Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Waiting for Superman

Most selective private colleges will not offer merit scholarships, but most public universities do. That was my experience years ago.

In the last few years in Texas this has led to the majority of National Merit and Class Valedictorians going to UT rather than the privates. I know I chose public college over private because of the cost - and after digging into the curriculum, I could see no difference.

The privates will offer "assistance" but much of it still leaves the student with large student loans. Which is nuts unless they will be 1/3 or less of your starting salary.

There are some significant differences between public and private universities. For example, a public school (especially a community college, and especially in California) will cancel a class if too few students enroll. Private colleges create very small classes deliberately and call them seminars. Alternatively, the breadth of study areas is usually much greater at a public university. But overcrowding in classes required for a major at public university means that some students can't enroll in courses they need and end up having to stay for an extra summer, semester or year (again, my knowledge pertains to California universities, but this problem is widespread here).

And then there's the cost. I went to a selective private college, and even knowing how wonderful my experience there was, I know that things have changed since then and that the costs have escalated like crazy. I wonder if they're worth it at this point. It probably depends on what you want to study.

It's probably North-Carolina specific.

I think Duke's goal is to actually attract some Valedictorian/National Merit students from North Carolina who would otherwise go into the UNC system for peanuts (or free).

Long article on education reform in NYC.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2011/06/the-failure-of-american-schools/8497/