The competition between the University of Houston and Rice University is one that only students at either campus knows about.
The rivalry isn’t even discussed much — that is, until the yearly match-up of football teams. Outside of the sports arena, Rice and UH don’t play many of the petty pride games that other universities often play. The difference in prestige and national rankings isn’t very close, and that won’t likely change in the near future.
A Rice University graduate who earns a bachelors of science in economics earns more than a UH student like myself. In May 2007, the average accepted salary of a Rice graduate with an economics degree was $57,180, according to a survey done by Rice University’s Center for Student Professional Development.
A UH student with a very similar economics degree on average made $48,483, according to the University’s economics department webpage. Earning ten thousand dollars more right off the bat would be great, especially after working so hard for four or more years.
The larger paycheck that a Rice graduate can expect may be because of the institution name printed on the diploma, or it may be due to a rating published in some magazine. Despite whatever reason, one thing is clear; Rice graduates paid for it.
The estimated cost of tuition and fees for the 2009-2010 school year for a Rice student totals $ 43,288.
A student who plans on studying at UH and qualifies for resident status will be looking at an estimated total cost of $ 16,418 per academic year. If the student is a non-resident, then the total estimated costs are $ 21,994.
The magnitude of those cost differences is staggering. A prospective non-resident student could finish half a four-year degree for the price of one academic year at Rice.
If a degree were earned at both institutions in exactly four academic years the difference is remarkable. For a student with resident status at UH, a four-year degree would total $65, 672 in estimated costs. A degree from Rice, on the other hand, would total $173,152 in estimated costs.
If you asked a really sharp student who had to take out loans for his or her education if they would rather make about $10,000 more per year starting out or have almost one-third the amount of debt to pay off, the answer is easy — and you wouldn’t even need a degree in economics to know it.
Your analysis makes sense when you're looking at students who might be paying the full "sticker price" for their education at the two institutions. But because Rice has a "need-blind" admissions policy (decision to admit is not affected by a student's financial situation), most students there receive some level of financial aid (as a Rice student back in the '60s, I had a full-tuition scholarship from a private foundation). When a student is admitted to Rice, they are offered a financial aid package that will meet their demonstrated need. For students from families earning less then $80,000, that package won't include any student loans, and for the rest the student loans are limited to $10,000 for a four-year degree. If you'd like to dig into more details, a good place to start is this brochure: http://futureowls.rice.edu/images/futureowls/Fina…
If it's not too late, you could correct some of the grammar errors in your piece:
"The competition… is one that only students at either campus know…" Not 'knows'.
"…earns more than a UH student like me." Not 'myself'.
I won't bother to delve into your apparent lack of consideration of Rice's financial aid program.
I have respect for both schools, but you certainly didn't make the case for the quality of UH education.
It would be interesting to see the salaries after 5 and 10 years in the job market. While the starting salary is influenced strongly by the reputation of the institution granting the degree, future salaries are determined mainly by the performance on the job.
Many UH students work while studying and anecdotal evidence suggests that this hardship and work experience turn them into much more resilient, mature, and devoted employees compared to students who experience the traditional 4-year campus life.
You get what you pay for.