Whats the benefit (biggest differences) of choosing between a public and private college? ..?

Question

--how is it more beneficial to choose one over the other?

Answer 1

The many thing is money - Public Colleges are cheaper than Private Colleges.

Good Luck!!!

Answer 2

I've actually been to one of each (a small liberal arts school called St. John's College and UC Santa Cruz respectively.)

The most obvious difference is price. The sticker price for private schools (with sundry expenses) can be over 30k while the relative cost for a public can be in the mid teens or lower. Of course private school often give out scholarships or financial aid to students (as do state schools) so the sticker price isn't necessarily a good indicator of how much you'll be paying.

As for the actual quality of education I was impressed by the quality of instruction at both schools. In general I think that you can get a good education just about anywhere (its much more a result of what you put in IMHO). Class sizes at private school will probably be smaller, though on the whole I wasn't put off by large lecture hall type classes (but again this is personal preference).

Finally there is the whole reputation thing to consider. (If you can get into Harvard you probably want to go there, even if you do need to take out student loans).

Whatever you decide to do, good luck.

Answer 3

Public schools are typically much, much cheaper than private ones, so you will have fewer student loans to pay back once you graduate.

That's about all I can think of. Some private schools are better than some public schools, some are worse, so it's hard to make any other generalizations.