, recent studies show otherwise. In 2018, Stanford published a study that concluded “individual student characteristics (such as background, major, ambition) may make more of a difference in terms of post-college outcomes than the institutions themselves.” Additionally, they found that engagement in college is more important than where students attend. In one of my favorite college admissions books, Frank Bruni reminds us in the title that “Where You Go, is Not Who You’ll Be.” A college with a big name is not the right choice for every student for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, that’s hard for 17 year olds to understand.
Here are some considerations beyond focusing on a particular prestigious college name.
Major
This is an obvious place to start. I think that most of us understand that a student majoring in elementary education is not likely to earn as much as a student majoring in computer engineering. But does your student need to attend the best-known or highest ranked college of engineering in order to get a job after graduation? Again, a recent study says no. They found that it didn’t really matter where engineers went to college. The same was true for humanities majors. And science majors actually showed the weakest correlation of all between school selectivity/prestige and future career earnings.
That study did show that students majoring in business got a career earnings boost from attending a top tier school. There was also some evidence that students majoring in education or social sciences got a boost in salary from attending a top-ranked school. However, don’t get caught up in worrying about attending a school that is ranked 40th versus a school that is ranked 80th. It’s really not going to make a difference. And if a student is planning to be a teacher, the best idea is often to attend the college in the state where they plan to live after college, if known.
If there is a college that is really well-known for certain research that the student hopes to participate in, within their major, that matters more than the college name. And in many fields of study such as music, it’s not unusual for a student to choose the college in order to work with a certain professor, regardless of college name recognition. For many majors, Harvard isn’t always the best choice, believe it or not!
Size
Don’t overlook the importance of college size. Many of the most recognizable college names are big universities with 25,000 or more students, which will certainly mean lecture-format classes of 100 or more students, at times. Not every student will learn best that way. Some students will appreciate the anonymity and use it as an excuse to not get involved on campus or to not get to know their professors. As discussed in the Stanford study, college engagement matters more than college name though! Consider whether you have a student that is more likely to get involved on campus and do better as “a big fish in a little pond.” There may be more leadership opportunity for them at the small school.
And keep in mind that a campus of 20,000 won’t feel that much more personal than a campus of 40,000 – it’s still a big school. When you do college visits, check out truly small (under 5000 students) or mid-sized (5-15,000) colleges to discover how your student feels on those smaller campuses, even if your neighbor says, “I’ve never even heard of that school!” If you look at a list of the colleges that produce the most Fulbright Scholars, you’ll note that they’re often small schools that the average neighbor has never heard of!
See also: Private versus Public Colleges
Cost
The perceived prestige of a college name may not be worth the cost if attending the big name school causes financial strain to your family. Assuming that there are other colleges that your student liked that won’t cause financial stress, the choice should be easy. Sometimes, it means that your child would be better off attending the honors program at a smaller state university. Sometimes, it means that due to generous financial aid, they would be better off attending that small college that their classmates never heard of. If your student is planning to attend graduate or medical school, undergraduate cost can be even more important. As long as the undergraduate school will prepare your student for entry into those programs, students should save their money for those degrees instead.
Of course there are also factors that can’t be measured. The cheaper college won’t be a bargain if your student is not happy there and ends up dropping out or transferring. That’s one reason I recommend that you start talking to your student early in high school about college costs and remind them that the only name that really matters on the college diploma is THEIRS.
Side note: I’m somewhat leery of the Return on Investment (ROI) rankings out there that try to show what colleges have the best career earnings outcome versus the cost to attend. Yes, there are a lot of big name schools on there. But, they are often skewed toward colleges that are heavy in Engineering or Computer Science. We know that those students earn more right after graduation than students in other majors. And so, the ROI for those colleges looks better than it does for other colleges that are not as heavy in those majors. Also, consider a college’s location. If a college is located in an area with high cost-of-living, salaries nearby are likely to be higher, as well. And graduates often stay in the same region where they went to college. So, graduates of that college may earn more than a graduate of a college in an area with a lower cost-of-living. Keep both of those things in mind when looking at those lists.
Conclusion
I already gave away the conclusion in my first sentence. But remember, the question was whether it is ALWAYS the best choice? Obviously, there is absolutely nothing wrong with attending that name brand college! Thousands of students happily attend and graduate from them each year. If your student gets accepted and you both agree that it’s the best fit for the student in both cost and campus environment, then there is no need to debate. That’s the best choice for your student.
But, it’s important to remember that it won’t be the best choice for everyone and I think it’s important that families consider all options. I’ll be honest that as a consultant, one of my greatest challenges is hyperfocus on a “name brand” college. There are so many excellent schools turning out exceptional graduates, ranging from non-flagship public universities to small, private CTCL schools. But, sometimes, a parent went to a big name, well-recognized college and they feel such a strong connection to it, that they can’t imagine why their student would not. Sometimes, a student is influenced by where their classmates all want to go. Sometimes, both student and parent have Ivy league dreams. Just be sure to examine whether your student is focusing on that big name college for the right reasons. The reality is that there are many strong options and nobody should feel that their diploma will be worthless if their college doesn’t have national name recognition.
You may also like: College Student Engagement and the College Search – Find out which colleges are using best practices to keep students engaged on campus!
