We cite Nate Silver's work here at COTTonLINE with some frequency. Today he gives excellent advice I'd suggest you share with any youngsters of your acquaintance who will be graduating from high school next month. The following is from a post on X reposted on Instapundit.
Just go to a state school. The premium you're paying for elite private colleges vs. the better public schools is for social clout and not the quality of the education. And that's worth a lot less now that people have figured out that elite higher ed is cringe.
All of my degrees are from public higher ed institutions. I then spent my entire academic career teaching in state colleges and universities.
We graduated young people with human and intellectual skills, to whom the market was pleased to offer career employment. Especially for in-state students, public higher ed offers very good value, consider this.
A 2023 study by a Dartmouth business professor found that just 11.8 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs have an Ivy League education, and only 9.8 percent got their MBA from an Ivy League.
Afterthought: Suggest they go to the Placement Service at their college or university and ask what majors recruiters are asking to interview. Then strongly consider limiting choice of major to that subset of fields for which there is proven demand.
