College Quality And Future Earnings: Where Should You Send

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 were used to explore whether it matters which college a student attends, and if so, which college characteristics or other aspects of the college experience lead to a higher value added to future earnings. The analysis pertained to male college graduates only. Institutional characteristics such as being selective and being a private school in the East were found to have positive effects on future earnings. Expenditures per student were found to have no such impact. While sending a child to a private-East college appeared to be a good investment, sending the student to a local university to major in engineering, to take math courses, and, preferably, to attain a high grade point average, was an even better investment. These college experience variables explained more of the variance in earnings than measured family background, ability, and college characteristics combined.