What’s an Ivy League Degree Worth? More Pay.
By BankersBall on Aug 4, 2008 in Cube Life, Ivy League
There’s an edge, but it’s small in absolute terms.
A Payscale survey of 1.2 million graduates with at least 10 years of work experience (anyone with a graduate degree was excluded) reveals that Ivy Leaguers do make more money, largely due to what one initially makes.
The WSJ, citing the Payscale data, reports that Ivy Leaguers start with median salaries that are 32% more than their liberal arts brethren. After 10 years, the difference is more or less the same — 34%.
It’s not clear how differences in years worked were accounted for, but there are probably other differences, such as the types of careers that Ivy Leaguers go for (finance, law) as well as the cities that they choose to live in, that contribute to the difference more than anything. Which is surprising then, that the difference is only in the 30% range.
Dartmouth College grads earned the highest median salary out of the Ivies at $134,000, while Columbia grads were the lowest at $107,000, lower than non-Ivy Bucknell U — $110,000.
Worth it or not?
On Aug 4, 2008, leah said:
Not worth it, the Ivy prestige just isn’t there anymore as much. State schools have caught up a great deal, and there is little difference in the quality of one’s education. It’s about what you put into it.
On Aug 4, 2008, Ned said:
did you go to a state school, leah?
On Aug 12, 2008, arvin said:
With a name like Ned, you MUST have gone to a state school. At Ivy Leagues, we call each other by our surnames.
On Aug 13, 2008, Ivy said:
That’s ironic, at my Ivy League school, we’re all known as “douchebag”.
On Oct 24, 2008, Bondo said:
What a coincidence, at my state school we’re also called “public welfare douche bags”.