Public vs. Private Universities: Making an Informed Choice

Webinar Transcription

2023-06-25 – Public vs. Private Universities: Making an Informed Choice

Anesha: Hi, everyone, and welcome to tonight’s webinar. My name is Anesha Grant. I am a senior advisor at CollegeAdvisor, and I will be your moderator today. Today’s webinar is, “Public versus Private Universities: Making an Informed Cchoice.” Before we get started, I just want to orient everyone with the webinar timing.

We’ll start off with a presentation, and then our presenter will answer some questions in a live Q& A. You can download our slides under the handouts tab on the sidebar, and you can start submitting your questions whenever you get ready. In the Q and a tab. But first off, let’s meet our panelist Chelsea.

Hey, Chelsea, how are you doing?

Chelsea: I’m doing well. Hello, everyone. My name is Chelsea Holley and I serve as an admissions officer here at CollegeAdvisor. Um, I’ve spent the past 11 years working in college admissions, um, at a variety of selective institutions. both public and private. Um, it is certainly very different, um, working at public versus private institutions, um, as an admissions officer.

And I hope today to really discuss how the features of those institutions might vary for you, um, and how the admissions process might look a bit different. So super excited to talk about both public and private universities.

Anesha: Awesome. Thanks, Chelsea. Before we let Chelsea get started, we just want to do a quick poll.

So please let us know what grade level you are in. If you are a parent or a teacher, feel free to select other. Uh, we are happy to have you here, so no worries. But, um, as we’re waiting for folks to respond, um, do you have a preferred campus? Not necessarily public versus private, but of the institutions where you’ve worked, do you have a favorite campus?

Chelsea: I would say I really enjoyed working on Georgia Tech’s campus. Um, and I think less of working there. And it was just a beautiful campus. Um, it’s an urban environment, but it also had a ton of green space. Um, so it is a quintessential public institution, very large, tons of research opportunities. Um, so yeah, I would say Georgia Tech is probably my favorite campus to work on.

Anesha: I haven’t been to that campus. So now I know I’m going to go to Georgia in a little bit, so I’m going to try to visit. Um, thanks for that plug. All right, we’ll go ahead and close our poll. Just to let you know, uh, we’re kind of evenly split. We have, uh, uh, some seniors in the space who might be just curious as they start to whittle down their college list.

And then we also have, um, a sophomore and juniors. Um, so folks are just probably in the research phases, um, for this process. So I’ll stop talking. I’ll let you take over Chelsea and I’ll be back a little bit later.

Chelsea: Perfect. All right. Um, so I think no matter where you are in your high school career, this is, um, certainly an interesting topic.

Um, I think the more that you know about the types of institutions that are out there, the better you can make an informed decision. Um, so today we’re going to kind of focus. specifically on the differences between public and private universities and colleges. So these are some of the main differences.

This is super high level, um, on things that distinguish public and private universities. The very first element is governance. And that essentially means who controls the university, who controls the policies, um, who has a say in the type of majors that are offered. Um, and this looks very different at a public institution, um, versus a private institution.

At a public institution, a public university is a service and a good to the people in that state. Um, and so they typically in Georgia, you have the board of regents, In California, you have the UC system. There is some large governing body that makes rules and regulations that will apply to every college and university that are public in that state.

And so, You can find in your specific state, you can find the public university system, and you’ll be able to gain some knowledge about the schools that fit under that umbrella, um, and some of the laws and policies that might govern them at private universities. Um, the governing body is completely made up of those related to the college.

So typically you have a board of trustees and a senior leadership. Um, that will make the policies for that college. Um, and so they are not, um, having to abide by any of the policies that the state public universities abide by. So there’s a little bit more freedom, um, in what private institutions are able to offer to their students and to their community.

The second piece is cost of attendance. Because public institutions are a service to those in the state, the cost of attendance must be affordable to students and families in that state. So for in state students, you’ll see the cost of attendance at a public institution will be much, much cheaper than a private institution, as well as much cheaper than for out of state students.

So, the cost of attendance is typically a huge factor. Um, at private institutions because they receive less state funding, um, typically that cost of attendance is higher. We’ll talk a little bit about financial aid and scholarship shortly, um, but high level cost of attendance, public universities are typically cheaper than private universities.

The third piece is mission. While all institutions have their own university mission, for private institutions you may see more specific missions. So for example, some private institutions have religious missions. So maybe they are Catholic or Christian. These missions are specifically for institutions that are private because they are not public and they do not have to have the separation between church and state.

So that’s one example of how private institutions might have a different mission. Um, women’s colleges, um, the majority of women’s colleges that exist currently are private institutions. Um, and so you may see again that very specific. mission as it relates to private institutions. Those are two examples.

Um, but private institutions can also have more broad missions as well. The last piece is academic offerings. Um, so for academic offerings, public institutions typically have more majors. They can often be kind of more broad as well. Um, maybe everything for everybody. Um, Some private, uh, some public institutions have more than 50 and 60 majors.

Private institutions typically have a lower or smaller number of majors available to their students. They’re more likely to specialize in just a few different things, um, and not try to be everything to everyone. Um, and then lastly, commitment to in state students. So public institutions do have specific ratios, either in which they like to stay within or that they are mandated to stay within.

And this would mean that a public institution must serve. 60 percent or 70 percent of in state students. Um, and so for out of state students going to selective public institutions, it can often be more difficult, um, to get into those institutions. For private universities, um, there are known in these quotas, um, it is typically more geographically diverse because they do not have that commitment to in state students.

These are very high level. Um, and again, these, uh, are general, um, differences between public and private. This does not mean that every public institution is going to fit these characteristics or every private institution will fit these characteristics. Um, but these are kind of some high level things to help you begin to differentiate between the two types of institutions.

So, um, you may be thinking, well, I’m not really sure what Private colleges are, um, I’m not sure which of those on my list are private versus public. So I just want to go over some of our top private colleges and top public colleges. This list is actually taken from the U. S. World News and Report, um, top ranked colleges and universities.

Um, this is straight from the top 20. Um, if you look at the top 20 institutions, um, in the United States, the majority of those are private institutions. Um, so for one, as we’re looking at this list, we see that all of our Ivy League institutions, um, are private. So, um, At number one, as far as a top ranked private college is Princeton University.

Then we have MIT, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, UChicago, Johns Hopkins, University of Pennsylvania. Um, and this list obviously goes on and on. Um, but these are your top private colleges according to U. S. World News and Report. Top public colleges. This list is, um, certainly has many of the UC schools. So number one, UC Berkeley, UCLA, we have the University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Florida, UNC Chapel Hill, UC, UC Berkeley.

So again, this list goes on and on, but these are the institutions that are at the top of the public colleges list. Remember, rankings for colleges change every year. We have some usual suspects that say in the the top 10 or the top 20, um, but they can certainly fluctuate pretty widely, um, throughout the, the year, um, as this list is reviewed, um, each fall.

So let’s talk about some of the benefits of attending a public college. Um, so the first one is research opportunities. Public colleges are also more likely to have a wide variety of graduate programs. And we know with graduate degrees, master’s and PhDs, as well as professional schools, they bring a lot of research opportunities.

So a public college is more likely to have labs that undergraduate students can be involved in, research opportunities that you can access early on in your undergraduate career. This is all a part of how public colleges are Are funded. Um, so if you are a student that is already participating in research in high school or you’re looking to participate in research in college, a public institution may be a great place to really learn more about those research opportunities.

The second piece is larger campuses. Um, again, this is not apply, this will not apply to all public colleges, um, but typically public colleges are going to have larger campuses and larger enrollment sizes than your private institutions. Um, in fact, when you think of your really large schools, so 30,000, 40,000 plus students, Students, the majority of those are going to be public institutions.

So if you are picturing yourself on a huge campus with tons of people, um, typically that would be a public institution, campus life and social scene. Um, I would say that all institutions have a unique campus life and social scene. Um, however, the larger the campus, oftentimes the more bustling that scene is.

Um, and so you do see Some of the larger social aspects and student life aspects on public college campuses. That might be robust Greek life. That might be a number of extracurricular organizations that you can join, or it could be athletic programs. So when we think of again, a Saturday in college and you are in a stadium watching a football game with 70,000 people, those are typically going to be at public colleges.

There are some exceptions to that, don’t get me wrong, but the majority of those would be at public institutions.

So some of the benefits of attending a private college, um, smaller campus size. So again, the opposite of what you would get at a public institution. Typically private colleges are going to be smaller, intimate academic resources. So this may be a, um, specific advisor for your major that’s assigned to you.

Um, a living learning community that’s assigned to you. It’s dedicated to those in your major. Um, typically the academic resources can be, um, more hands on and more intimate at a private institution. The third piece is attractive financial aid packages. So because private colleges are more expensive, um, they typically also have more attractive financial aid packages to help meet the cost of their students.

Um, and so you are more likely, um, to have access to scholarship, um, need based aid that is not, um, Federal or state aid at a private college, um, something else to note about private institutions is that there is no difference between in state tuition and out of state tuition. Um, they are looking at that exactly the same, um, because of that, they are not, uh, Prioritizing in state enrollment.

Um, and therefore everyone is charged the same amount of money to attend those colleges. Um, and the packages that they receive on the financial aid side, um, are meant to relieve some of those costs more geographically diverse. So, again, because there is not this commitment to the state, as far as enrolling a certain number of students.

students. Um, you typically see students from all over attending a private college. Um, they can be from the west coast, the south and northeast, um, international. Um, and typically these are going to be, um, bigger numbers across the campus versus a college in Florida. 60 percent of their students might be from Florida.

Um, and for some students that is really attractive to get to, um, communicate and study with students from all over. Um, last, if you are looking for a religious institution, um, maybe you are interested in attending a Catholic institution, um, then attending a private college may be a benefit for you because you can find an institution that values, um, your religion as well as, um, your education.

Anesha: Okay, we’re going to do another quick poll in order to give Chelsea a little bit of a break. So please let us know where you are in your process. The options are if you have not started, which is totally reasonable. You’re researching schools, which makes sense for why you’re here. You’re working on your essays, you’re getting application materials done, or you are almost done.

I think for the folks who might be almost done, that’s a bit early in the season, but it’d be surprising. But let us know where you are. in your process.

I appreciated your note regarding religious institutions and kind of that being a factor for students to keep in mind. I feel like it’s one that isn’t always top of mind for folks, um, but it’s important.

All right, waiting for a few more responses to trickle in. Sorry, did I cut you off, Chelsea? No,

Chelsea: you’re fine.

Anesha: Okay. Um, so the majority of folks are researching schools, which makes sense. Um, and hopefully some of Chelsea’s context is helpful for you as you all move forward in your research process. Um, and then that is our poll, so I’ll hand it back over to you, Chelsea.

Chelsea: Okay. Um, so we know that scholarships and financial aid, um, is a huge part of the decision making process. And this can look very different at public versus private institutions. Um, so one of the things that we spoke about was in state versus out of state tuition. Um, so as a reminder for, um, public institutions, there is typically a difference between in state and out of state tuition.

That difference can be Pretty substantial. Um, so for some public institutions, you can see it costing twice as much for out of state students to attend versus in state. Um, we talked a little bit, um, about one of the institutions that I previously worked at, um, Georgia Tech. So I’ll use that as an example, um, as we talk about in state versus out of state tuition, as well as state scholarships.

Um, so in Georgia, Where I live, um, the lottery funds merit scholarships for high school graduates, um, that graduate with, um, a GPA over 3.0 or 3.5. Um, Florida also has, um, similar scholarships and there are many other states that also, um, guarantee funding to students who stay in state. Um, with this, our students that go to an institution like a Georgia Tech or UGA, um, the state is paying for all of their in state tuition, um, if they meet a certain high school GPA.

Um, so, It can be a really affordable option for in state students to stay in states like Georgia or Florida. Take some of those same schools that are affordable for in state students. Let’s use UGA as an example. The tuition is more than twice that amount for out of state students and they do not get the state funding.

And so a school that is very affordable for someone who lives in that state can be very unaffordable for someone who lives outside of the state. So it is incredibly important to think about, um, what resources your state offers for students to stay in state. Um, and if you are looking at public colleges, um, outside of your state, um, do not think that just because they’re public, that they are more affordable.

It is super important to look up what the out of state tuition is for those colleges. You also find as an out-of-state student that receiving scholarships at public institutions that are not in your state can be pretty difficult. Um, so that may be something that you want to consider as you are making your college list, particularly if finances, um, is going to weigh into the type of school that you choose.

The last piece income, income threshold funding. Um, so at private institutions, you are more likely to find need based funding, no matter where you go to school, um, whether you are in state or out of state. Um, some of that need based finding may be based on household income. Um, some institutions are offering.

full rides to students that are under a certain household income. Um, I’ve seen household incomes as high as 150,000 for some private institutions that they are offering substantial funding. Um, so if you’re fall, fall in that household income that is either, Um, leaves you with high need, um, or even middle class.

Sometimes some of our middle class families feel like they’re in the middle and there’s not many resources available for them. Um, you may look into what that income cutoff is for some of those private institutions that may offer you some scholarships. Um, so this is certainly something to keep in mind.

Cost of attendance and funding looks very different at public versus private institutions. So. You all will be applying, if not this year, really, really soon, to some of the institutions that we’re speaking about. Um, how does the actual admissions process differ? Um, the first piece is geographic caps at public institutions.

Um, and so students may ask, is it harder for me to get into this school because I live out of state? The answer for most selective public institutions is, yes. It is harder to get in as an out of state student because the majority of the seats that they have in the class, um, are reserved for in state students.

Um, I’ve seen that number anywhere from 60 percent to 70 percent is typically what you see for in state students. Um, it depends on the state, depends on the college, um, but that’s a huge chunk of the class. So if 70 percent of the students in that institution come from the state. That means only 30 percent of that class comes from out of state.

Mix in international students with that. You may be vying for a really small percentage of the incoming class. Um, so that brings me to selectivity. Selectivity at public institutions can look very different depending where you live and where you’re from. Um, so one of the things to think about, um, is making sure that your list, um, has a good variety of institutions, uh, that are going to work well for you.

If you’re an in state student that may be looking at some of the public institutions in your state, or putting on some private institutions that will open up your chances of, um, actually being admitted. If you have a school, let’s use University of Michigan as example, um, on your list. Um, it’s a public institution.

Um, it’s a selective institution, but you’re really, really interested in it. And you’re concerned about selectivity. Um, ask your admissions counselors, what is the acceptance rate for in state students. Versus out of state students. That is oftentimes public knowledge. Um, you may even be able to search that.

Um, they should be willing to share that information with you because those numbers do look different. You’ll even have some institutions that will have different decision plans for in state versus out of state students. I noticed. Uh, UGA this year, um, will have a different release date for their early action applicants for Georgia students versus students that are out of state.

Um, so again, definitely ask those questions about how being an in state student or an out of state student affects your admissions process. Um, and then lastly, application strategy. We have tons of resources here at CollegeAdvisor on how to pick the best application plan for you. Is it early decision, early action, regular decision?

Um, but if you are applying to some of the public institutions, um, you may benefit from applying early decision or early action. Um, these are earlier plans that allow you more. Flexibility and where you’ll enroll. Um, and these are also ways to show institutions that you’re interested in them. Um, so certainly looking at, um, those early decision and early action rounds, if you are applying to public institutions in which you do not live in that state.

Um, for private institutions, all of these things look different. Um, there is no geographic cap at these institutions. Um, so you should find, um, relatively similar admit rates for in state versus out of state students. Um, selectivity at private institutions. Um, if we’re talking about some of the top ranked institutions that we covered earlier, um, in which those are mostly Ivy League, um, and top 20 schools, they are already selective.

But it is not based on where you live, whether it’s in state or out of state. Um, and then also some of the rules apply the same for application strategy. If you’re going to apply to a private institution that is highly selective, um, considering early decision or early action can be helpful for you. Um, because those are ways that you can, um, let the institution know that you’re interested in them.

So which type of college is better, more prestigious? Um, or should I choose? Um, I think there are, um, this is a very subjective question, but never fails. Someone wants to know which one is better. Um, and there really isn’t a straightforward answer. Um, there are equal amounts. of highly ranked and impressive private and public institutions.

Um, the list that we went over earlier, uh, private institutions, um, yes, most of the schools that are highly ranked on the top 20 colleges and universities are But that does not mean that they are inherently more prestigious as a group. And in fact, in some regions, you will find some public institutions and alumni networks having more pull.

So, you know, for example, you may find that, um, Getting your engineering degree from, um, Virginia, um, or from Michigan, um, is something that is highly respected in that specific region. Um, or that, uh, getting a law degree from certain private institutions, um, is is more well respected. Um, so I think it depends completely on.

the region. Um, I think it depends on the major and what you’re choosing to study. Um, instead of focusing on will this look more impressive to employers, outsiders, um, you should really focus on what institution is going to be the best fit for you and what you want to do when you graduate. Um, so let’s talk about we talk about fit a lot in college admissions.

Um, and I want to go over just a profile of who might be a good fit for a public university as well as a private institution. Um, so for public institutions. What type of student would be a good fit? I would say it is a student that thrives in a large school setting. Um, this could be someone who went to a large high school and loved it and did well.

Um, and they don’t see themselves on a small quaint campus. Um, or this could be someone who went to a small high school and is really wanting to spread their wings and be on a larger campus, be in larger class sizes. Um, It doesn’t matter necessarily where you come from, but really thinking about what you want in your college experience.

Um, if you want to attend large D1 sporting events, so if that’s something that you have in your mind, um, when it comes to your college experience, then a public institution may be a good fit for you. If you live in a state that offers all high school graduates with a 3.0 or 3.5 scholarship, um, public institutions would be a great, um, avenue to explore because that means there are some affordable options in your backyard.

Um, and if you’re interested in exposure to research in the undergraduate years, um, not to say that you can’t find this at private institutions, um, but you will likely find more, um, opportunities and greater access to research at a public university. So, what type of student would be a good fit for a private institution?

Um, if you already know that you’re interested, uh, in a top 10 or Ivy League institution only, um, all of the Ivy Leagues are available. or private colleges. Um, then private institutions would be something that might dominate your list. Um, if you want to study out of state, so, um, the financial benefits, um, of a public institution typically only matter if you’re going, if you’re in state and staying in your state.

If you know you want to leave your state anyway, um, then public and private institutions begin to cost about the same amount of money. Private institutions typically will have smaller class sizes. So if that’s something that’s important to you in your college experience, private institutions might work well.

An intimate campus environment, similar to the small class sizes, you’re more likely to know most of the people in your freshman class, get to know staff and faculty across the campus. Um, if you have interest in a niche college, um, experience, so liberal arts institutions are, um, overwhelmingly private institutions, um, women’s colleges, um, as well as religious colleges, overwhelmingly private, um, and then last increased academic student success rate.

resources. Um, all institutions have academic and student success resources. Do not get me wrong. But because private institutions are smaller, typically the resource to student ratio is a bit higher. Um, so you may have more resources for majors, more resources for first generation students, um, all of these kind of more intimate and hands on services.

Anesha: Okay, awesome. Thanks so much Chelsea for that thoughtful breakdown, um, between private and public schools. We’re going to transition over to our Q& A portion of today’s webinar. If you are having any challenges with submitting questions in the Q& A, you might have to log out and log back in via the link that you received in your email and not through the CollegeAdvisor webinar portal page, but otherwise we will go ahead and get started.

So my first question for you, and you spoke to this a little bit in talking about class sizes and it being preference, but have you seen or are you aware of a large difference with class sizes or student to faculty ratios compared between public and private schools and how that might impact the learning experience for students?

Chelsea: Yeah, um, so I would say, um, if we take the quintessential public institution, which is large and your typical private institution that is small. Um, yeah, there’s absolutely a difference in ratio. Um, and, um, You know, at private institutions that are quite small, you may see, uh, student to faculty ratios somewhere around that 15 to 1 mark, even lower at some liberal arts colleges, um, at public institutions, um, that number is much higher.

One of the things to, I think that you, you can ask admissions reps, um, just because there is an attractive ratio. So let’s say you’re looking at a state flagship, your University of Florida, your University of Georgia, your LSU, so on and so forth, um, really large institutions, they may have a ratio of faculty to students.

That’s maybe around 25 or 30. That does not mean the majority of your classes will have 25 or 30 people. Um, you can ask things like, um, in my freshman biology class, what is the average size? Um, when you ask questions like that, you find that the average size of that class may be 350 to 400 people. Um, more often than not, that will not be the case at a small private institution.

Their version of a large class may be 75 students. Um, and so it’s really important to ask those questions. If you’re going on a campus tour, um, and you’re getting to see a classroom, um, maybe they show you a small classroom size. Um, it’s fair to ask how many of my classes will actually be this small? Can I see one of the larger lecture size classes?

Um, that will really dig into the reality of what those classes look like. Um, also. There is no, um, kind of blanket. All big classes are bad. All small classes are good. Um, some students. Love big classes. Some students like being a number and and not having to feel like they’re going to be called on in every moment and and held accountable in that public academic sphere.

So I went to a larger public institution. I didn’t mind being in a freshman lecture hall with 200 or 300 people. It didn’t bother me. Um, but for some students that may not be ideal. Um, and so I think it’s important to find out, um, what’s best for you and where you would thrive. Um, and so getting on campus, seeing what they’re, If you can arrange shadowing, um, a course or a peer, a friend that went to your high school, those are great ways to see how you’ll be able to adapt to whatever that experience is.

Anesha: So there’s one question that I feel like it has some presumptions around public schools, but I’ll just read it out. What are the potential advantages and disadvantages of attending a public school in terms of class flexibility, meaning general education requirements and the ability to customize your academic path?

Chelsea: Um, so And it was at a public institution. Is that correct? Yes.

Anesha: Yes. I think the presumption is that public schools are going to be a little bit more stringent, have less, um, opportunities to explore different types of majors, uh, from the lens of like the, you know, private liberal arts college. Like, are, are you going to have that same type of flexibility at a public school?

Chelsea: Yeah. Um, so it will not follow the liberal arts model, but that does not mean that you can’t explore. Um, that doesn’t mean that you can’t change your mind once, twice, maybe three times. Um, I think the nature of college now is that we know that students change their mind and they become passionate about things their first semester of junior year and might have to course correct what they’re doing.

Um, so no, I think there’s, um, Equal levels of flexibility, um, depending on what the student needs and what the student wants. Um, now, if we are looking at liberal arts institutions specifically and comparing it to public institutions, um, liberal arts colleges are designed for you to explore on the front end.

Um, so it gives you kind of this exposure to a number of disciplines early on. Um, and it And allows you to either go forth with your intended major, um, or easily change to something else and not feel like you’ve put too many credits in one major or put too much time. So you may find at a public institution.

Um, you, let’s say you decide to change your major sophomore year, you may have some of those freshman year credits that now will go to electives and may not go to your new major. Um, but I still think as a rule of thumb, you can pretty much go through up into the sophomore year, your entire 1st year, your entire 2nd year and still change your major and it’s no harm, no foul.

Anesha: Oh, this is an interesting question. What is the difference between the professor caliber, um, and talent at private schools?

Chelsea: That’s a great question. Um, not necessarily. Um, now, one thing I think is interesting at public institutions, because there is this research component, um, I think you have a diversity of faculty members in, um, in a good way.

Um, so you have faculty that, um, have worked in industry, um, you have faculty that maybe sometimes say, still work in industry, um, that are involved in really substantial groundbreaking, um, research. I think you may even have more access to that at a top ranked public institution, um, versus a private institution that that part may be my own opinion.

I won’t say that that’s That’s law. Um, but at a top, if you compare a top ranked public institution to a top ranked private institution, talent is the same. I would say your public institution people who have their hands in research may provide a more dynamic teaching experience. Um, just depends on what you’re looking for to that.

I just want to add, um, something that you can ask admissions reps. If that’s something of interest to you, um, ask about, um, percentage of and I think that may even be that may even be a public knowledge on, you know, what Um, U. S. News in the ranking section. So percentage of PhD’s That are faculty there.

Um, percentage of tenured faculty and a great question for those public institutions is will a T.A. Teaching this class. You want to know whether you’ll be taught by faculty, tenured faculty, or will there be a teaching assistant teaching your class? Because that does happen quite a bit at those larger public institutions.

Anesha: I think it happens a bit at larger private institutions. So I think it’s a good question to ask. I think that’s a question relative to size and not necessarily public versus private. But I agree. Yeah. Um, okay. So, The next question is why, which is again a little presumptive, but why don’t public colleges have early decisions?

Chelsea: Um that I don’t think that that is a hard and fast rule Um, there are some public colleges that do have early decision plans um, the only piece that I would say for that is public colleges have more Institutional priorities. When we talk about governance, there’s more things that they can’t really control that are being dictated.

Um, so opening an early decision round may have kind of more stipulations than if you’re applying to a private institution. So still possible, but there’s other factors at play. Um, even if you do choose to apply early decision.

Anesha: And I think separate from the early decision plan, public schools, I think, and some private schools are more likely to have an earlier deadline for eligibility for scholarships, even though it’s not called ED, there’s still a benefit to applying early at certain public institutions.

Chelsea: Yeah, I mean, I’m of the mind that there’s always a benefit of applying early everywhere. Um, my, my standpoint on, um, admissions plans are that it’s like a concert and colleges are selling tickets. There’s more tickets on day one than there are on day 90. Um, and so it, to me, it is always advantageous to apply earlier.

The only caveat there is, let’s say you’re someone who’s wanting to bring a grade up, um, or really try and make a big shift the fresh, uh, the first semester of senior year. Um, that’s still really late in the game. But for some people in certain scenarios, it may be worth it to kind of hold their cards and apply for regular.

The majority of people, I think earlier is better. There’s more resources and there’s more seats available. No matter how you think about it,

Anesha: the earlier you

Chelsea: apply.

Anesha: Yeah, thanks for that. I like that analogy, though. I got really distracted and I was like, any concert right now for me is Beyonce and Renaissance.

I was like, oh, she’s gonna make a Renaissance reference. Anyway, um, you weren’t and that’s fine. But that’s where my head is. You can be whatever concert you want. As it should be. All right, before I let Chelsea get back to some questions, gonna do a quick PSA for any folks in the room who aren’t currently working with us, we know the admissions process is overwhelming and you all have a set of questions.

So we have a team of over 300 former admissions officers and admissions experts. We’re ready to help you and your families navigate the process through one on one advising sessions. You can take the next step in your college admissions journey and sign up For a free 45 to 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team by using the QR code that is on the screen.

During that conversation, we’ll review your extracurriculars, talk about application strategy, discuss alignment with your college list, and outline tools you’ll need to stand out in a competitive admissions world. Um, and in thinking about your college list, absolutely finding that balance between the number of publics, privates, safety target reaches, et cetera, will be a part of that conversation as well.

But we will get back to our Q& A. My next question for you, Chelsea, um, is how does, and you may not be able to answer this, but how does the diversity and inclusivity of the student body differ between public and private colleges, and how might that impact one’s overall college experience?

Chelsea: Oh, that’s a loaded question, especially now.

Anesha: Yes.

Chelsea: So in a, in a few ways, um, I already touched on the geographic diversity and how that just naturally will look different at a private institution, um, because they do not have the commitment to serve NSAIT students in the same way. Um, so yes, there is geographic diversity, um, and I would say that, yeah, that’s always, um, a benefit to students in the classroom and on campuses.

Um, now if we think about diversity, um, and inclusive nature as Um, a value as part of the mission as part of programming, um, that will look different depending on, um, if their institution is public or private. Um, it’s also, you know, helpful to look at some of what’s going on in that community. State. Um, so we do know that, you know, certain states right now are pulling back on some diversity initiatives, um, and, um, diverse, uh, resources on campuses.

And so that can look different if that’s something that you’re looking for as part of your experience. Um, you do want to think about, um, what’s going on in the state university system and how that might impact availability at that public college. Um, that is new, um, as of the past year, um, but I think I would be remiss not to not to mention that as, you know, that’s something that is developing, um, in some specific states and we may see that, um, kind of growing to other states.

But I will say just as a general rule of thumb, I don’t think that, um, any one college, public or private, is more inclusive or more diverse. Um, it is finding a college that has the same values as you, um, and a place that, um, you’re happy with the diversity that’s there, um, and feel that you’ll be supported and welcome there.

Anesha: Thank you. Um, I know that was a loaded question. I’m sorry. I know waiting for the Supreme Court to come out and then everything this month do so. Yeah, but you did. Um, so one student asked, Can a student receive both academic and athletic scholarships? And does the distribution of those types of scholarships differ? Between public and private schools.

Chelsea: Um, yes. So students can receive both athletic and academic scholarships. Um, I think it is less to do about whether the school is private or public and more. So, um, the competitive nature of the program. Um, are you playing a sports game? sport like football for a D one institution?

Um, or are you participating in a sport like fill in the blank because I don’t want to preference any sports over the other, um, fill in the blank of what another sport might be that may not be as competitive, that may not have as many resources attached to playing that sport. Um, and so that is mostly the differentiating factor for students that are interested in playing a sport like Let’s call it football or basketball at a D1 institution.

Typically, the scholarships that are offered are full scholarships because it is a full time job to play sports at those types of institutions. Um, and depending on the time commitment, um, that your sport might have and the funding attached to that sport, um, some of those scholarships may be lower and they may put you with a partial academic scholarship.

Um, so absolutely it is possible. Um, if you are exploring the athletic route, know that those two pieces typically run parallel and they don’t always intersect unless you make them intersect. So make sure that you’re doing your due diligence on the athletic side as well as the academic side and asking questions that bridge those two worlds. As often as you can.

Anesha: Thank you. Um, someone asked in public in a private versus public institution in a non diverse state. Are there diversity percentages to be met?

Chelsea: Okay, say that one again.

Anesha: I’m gonna, I’m gonna, I’m just gonna go. I’m gonna throw some states under the bus. If you are attending a public school in, let’s say, Iowa, right?

Um, are there diversity, does like the University of Iowa have diversity percentages or diversity quotas that they are trying to meet, knowing that they are not in the most diverse state?

Chelsea: Yeah, great question. So, um, they probably do. However, that is typically not public knowledge to anyone. Right? So, um, they’re not going to be a part of the application or admissions process.

It may not be something that’s like talked about from the admission staff. Um, most institutions, public, private, I don’t care where you are, um, have agreed that being diverse is a good thing. Now how those institutions go about and how they define diversity is what looks different, um, across the United States.

Um, so yes, that is always part of the conversation. Um, but in higher ed, when we Think about diversity. Um, it is. It’s not just race and ethnicity, um, it is gender diversity. When I first started working at Georgia Tech, there was this big push to have more women in engineering and computer science, um, so that was a huge element there.

Um, you have institutions that are trying to bring in more international students. You have institutions that are looking for more regional diversity, right? Um, I’m a public school in the South and I really want more kids from New York here, um, or more academic diversity. We really need more architecture students.

Um, so, Make sure that you’re being specific when you ask about diversity for institutions, because yes, all of those elements that I just named matter to admissions folks, but very rarely are you knowing how they are wanting to shape their class.

Anesha: Thanks for that. Um, and I was going to say, and you addressed this, but I just want to also follow up that with public institutions.

They might have specific state mandates that, so there are some institutions that will preference or give special treatment for students who identify as Native or Indigenous. There are certain public institutions that are already HBCUs that are HSIs. Um, so keeping all of those in mind that there are some schools that are targeted at, you know, serving specific communities in their charter upon creation.

Um, so I just wanted to throw that in there. Are there any specific academic programs or majors that are more commonly offered at public colleges versus those at private colleges? I

Chelsea: don’t think so. Um, I would say that you may find, um, generally you’ll find a larger portfolio of majors offered at public institutions.

Uh, but no, I wouldn’t say there’s a rule of thumb of where you might find certain types of majors. Um, I do see engineering. Um, so kind of your top engineering schools typically live in the public. University list. Um, so that’s one example. Um, but it really depends, depends on the actual program that you’re studying.

But engineering is one that came to my mind. Um, a lot of those top schools are public.

Anesha: I wonder if like sometimes it leads towards vocational, because I have a student who’s interested in a very specific. type of art design, but it’s like already kind of in the industry. And as we’re looking for programs from him, we’re more like, we’re finding more of them at public institutions because I don’t know if there’s more of a quicker vocational swing at some of those public schools.

Um, but that might just be something that might be specific to my student or just something to keep in mind.

Chelsea: Yeah. I mean, I think that’s possible. And then also not to make liberal arts colleges and private School synonymous, but, um, liberal arts colleges, very kind of classical majors. You know, you’re not going to get anything to too fancy, um, or, or cutting edge.

Typically, they’re pretty much standard majors that have been around for a while. So, yeah, I do think you may see a little bit more of, um, Um, The up and coming majors, um, at a public institution. And I think that goes back to, um, them having kind of more of a pulse on what’s going on in industry and your faculty that are kind of 1 leg in 1 leg out involved in research. So, um, yeah, I could see that that making sense

Anesha: 1 topic that we didn’t talk about, but, um, what are the differences in terms of housing or availability or quality between public and private colleges?

Chelsea: So I think that one is probably school specific. Um, I would say, you know, public colleges again, typically tend to be bigger because they are of service to the state.

Um, they may have more responsibility and being able to provide, um, certain numbers of housing, um, housing students for a longer amount of time than a private institution. Um, but I, I wouldn’t say it’s a huge difference. It may have more to do with the actual campus and the city in which the campus is in, um, than whether they’re private or public.

I think generally there is a housing crunch across colleges right now, um, as enrollment grows as, um, housing becomes more expensive. Um, there’s challenges on, on both sides with housing. Um,

Anesha: yes. Yeah. I knew it was going to be state specific, school specific, location specific, but I still wanted to at least bring housing to the floor of our conversation.

Um, one question I have for you is, do you think there is a strategic number of how many public and private colleges a student should have on their list? Are they, should they be keeping that in those, um, those factors in mind as they move forward with, uh, building their college

Chelsea: Um, I, I think it depends on, um, where if a student is looking to leave their home state or not, um, if you’re looking to leave your home state, um, then saying you should have 5 public institutions on your list, um, may not be reasonable for cost alone and knowing that the financial aid package may not be that attractive for you as an out of state student.

Um, noun, If you know, the large campus looks good, the research opportunities look good for you. Um, then they may dominate your list. I think it is completely up to, um, the student and what they think would be the best experience and fit for them. Um, now, if you are. interested or open to, um, studying in your state, public institutions can make great safety schools.

Um, maybe not your uber selective public institution in your state, but if you have a moderately selective public institution in your state, that could be a great safety school because it may be something that is also affordable for you. Um, and so if you’re open to staying in your state, I would definitely.

put two, maybe three, um, public institutions

Anesha: on your list. I would only push back in relation to depending on the public, uh, institution in your state. So I know for California and New York, there probably is a strategy because you have like 30 some odd campuses that you can be eligible for. But for, I know that though, like CUNY, SUNY, CSU, UCs are very different systems.

Oh, state. I’m not even familiar if other states have systems comparable to to New York or California, um, with the number of campuses. But, um, yeah, that would be my only thing. If you’re in New York and California, you might want to be having a different kind of conversation about which is, yeah, absolutely.

Chelsea: And I think we could probably do a whole webinar on the UC system. Um, yes, it is. It is absolutely a different beast, and I think it is One of the few groups or systems of public institutions where they are regarded generally higher than private institutions. Um, and it’s kind of the chosen, um, institution for all of the in state students and a whole lot of out of state students.

Yeah, so, um, I agree. Thank you for that.

Anesha: Yeah, I know. I just dealing with CUNY, SUNY, and UCs and CSUs. Um, they’re, they are absolutely different. Um, but I’m going to go ahead and leave us there. Uh, thank you so much, Chelsea, for all of your time and for filling so many of those questions. Thank you everyone for coming out.

And, um, we hope you’ve deepened your understanding of public versus private colleges and feel more informed to building your college list. Also, we hope that you will join us next for our future sessions. Uh, this month, we’re going to close out with a session on finding your college fit on Wednesday. I’m sorry on Tuesday, June 27th.

So join us if you are interested in continuing this conversation until next time, take care and have a great evening. And thank you again, Chelsea, for your time today.