Some of you will wonder whether you should apply to a public or private colleges to study in US. Does it even matter? How does it make a difference?
Well, even though most of you are driven to the US for one of two reasons:
- Immigrating to US
- Passion for subject matter
These might be on the top of the list of reasons to study in US. However, you might narrow it down to a few universities that you are deciding between. In such cases, one of the factors you might want to consider is whether the university is a private or a public university.
What’s the Difference?
A private university is funded by university tuition and private individuals and alumni; whereas a public university is mostly funded by the federal and state government.
- Since the private university is funded mostly by tuition, the tuition rates are much higher for private institutions.
- Private institutions are more efficient in the management of their systems, and the quality of their facilities are better.
- Most of the students in a public university will be from the local state; and most of the scholarships will be allocated to local students. This does reduce the quality of students initially accepted into these universities; as the best students from out of state compete for a limited number of seats at the state universities.
- The class sizes will be much higher for a public university; leading to a large student to faculty ratio. This leads to lower time per student for the professors.
So What Should You Choose?
It really depends on what kind of university experience you are looking for? Are you looking for a university that lets you graduate with less debt? With more students on campus and more program offerings? Are you ok with navigating through complex bureaucracy? Then you should choose the public college.
Do you want small class sizes? And a college that pushes you to get a good job after graduation? How about access to superior resources? Then a private college is right for you?
Abhishek Kumar
Author, Budget Travel Guide
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