Passage 3

Is Harvard worth it? Conventional wisdom says yes. But with the price of degree from America’s most famous university and other elite private colleges now surpassing $125,000, many families and a number of economists— are not so sure. Here’s a look at the evidence.

For America’s high school seniors, April is the cruelest month. That’s when colleges flood the postal system with news of who has won a place in next fall’s freshman class. For more than a few families, a difficult decision will follow: Is it worth paying some $125,000 to give their child an education at an elite best private college? Or would her future be just as bright if she went to less expensive school?

These questions have no easy answers. Of course, that’s not the impression you get from the $500-miUion-a-year college-admissions industry, with its magazine rankings, test prep courses, and guidebooks. Certainly many neurotic boomer parents—and their stressed-out resume-building teenagers—assume that it is always better to choose Harvard over Big State U. because of Harvard’s presumably superior educational environment, better alumni connections, and more lucrative on-campus recruiting opportunities.

It’s true that big law firms, major teaching hospitals, and investment banks—even the offices of FORTUNE— are stuffed with Ivy Leaguers. It’s also true that if you want a career in big leading firms in the U.S., a gilt-edged diploma is a distinct advantage. Then again, there’s plenty of anecdotal evidence that an elite education is hardly necessary. The majority of top CEOs surveyed by FORTUNE in 1990s did not attend an elite college.

So what kind of return is there likely to be on that $125,000 investment? And how does it compare with the return on a less expensive but also less prestigious education? The academic evidence is murky. To start with the basics: College pays. On average, a person with an undergraduate degree now earns almost twice as much as someone with only a high school diploma, up from 1.5 times in 1975.

The economic literature on the payoff of graduating from an elite college, however, as opposed to any college, is far less conclusive. Several studies during the past decade found a connection between higher future earnings and attendance at college with high SAT scores. Most of the research concluded that for each 100-point increase in the average SAT score, a graduate could expect a 3% to 7% increase in lifetime’s earnings.

But the studies compared schools, not people. You would expect graduates of selective schools—which attract successful students—to have successful careers. (It would be stunning if they didn’t.) What such studies do not measure is how an individual’s earnings are affected by the choice of college. Researchers found that those who went to the more prestigious schools reported higher earnings.

But SAT scores are not everything. Admission offices at elite schools include many other criteria in their decisions—grades, extracurricular activities, recommendations, essays, interviews. These factors may reveal abilities, like good communication skills, which are far more valuable in the workplace than a perfect 600. Because economists have no data on these traits, they term them “unobserved”. But they are hardly unimportant. Until recently, no one had tried to control unobserved characteristics in measuring the effect of an elite education on earnings.

Why April is the crudest month in U.S.?

It is better to choose Harvard rather than state university, for the following factors EXCEPT ________.

Which of the following statements is NOT true?

“Murky” in paragraph 5 means ________.

What is the most appropriate title for this passage?