Not sure I agree about no debt always being the #1 priority, honestly, although it is certainly important, especially for students who need to "find themselves" in college (although they really should take a gap year instead imo). For one extremely easy example, you should definitely go into debt to go to a top law school over a lower tier one, unless you plan to open your own practice. Additionally, in many industries, the name of the school on your resume has a very tangible effect on your salary. Going 100k into debt is mathematically worth it, after all, if your salary is sufficiently higher out of undergrad than it would have been coming from another school.
Now someone is going to say that you can accomplish anything coming from any school, and that is more or less true, of course. But that doesn't mean it's not a hell of a lot easier to find the best internships, highest paying entry level jobs, fast tracked promotional opportunities, etc., with a Stanford degree than with a diploma from Humboldt State. If you want to be something like a programmer, however, there is a lot you can do in the way of side projects to make the prestige of your school largely irrelevant (although the big name school will still make scoring those Google interviews easier).
To be clear, I am no elitist, I'm just saying your goals in life matter when making this sort of decision. As I mentioned earlier, I think the best of both worlds (especially for people entering non technical career paths) is minimal debt with maximum alumni network reach. For example, go to a community college for two years, blow away every class, and transfer to the school with the best combination of scholarships/prestige/alumni network that accepts you, erring towards the first and last of those criteria.
All of the above (and this whole thread really) doesn't matter if we're talking about a student who is a true world-beater with an uncommon clarity of vision, but those aren't the people who need our advice anyway.
Lagom - What you just said about law school as an "extremely easy example" totally conflicts with everything I believe - and I'm a law school graduate.
The first big question for a lawyer (or anyone going to college) is WHERE to go. But, it seems to me the general consensus is all wrong. Especially for lawyers. Everyone starts with this list:
US News and World Report Law School Rankings.
Let me just say this: OMG. Does anyone notice that nearly every school on that list costs $50,000+ dollars. Columbia costs $60,000 and, even more shockingly, has over 1170 students signing up for a future of indentured servitude paying of high six figure student loans. *
But, besides indignation, what do I have to offer? Well, how about this list:
The National Jurist Best Value Law Schools.
Think about that value list. It costs $14,479 a year to go to the University of Nebraska. A law school ranked a respectable #56 on US News and World Report list. Somehow, Nebraska can only convince 359 students to spurn a life of debt repayment and accept professional freedom.
So let’s have it out, Yale v. Nebraska, a battle of #1’s.
Rule against perpetuities? Same. Palsgraf? Same. Carbollic Smoke Balls? Same. Your own intelligence and grit? Same.** The amount of money you owe banks and your resultant freedom: Big Time Difference.
Here is the thing, I went to one of the value law schools on that list. In my community if a new law grad comes back from Prestigious/Expensive University to our community they compete with Value University graduates. Rather than being impressed at their job interview, where I am in charge of hiring, I think something like this:
Wow, this person really blew the first big decision they had in their law career. They went to the Prestigious/Expensive University and paid through the nose for their degree. Then, rather than pursue a career path to the United States Supreme Court***, which might (maybe) justify their decision, they came back to Value University territory. What a waste. Just imagine if they would have attended Value University on a full/partial scholarship instead. Let's hire the successful value law school grad instead.
So let me make my position clear –
There are two certainties in life. One, don’t use the first list. Two, you shouldn’t drop $150,000 on a law degree you could have got for $50,000 and some late fees._________________________________________________
* Indentured servitude is only a slight exaggeration. I’m convinced Big Law, the brass ring so many reach for, love law grads from the US News and World Reports Rankings because they are so indebted they can never leave their job until the loans are paid. They have golden handcuffs and you can bet the partners know it. It’s all part of the cycle that is obvious to most indentured servants, cough, lawyers, about six months into their crap BigLaw job. As a side note, I was talking to a BigLaw associate the other day and they block the internet of their attorneys like they are freaking children (No facebook!) - what an awesome future to aspire to. I also recently heard the term "night shift" to describe the office time put in after going home for a quick dinner and two hour reprieve. No thanks.
** Please Google "selection bias" and learn why your faith in institutions is utterly misplaced. You are the biggest predictor of your own success.
*** It would have to be the US Supreme Court because the State Supreme Court, State County/District Courts, Federal Court of Appeals, Federal District Court, State Legislature, Governor’s mansion and any other place of political or legal significance is, of course, packed with Value University grads. If there is any ceiling at all (which I personally doubt), then it is the highest, highest of echelons that only the elitiest of the elite ever run up against.