In a March 1 article discussing the cost of private colleges versus their level of prestige, The Wall Street Journal interviewed three people – a high school senior interested in engineering, a recruiting manager and a college dean – to determine if the high cost of attendance among these schools was a fair trade for adding a prestigious university name to one’s resume.
During the discussion, the three interviewees weighed in on whether or not a big name was worth the price, but also provided some context into how recruiters look at schools and how students should approach selecting a college.
Patty Pogemiller, Director of Talent Acquisition at Deloitte, a financial consultant company, shared that the recruiter’s “interest lies with the individual students and their achievements in school—their skills, GPA, character and personal attributes.”
She mentioned that recruiters seek out candidates who are confident and “client-ready,” and that recruiters look for students from programs ranked by organizations such as BusinessWeek and U.S. News & World Report.
Dr. Scott Thomas, Professor of Education and Dean of the School of Educational Studies at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, shared advice on selecting a school, where students should consider the “softer factors such as institution location, mission, faculty and student diversity, or the breadth of curricular options” outside of one’s chosen area of study.
Following the discussion, the article shared a number of college return on investment rankings derived from Payscale’s 2014 College Return on Investment Report, placing WVU Tech at #12 on the list of Best Public Universities for Returns on Investment in the nation based on 20-year projected earnings. And since that ROI calculation is for out-of-state students who receive no financial aid, in-state students and financial aid recipients are likely to realize an even higher ROI on their educational investment at WVU Tech.
In addition to the best ROI in the state, WVU Tech offers strong accredited programs, is ranked in the Top 100 U.S. News & World Report Undergraduate Engineering Programs, and is committed to the kind of educational and professional development that creates Pogemiller’s breed of “client-ready” graduates.
All told, the Wall Street Journal piece is an insightful look at some of the factors that go into choosing the best college or university and prove what many in West Virginia already know: that a degree from WVU Tech is a very smart investment.
Read the full article here.