Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Ivy League Colleges or Public Colleges?

Due to a horrendous job market for new grads and student loan debt piling up by the billions, the decision-making process has changed. The Wall Street Journal reports on the trend for students to not only question the value of an Ivy League education, but to attend cheaper (or free) public colleges even though they were admitted to much “better” universities.

Princeton professor and economist Alan Krueger and his fellow researcher Stacy Berg Dale found that when a student performed high enough to enter an Ivy League school, but instead went to a second-tier school, they earned just as much money as their Ivy League counterparts.

It used to be a degree did all the speaking for you but many employers have found that those who hold these big degrees are likely to lack communication and interpersonal skills. No longer can you ride on your degree alone. Employers are more interested now in what a student has made of his or her college experience."

Employers today are looking for the entire package and therefore you will find that holding an Ivy League degree as you walk through the door for an interview is not going to be enough. The current marketplace is flooded with eligible candidates and therefore you are going to have to do more than just show up with a prestigious degree. You are also going to have to be progressed with incredible communication skills, be a leader and extremely innovative, in addition to being a go getter and hard worker.