<p>Jparent,</p>
<p>I wish your son the very best.</p>
<p>I don’t want to suggest that my own son’s decision was the “right” decision. I don’t think the decision has a globally-right answer. Whether to take the full scholarship or go to the more prestigious school isn’t an obvious decision, and it has a lot of moving parts. Some of those parts include family circumstances, educational and career goals, choices of fields of study, and relative availability of funds.</p>
<p>“There was an article in the Wall Street Journal… Her advice was that anyone who is paying top dollar to attend an elite undergrad university is being foolhardy with their money,…”</p>
<p>I see the financial adviser quoted herein, “anyone paying top dollar…” For folks who have to pay full sticker price, that’s a relevant point. But at most top-tier schools, you have to be in a top income bracket to pay full price. My son’s experience was, the better the school, the better the offer, with the exception of our state flagship, which through everything in but the kitchen sink.</p>
<p>So, for very high income families, full tuition at the state school may be relatively more attractive. But median family income in the US is about $60K, and for folks with that sort of family income, the Ivies and similar schools are nearly free.</p>
<p>One’s field of study is also important. In some fields, the school one goes to undergrad is more important than in other fields. </p>
<p>“In the end, this is a business decision and that is how we treated it.”</p>
<p>For us, it wasn’t a business decision. It was an educational decision with business aspects. So, it didn’t all come down to a matter of financial cost/benefit ratio, although that was an important consideration.</p>