Did this Excelsior Admissions Counselor just lie to me?

[KittenMittens]

Value isn't derived from what you pay for something, it's derived from what you get out of something. If you would get the same result from a $15,000 program that you wouldn't from a $75,000 program, why would you prefer the latter even if you're not the one footing the bill?

If that was the case, then Ferraris, Rolls Royces, Aston Martins, or designer clothes like Gucci, Versace, etc. should have no intrinsic value, but people judge these products as “superior” goods” even though a Camry or some clothes from Wal-Mart can serve the job too.

Name and brand have a powerful impact on people’s perception of things - an education from two schools can be equal in quality, but the school that is better known is likely going to have more of an impact in how employers, graduate schools, etc perceive you. It’s not the end all be all, but I would hardly discount brand name.

And this is not a hypothetical. I liked the PhD in Leadership and Change from Antioch University, I met some of their admissions people and was impressed. But their program was $75,000. When I discovered that Cumberlands would meet my needs just as well at 1/5 the cost, it would have been crazy for me to still consider Antioch. And I would have felt that way even if I were spending someone else's money.

If a combat veteran wants to work on Wall Street and gets into Wharton's MBA program, sure, I get that. In that case it's expensive but it's the best, and it's necessary to reach specific career goals. But I don't agree that in most cases we draw that straight a line to connect career goals, program quality, and tuition fees.

When you go to Wharton’s MBA program, you’re not necessarily getting a better education than one from where you can get from a no name school, or some books from the library. Most learning is done on your own. What you’re getting is the brand name which opens doors in industry, fundraising, and so on. You’re also get access to the alumni network. Same thing goes with J.D. programs. This doesn't matter so much, of course, with STEM kind of programs. But there is a correlation between cost of a program, and prestige of the program. Not all expensive programs are that great, which is commonly the case, but a lot, if not practically all, quality programs with strong reputation tend to be more expensive than typical. As they say, you get what you pay for, though it’s probably good financial and economic sense to save the benefits for programs that can pay for tuition, room and board, fees, books, etc. Why use it all on a cheap <$10,000 program which wouldn't even cover room and board since it's all online? I guess if one doesn’t intend to go to graduate school, it’s fine, but I see it as smart financial planning for the future.