What is the different between public and private universities? Is it worth spending lot of money to study in Private universities? Does higher tuition fees equate to better quality of education and high salary? Lets find out in this article.
Public Universities
- State University System tag attached to it
- Funded from State Tax payers (majority), tuition fee, research grants, etc.
- Gets subsidies from state, so tuition fees can be kept low
- Each state in United states have a university with its name (ex University of Texas)
- University of Georgia is the first public university in USA (Jan 27, 1785)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was founded 4 yeares later
- State resident will pay lower fees (since their parent’s tax money is used to fund college)
- Out of State students (domestic and international) pay higher fees
- Number of students per class will be higher.
Private Universities
- Funded by student tuition, investment income, research contracts, and private donations.
- Tuition fees will be higher compared to public universities
- Smaller class sizes (better interaction with professors)
- Easy to network with past students in good positions and highly successful in society.
- With such contacts, easier to get job in higher places.
There are both pros and cons with public and private universities. All Ivy league schools are private and they are considered prestigious schools. There are many good public universities (University of California, UNC, College of William and Mary, University of Virginia, ..)
Most of you would much interested to know about difference in tuition fees between public and private universities. Checkout In-State vs Out of State tuition fee blog post for more details.
International Students
Not everyone can afford to study in Private universities. Students applying from countries like India, will get much better education compared to schools in India (expect IIT, IIM) even in public universities. Even, if you attend private universities, its in your hands to make use of the opportunities presented to you.
When in high school, everyone have the equal opportunity to get good score and attend top university, but outcome of your effort determines where you end up getting admission.
Everyone has same opportunity and resource available to get high score in GRE, TOEFL, GMAT, etc. But, you don’t come across frequently who have scored 1600.
You can still attend unknown public universities and get to higher places in your life, but it takes more effort, determination to reach higher goals in life.
Friends you get to meet ( and network) when attending prestigious Private universities will be will be CEO, CFO of major companies. Friends you get to meet in regular public schools will be those who are working (or going to work) for the companies (from private schools). This analogy might not be always correct, but most of the time it will hold true.
