Paul Ott and his family receiving some media love these days in connection with his son’s decision to attend the University of Texas in Austin. Ott’s son, Evan, who as a result of being valedictorian at his high school will receive free UT tuition for his freshman year, talked with Smart Money magazine about the decision to attend UT instead of a number of private schools due to financial considerations. UT’s president Bill Powers picked up on the magazine article, quoting from it in his online “Tower Talk” column.
The Smart Money story ostensibly tries to draw a link between college tuition and whether graduates wind up earning more money if they spend more attending a higher-dollar school. The magazines compares a school’s tuition and fees with the median annual salaries of “recent” and “mid-career” graduates; ratios of 100 and up mean the student earns more, on average, than was spent on tuition and fees (the calculations don’t include other college costs).
If you’re looking for a trend, the first 18 schools on the list are public (and therefore generally less expensive), with Georgia Institute of Technology leading the list, followed by UT Austin in second place. The highest-placing private school was Yale at number 19. Our oldest son’s school is on the list, but it has a “payback score” below 100, which according to the magazine, means that at the school’s sticker price, we’re spending more money on the education (on a relative basis) than he would earn as a graduate. Thank goodness for financial aid, which isn’t factored into the calculations.
