Kate sent me an article the other day, that questions if the higher cost of a "top tier" school is justified by the expectant salary difference. An interesting argument the researchers Alan Krueger and Stacy Dale make is that it's not really where you are trained that makes a person exceptional. Rather it is your natural drive and desire to succeed that is of importance and ultimately determines an individuals final worth. This feels, to me, like the whole nature vs nurture argument all over again.
The article can be used as the basis though for either side to push their opinion. As with all mainstream media though, it adds a catch all of "take all this [information] with a grain of salt" line, hoping to provide itself an easy way out if wrong. Gotta love lawyers.
Posted by Dan at April 28, 2003 03:37 PMInteresting. I had a similar discussion with Sterling today. The discussion was long, but one of what I think was my key points was that in almost all cases a college degree is not a professional degree. Especially in CS, if you want a program that teaches you to program 'better', go to DeVry.
An education (be it Ivy League or otherwise) exists to enrich your life and expand your knowledge. This may or may not turn into a large salary, but that alone is a rather shallow bar to measure an education by.
Posted by: George Schlossnagle at April 28, 2003 03:55 PM