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<p>“Do better” in what respect"? According to what measurements?</p>
<p>Consider the payscale ROI calculator. If you compare the annual ROI, assuming no financial aid to attend either school (and assuming full OOS rates to attend Berkeley), Chicago does slightly better (8.3% v. 8.2% for Berkeley OOS). Unfortunately, this tool does not allow users to enter their actual costs. However, if Chicago would cost $80K more, not the $6500 more that payscale assumes in this scenario, then you probably cannot count on Chicago to generate enough ROI to recover the additional up-front costs over 20 years. YMMV. payscale uses self-reported data from participants with terminal undergraduate degrees (it accepts no reports from alumni with graduate degrees.)</p>
<p>Now, you could consider other outcomes besides earnings from terminal undergraduate degrees. What about graduate and professional school admissions? Apples-to-apples comparisons are hard to make from the available data. The WSJ “feeder school” study ranked Chicago 14th, Berkeley 41st (although that study has been criticized heavily on CC). What about alumni PhD completion rates? Washington Monthly ranks Chicago 3rd, Berkeley 18th among national universities for PhD production rates. These differences may reflect selection effects as well as treatment effects; there may be a different spread for econ majors in particular.
What about 4 year graduation rates? According to Kiplinger’s, Chicago’s rate is 86%, Berkeley’s is 71%. This, again, may reflect selection effects more than treatment effects (the influence for example of Chicago’s greater admission selectivity). How about alumni awards? Twice as many Chicago graduates as Berkeley graduates have won the Nobel Prize in economics, even though Berkeley is a much larger university. But of course, very very few people win this award, and it’s hard to tease out the effects of undergraduate v. graduate education v. personal ability and drive. </p>
<p>In other words, it is very hard to make a good, apples-to-apples comparison of academic outcomes. I would not advise anyone to shell out an extra $80K for Chicago solely in hopes of a big earnings bump. If you major in econ with an emphasis on quantitative analysis at either school, and do well, you’ll probably have no shortage of good career opportunities. That prognosis may justify paying some price premium for a school you strongly prefer (for whatever reason). Whether Chicago (or any other school) might be worth an additional $N depends on how much more you like it, and how much $N is worth to you. </p>