Price vs. Prestige: What’s In A Name?

Senior twins Kate and Emily Kulaga have had the University of Southern California at the top of their college list for years. After receiving their acceptance letters, the two are struggling with the choice of whether or not to attend the school, which costs upward of $57,000 a year.

“It was one of those ‘dream big’ schools for me,” Kate said. “I didn’t expect to be considered for [it] or even consider applying because of the cost.”

Despite the fact that both Emily and Kate have been accepted to USC, they admit that without substantial financial aid, the two will turn to either Drake University or Kansas State University, where they have already received financial aid packages. This is a decision many college applicants face – whether or not to risk going into debt for the prestigious college of their dreams.

“It’s really just something the applicants have to ask themselves,” said Wayne Larson, the Recruitment Coordinator at the Kansas University School of Journalism. “And that is, do [you] want to pay that high mark, and will that give [you] the clout so that [you] will be able to reasonably pay that off?”

The difference in tuition costs between Kansas University and the Forbes list of the top 10 colleges in the U.S. is an average of $21,772. The list includes high-caliber universities such as Harvard University, Stanford University and MIT.

View College Costs Across the U.S. in a full screen map

But is that esteemed education worth the price? That is a question that the Kulagas struggle with daily as they wait for news of whether or not they will be receiving a financial aid package from USC. Kate would rather attend USC than K-State, one of her back-up plans if the USC aid falls through. However, she knows that she and her sister won’t even consider attending USC at full price, since four years at USC would cost the twins almost half a million dollars.

“Do [you] want to pay that high mark, and will that give [you] the clout so that [you] will be able to reasonably pay that off?”

East alumni and USC freshman Logan Heley believes that after a year, the cost of tuition he has faced is worth the education, experiences and internship opportunities the school has given him. Like the Kulagas, he would not have been able to attend USC without the financial aid he received. Heley opted to go to USC instead of accepting better scholarship offers at schools he deemed less prestigious, and is grateful for his decision to do so.

“It was definitely worth it,” Heley said. “I must say, though, that I am a person who tries to take advantage of the opportunities that come to me and someone who’s less active in pursuing those opportunities will probably be less successful.”

Therese Bagsit, a recruiter for USC, agrees that the school is a center for hardworking individuals striving to rise to a high level in their profession. Due to their small class sizes and high end technology, she says that the school is a place for students who want to get ahead.

“Living in the Los Angeles area, applying for internships there, you just naturally are able to make more connections than you would somewhere else,” Bagsit said. “It’s important for people to make decisions based on what they can do financially, but in the longrun, USC is a place that is going to help you succeed.”

Larson believes that a student’s success is reliant on their ability to seek opportunities and push themselves, regardless of whether they are attending a state school or an Ivy League university. Because of this, he believes that a student’s willingness to pursue success is more important than the name of the college they graduated from.

“Sometimes what a school offers: it looks really attractive, and really cool,” Larson said. “And sometimes a school has got a really good name, but you’ve got to look past that. Other places can offer the same opportunities.”

The following video shows how admissions officers and East students approach the college application process.