

In the job market today a college degree is essential to obtaining a white collared job. A year's worth of education from a university can range anywhere from 3,000 dollars to 40,000 dollars.  When thousands of dollars are being spent to secure your future you want to be sure that the degree you get will separate you from the rest of the pack. Many people have trouble choosing a university and the size of the school tends to be the deciding factor, but could the size and popularity of your university play a role in getting you a job? The question becomes does a degree from a national university give you an advantage over a degree from a private college when applying for a white collar job position? To answer this question, we must look at the different skill set a larger university provides its students. Also we will have to look at the interviewer's point of view and what they look for in their potential new employee. 

Attending a national university will give you better chances of securing a job straight out of school. A study conducted by Nerdwallet took the top 240 undergraduate programs and analyzed over 300,000 students from the years 2009 through 2011 covering the employment rate, salaries, and which major leads to the highest income. The data reported that the highest employment rates came from national universities, especially students that specialized in engineering or business. However, students that graduated from private but smaller well regarded colleges had a 20% increase in pay compared to the larger universities. The real deciding factor in guaranteeing a job was the major of the student. The two majors that stood out in this study were Business with a 64% employment rate and Engineering with a 54% employment rate; but students that were Engineering majors had a 29% increase in salary over business majors. The information from this study suggests that when applying for a white collar job graduates with a degree from a larger more popular university have better chances of securing a job; but are paid less money than a graduate with a degree from a smaller college. 

Lynn O'Shaughnessy is an interviewer for a federal agency and her job includes interviewing graduates straight out of college. In an article written by O'Shaughnessy she talks about the process of interviewing and what she looks for in a potential new employee. First she clearly states that going to an elite school is not the only way you can get a job; she actually hires graduates based on what they did with their time at school and how they conduct them selves during their interview. Also she looks for diversity when hiring new employees and she states that her workplace is scattered with people from all different schools. Later in the article O'Shaughnessy touches on the differences she sees in graduates that came from bigger universities versus smaller colleges. Her opinion is that the graduates from "big state schools" tend to be more persistent and can deal with "bureaucratic issues" better because in a larger school you must learn these skills to survive. On the other hand, O'Shaughnessy says the graduates form the smaller schools tend to be the company's best thinkers and come up with the most ideas. So the information gathered from O'Shaughnessy's article is that both larger and smaller schools produce good employees, but they come out of college with different skill sets because of the size of the school they attended. 

An article published by Peterson's staff on September 29th, 2015 discusses the overall differences between public universities and private colleges. The first major difference is how public universities are funded compared to private colleges. Most public universities are funded by the government which allows them to focus on other parts of the school rather then being limited by a strict budget like most private colleges are. Tuition is another clear difference; most public universities can offer a cheaper tuition which is easy to pay off after graduating compared to the more expensive private colleges. The last major difference Peterson's research showed was the range of degrees that a public university can offer versus a private college. Most public universities can offer a wide range of degrees which can allow a student to change majors without transferring compared to a private college which might not offer the major you want. 

After gathering the information from the three sources the advantages of a degree from a national university versus a private college are still arguable. A public university can offer a cheaper tuition, more degrees, and better facilities; but a degree from a private college has proven to offer higher salaries after graduating. O'Shaughnessy first hand article did prove some interesting points that clearly show the pros of both sides, but she also stated that she focused more on what the graduate did in school rather then which school they attended. Both public universities and private colleges offer valid degrees and when it comes to securing a white collared job it depends more on your major, personal ability, and the grades you graduated with.   

