Making Your College List with ROI in Mind
Ben Stern shares How to Figure ROI using Job Prospects
Ben Stern runs IvyAchievement, a college counseling firm that focuses on international students applying to US Colleges.
Ben says Finance is always a primary factor in selecting colleges. Even wealthy families are cost conscious. Most families want a good Return on their College Investment (ROI).
Here are 3 Steps for you to follow.
Step 1: It is important to understand what you want out of that College investment.
Is it a job?
A monetary return on investment?
Some sort of prestige or label or status by attending that college?
Or to Develop a network of alumni and students?
Based on what are families (and students) are looking for, in terms what they value, you can identify the right schools that will give you the best return on your investment.
Over 80% of the Students take up Jobs upon Graduation.
Step 2: How to Find College ROI based on Job Prospects.
Over 80% of the Students take up Jobs upon Graduation. In order to get a complete picture of the the hiring prospects out of college, Ben suggests families do the following:
Which schools have the best representation among the top paying employers for your Major, say, Computer Science - Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, Apple and the Dropbox;
Look at salary data from LinkedIn, payscale.com, from the US government;
And then try to determine which schools on your list would give the best Return on Investment, relatively speaking, by considering each College’s cost.
It's hard to say, “Okay, you're going to get $X million in salary over the course of, say 15 years.
But you can compare 2 schools and quantify that way.
But you can compare 2 schools and quantify that way.
Step 3: After following the above Steps, if you find
Let’s say 2 schools, University “A”, and University “B” have similar outcomes in terms of jobs;
And University “A” costs $5,000 less than University “B”
Then, maybe you should choose University “A”.
We see how these 2 schools performed relative to each other and help families make college choices, in that context.
Now, Go Ahead and Customize the Steps, to Find Your own College ROI:
Plug in your Major
Find Top Job Employers for that Major and
Run through Step 2 above.
In this Podcast, Ben Stern of IvyAchievement shares his expertise in
Factoring Finances while Building College Lists,
Figuring out College ROI, and
the Impact of Applying for Financial Aid on Admissions.
Listen to the Podcast with Ben Stern on College Selection & Finances. (17.5-Minute Listen)
More Podcasts
1.Drs. Jenny Davis & James Chouinard of ANU: UG Researchers to Faculty Mentors.
Drs. Jenny Davis and James Chouinard are with the School of Sociology at Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.
As undergraduate students at Radford University in Virginia, Jenny Davis and James Chouinard found themselves doing community-based research at the Women’s Resource Center.
The research sharpened their understanding of Sociology and gave them the necessary foundation as they pursued graduate study and ultimately academia.
Today, Drs. Davis and Chouinard are nurturing Faculty Mentors.
In this podcast, Drs Davis and Chouinard talk about their UG Research at Radford University, Impact of UG Research, Pursuit of Graduate work, Experiences as Faculty Mentors, and finally the Advice for high schoolers.
Hi5s from the Podcast are:
Getting into UG Research
The Experience
Being a Faculty Mentor
Skills Developed with Research
Advice for High Schoolers
Listen to Hi5s. Podcast Highlights on UG Research with Drs Davis & Chouinard of ANU.(3-Minute Listen).
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Have a Great Week.
Venkat