The Advantage Of Sending Your Child To A Private College Or University

 You'll give  him or her an edge on law school admissions.  This weekend, in the NYT Economix blog, Catherine Rampell cites a recent study by Rojstaczer and Healy showing that, within the cohort they study, private college and university grads average a 3.3 GPA while public grads  average a 3.0. 

Here's the problem.  The US News ranking process leads law  schools to put emphasize  nominal GPA's.  Not school quality.  Not class rank.  If  private schools graduate more students with high GPA's, their graduates have a better shot of getting into their preferred law schools.    Among the top law schools, this skew may have minimal effects.   A large percentage of the students admitted to Harvard Law arrive with super-high GPA's - irrespective of undergraduate institution.  But once you're out of the most elite law schools,  there is much greater GPA variation among students.  Schools trade GPA's for LSAT's.  Thus, GPA's matter a lot. 

To note the implications of this phenomenon is not to dismiss the advantages of some private schools.    Schools built around a curriculum of  small,  writing-intensive classes focused on primary texts (rather than textbooks) often produce graduates who overperform in law school.  The average student is more likely to receive that intensive experience at a small private college than at a massive state U.  But many state schools offer a superb education - and often they feature honors programs or colleges that match the private school experience.  It's hard to make the case that  every private school grad deserves a .30 GPA handicap in the admissions process. 

It is worth noting some limits of this study.   The authors do not necessarily select parallel institutions for comparison.  Among other things, they appear to have studied a disproportionate number of southern state schools vis a vis the private school set.  Experience (mine) suggests that southern state schools give lower grades.  And several of the southern privates - particularly Duke, Vandy and Emory - draw from a national pool and may feel a need to keep up with their northern elite brethren.   Perhaps even more importantly, it is possible that the GPA distinction is justified by student strength: you'd need to look very closely at the student quality of these particular public and private schools to determine whether they can be fairly compared.

But it will be reassuring to those parents shelling out $50K or more per year for private school tuition that, yes, there may well be a tangible advantage to that education irrespective of the quality.  It's called law school access.

Comments

[GJELblogger]

"The average student is more likely to receive that intensive experience at a small private college than at a massive state U."

I've always wondered about this. I attended a small, private college and had great results. I loved my experience there, but I've always wondered if that education was worth the huge price tag compared to if I had attended my state University.

"It's hard to make the case that every private school grad deserves a .30 GPA handicap in the admissions process.

I completely agree. Nice post!

[TJ]

Isn't the problem being described one of grade inflation generally and not a public vs. private distinction (except to the extent that private schools seem to somehow have more severe grade inflation)?

[Vladimir]

What are some examples of private schools that offer small, writing-intensive experiences? Are you talking small liberal arts schools, as opposed to large Ivy League schools, which I suspect use the same pack them in the lecture hall technique as public schools?

[Dan Filler]

My sense is that even at Ivy-sized privates - with 5000 students - most upper level students (in social science & the humanities, at least) get a serious exposure to small,writing intensive, primary source classes. But certainly schools like Knox, Amherst, Pomona, etc. are thick with these classes.