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While you may end up deciding to apply to a mixture of public and private colleges, you should be aware that each type has its own general set of characteristics that may be more or less aligned with your preferences.  Which type of school is cheaper? Which colleges are bigger, and what opportunities exist in private vs public universities?

In this article, I’ll discuss the differences between public and private colleges that you should consider in your search.

What Are Public and Private Colleges?

Before we get to the main differences, let’s take a second to define public and private colleges. Public colleges are higher educational institutions that are  set up and funded by state governments.  Well-known public colleges include the University of California, Ohio State University, the University of Alabama, and the University of Texas.

Private colleges are higher educational institutions that are  set up and funded by individuals outside of the government.  Private colleges may be either “non-profit” or “for-profit”. 

Non-profit private colleges are solely focused on providing a quality education for students and helping them to achieve academic and career goals. They answer to a financially disinterested board of trustees, not an owner and shareholders. 

For-profit private colleges exist as businesses at the mercy of shareholders. Their goal is to turn a profit first and foremost. Though they strive to provide a quality education, if a program isn’t making them money, they will cut it even if that's not in the best interests of their students. 

Most reputable colleges are non-profit. This includes big names like Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. For-profit schools like University of Phoenix, Devry, and ITT Tech generally have poor reputations for helping their students and delivering a quality education. For the purposes of this guide, when we refer to private colleges we'll be talking about non-profit colleges only.

What Are the Main Differences Between Public and Private Colleges?

Funding and tuition costs.

Public colleges are mostly funded by state governments.  The government pays for the operating costs of public colleges and universities and oversees the operation of public colleges through boards and trustees. This influx of government money means that students do not pay the real cost of attendance - they pay the cost after significant subsidies from the government.  For this reason, public universities can afford to offer lower tuition prices on average.  Average tuition at public colleges for the 2014-15 school year was $9,139 for in-state students and $22,958 for out of state students.

Private colleges, on the other hand, are not funded by the government in any way.  They rely on alumni contributors and tuition to pay for their programs.  This usually forces students to carry the full cost of their education, leading to higher tuition prices.  Average tuition at private colleges for the 2014-15 school year was $31,231.

Class Size and Demographics

Public colleges tend to have larger class sizes , especially at the introductory level.  This may result in less direct access to professors and fewer class discussions. Many students come from in-state because of the lower tuition prices and higher admissions rate, so there may be less geographical diversity in the student body.

Private colleges have smaller class sizes on average.  This means closer relationships between students and professors and more class discussion opportunities. There will also be more geographical diversity in the student body since in-state and out of state students are not given different tuition prices.

Degree and Program Offerings

Public colleges tend to have a larger student body and offer a wider variety of degrees and programs.   The largest universities in the US are public, and some host undergraduate populations of over 40,000 students. At a public college, you'll be able to find pretty much any type of major program you want. However, you'll usually have to be more of a self-starter because there is less direct guidance from advisors.

Private colleges don't have the same large range of major choices as public colleges, and they tend to have smaller student bodies overall.   There are some private colleges that have less than 500 students total. Private colleges make up for their lack of scope with more specific curriculum requirements or a specialized focus in liberal arts or engineering. They are also more likely to have excellent advisory systems and allow students to design their own courses of study.

Research Opportunities

Public universities, due to their abundance of government funding, often have cutting edge research facilities and virtually endless resources.   Even with all of these possibilities, it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd and get the support of professors for your research efforts. But if you’re willing to put yourself out there, public universities have some of the best opportunities in the country for intense academic research, especially in the hard sciences.

Private colleges may have less resources and facilities overall, but they make up for it with easy access to professors and individual encouragement of student research efforts.  Many private colleges institute specialized research programs and opportunities for students. With small class sizes, you’ll have more of a chance to get close to your professors and potentially work with them on projects.

Campus Life

Public colleges usually have vibrant communities with a wide variety of extracurricular opportunities and a thriving party scene.   There’s something for everyone within the social scene, and you’ll find many people who share your interests no matter how obscure they are. At public colleges, there's always something going on.

Private colleges may still have very diverse communities and lots of extracurricular opportunities, but everything typically exists on a smaller scale. 

Those are just some basic differences between private and public colleges. Remember, they're generalizations. Some private colleges are very large and may have more of a public college atmosphere. It’s up to you to research specific schools and learn more about their characteristics.

Which Type of College Is a Better Fit for You?

You may be more suited for private or public colleges depending on your academic goals and social preferences.  Many students apply to both types of schools, so don’t assume that you have to choose one or the other yet. Here are a couple of questions you can ask yourself to decide whether private or public colleges will be a better fit: 

Do You Enjoy Meeting Lots of New People? 

If you’re an outgoing person, you may be happier in the social environment of a large public college.  At these types of colleges, you'll constanly meet new people and be presented with opportunities to try different activities . You can expect a wide variety of social experiences with lots of on-campus events and parties. 

At most private colleges, the student body is smaller, so the social scene may offer fewer options and feel more claustrophobic. However, this can also result in familial feeling amongst students and a more comfortable, friendly atmosphere.  If you’re less outgoing and enjoy seeing people you know around all the time, the private college scene may be more your speed.  Keep in mind that some private colleges are on the larger side and some public colleges are on the smaller side, so it’s important to consider each school’s characteristics on an individual basis. 

Are You Interested in a Specific Program?

If you have a particular course of study in mind, make sure the colleges where you apply have the appropriate programs and resources. As outlined in the previous section, public colleges may have more advanced research facilities that will be useful if you plan on going into the hard sciences.

If you think you're more interested in the humanities, it may not make a difference whether you go to a public or private college. Even if public colleges have more extensive libraries, private colleges usually have the wherewithal to request materials for students from other off-site libraries. Since private colleges offer more flexibility in their programs, you might think about attending a private college if your interests are diverse and might not fit neatly into one premade major track.   

Are You an Independent Learner?

In general, if you're more of a self-starter, you will thrive at a public college. Even though public colleges have many resources, it's hard to know where to begin if you want to take full advantage of these opportunities. If you're naturally a resourceful person who's willing to go after what you want rather than waiting for it to come to you, a public college could be great for you.

On the other hand, if you think you'll need more guidance to navigate your college experience, a private college could be a better fit for your personality. In a less overwhelming atmosphere with more direct supervision from professors and academic advisors, you'll have a better chance of realizing your full potential.  

Public vs. Private Colleges: Doing Your Research

Now it’s time to actually research some schools based on your preferences. You can  start with College Navigator , which is a search tool that allows you to look for schools based on location, program type, and, of course, public or private status. If you’re looking for private schools, I would recommend checking the box for non-profit schools. 

You’ll get results that show all the public or private schools in the area of the country that you’ve specified. You can look at the statistics for these schools and add them to your favorites if any of them strike your fancy.  You can also compare them side by side to see what the best options are.

After searching on College Navigator, you might consider creating a profile on Cappex , where you can find more colleges and get statistics about campus life alongside student reviews.   This is also a great place to create a list of colleges that interest you and compare them. If you complete your profile on Cappex, you’ll also get more recommendations for colleges that match up with your preferences. Remember, many students apply to both public and private colleges, so if your list includes a few of each type that’s totally fine!

Public and private colleges differ in the ways they are funded: public colleges are funded by state governments, while private colleges are funded by private individuals and organizations.  Public and private colleges also have many characteristics that set them apart including tuition, enrollment size, social scene, and program offerings.

You may decide to go to either a public or private school based on how well your personality and academic goals align with the general characteristics of each type of college.  Make sure that you do your research and get the specific facts on each school before judging just based on whether it's public or private.  You may end up applying to both private and public schools because there are so many great options in each category!

What's Next?

You'll have to make a lot of other decisions in the college admissions process besides whether you want to go to a public or private school. Check out my articles about whether you should go to college close to home and whether you should go to a large or small college.

If you think you might be interested in going to a small college, take a look at my list of the best small colleges in the US.  If you're interested, you should also check out these articles on the biggest and smallest colleges in the country.

For a complete overview of the college search process, read my comprehensive guide on how to choose a college.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Samantha is a blog content writer for PrepScholar. Her goal is to help students adopt a less stressful view of standardized testing and other academic challenges through her articles. Samantha is also passionate about art and graduated with honors from Dartmouth College as a Studio Art major in 2014. In high school, she earned a 2400 on the SAT, 5's on all seven of her AP tests, and was named a National Merit Scholar.

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The Advantages & Disadvantages of Studying at a Private University

What Does College Tuition Pay For?

When sending off your college applications to the higher education institutions of your choice, it may be tough to decide if a private university is the better option over a publicly funded school. There are quite a few remarkable differences between a public and private university. The main difference lies in how the school is funded. Because of this, a private school can offer pathways to positions in your chosen field through personal relationships and can open doors to opportunities.

Funding for public universities and private colleges also greatly affects tuition and the related costs for attending the school. If you are expecting to apply to a private university, do your homework before beginning the entry paperwork and writing your essay.

Public and Private School Tuition Breakdown

Public colleges were originally founded by state governments to offer citizens a chance to gain a higher education at an affordable rate. State governments continue to subsidize public universities and community colleges. Board members and trustees are held accountable for how the federal and state funds are spent. The public funds keep the cost of attending a public college lower than private school tuition.

A private school receives funds through donors, investors and private contributions from family and alumni. Tuition rates tend to be higher, sometimes significantly, because the college expects the attending student to carry the larger financial burden through parental funds, awards, grants or scholarships.

Aspects of a Private University

Private school admissions officials tend to be much more discerning in their screening process of incoming students. The process and rules usually are more rigorous for applying to private universities. A private college usually accepts a slew of scholarships. The admissions officials or guidance counselors often assist in locating lucrative financial aid for stellar students and offer financial incentives to stellar students.

While a private education may appear to be more beneficial and carry more prestige, there are some surprising advantages and disadvantages of a private education.

Advantages of a Private University

A private university tends to have smaller classes. Professors are then able to spend more time with individual students to support their academic pursuits. With a smaller student body, the school culture can be quite tight knit with a heavy emphasis on sports and group events.

While the tuition is higher, a private college is usually more involved in assisting its student body with finding financial aid through awards, grants and scholarships to offset the higher cost of attending the institution. In that respect, the pricier private school can end up costing just as much as the more affordable public college.

Private university advantages include a wider network of professionals with an invested interest in networking with the college’s more ambitious students.

Disadvantages of a Private University

Aside from the higher annual tuition and more competitive application process, there are a few ways in which a private college may not be as advantageous to attend as a public school.

One disadvantage of a private university is the small student body. Rules are more stringent for students who live on the campus of a private school. Some private universities insist that students follow rigid rules and request permission to leave campus under certain circumstances.

Top U.S. Private Universities

Both public and private universities can have stellar reputations. Before applying to any specific university, do your due diligence and check out the college’s reputation. A strict campus life may be just what you need to stay on track, or it may be too stifling for you to truly shine in your college career.

Some of the premiere private colleges include:

• University of Mount Olive
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Sierra Nevada College
• Harvard University
• Pomona College
• Bowdin College
• Duke University
• Dartmouth College
• Vanderbilt University

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Kimberley McGee is an award-winning journalist with 20+ years of experience writing about education, jobs, business trends and more for The New York Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal, Today’s Parent and other publications. She graduated with a B.A. in Journalism from UNLV. Her full bio and clips can be seen at www.vegaswriter.com.

Essays About University: Top 6 Examples and 6 Prompts

Our time in university is often one of the most critical points in our lives;  if you are writing essays about university, read our guide. 

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines a university as “ an institution of higher learning providing facilities for teaching and research and authorized to grant academic degrees .” Otherwise known as colleges, universities are the institutions in which students obtain their tertiary education, helping them pursue the careers they want. 

Regardless of your university’s prestige, taking your college education seriously is crucial. University prepares you to go into the field you want to work in, and it is regarded as essential for success and prosperity in life. The choices you make in and for university will affect your path forever.

6 Examples of Essays About University

1. compare and contrast between state university and private university by naomi moody, 2. a reflection on my college experience by tori harwell, 3. you don’t need college anymore, says google by david leibowitz, 4. on graduating in a pandemic by audrey huang.

• 5. ​My University Experience by Jenny

6. From Living for the Later to Living for the Now: A Reflection of My College Career by Trisha Kangas

1. is university really as daunting as it seems, 2. what lessons did your college experience teach you, 3. how did you grow throughout university, 4. the skills you need for university, 5. how can you best prepare for university, 6. is it necessary to attend university.

“Many people assume a public college is cheaper than a private college because of tuition fees are reduced for state residents. But the posted “sticker price” of a private college is rarely the real price. If a private college strongly appeals to you, consider waiting for its financial aid offer before making a final decision. More often than not, private colleges offer the scholarships and grants that significantly cut your actual cost, even bringing it close to the cost of a public college.”

Moody discusses the differences between public and private universities. A state university is more accessible and has various course options, while private university courses often specialize in specific fields and are more challenging to receive an entry. The price difference between public and private universities is more manageable if given financial aid, Moody writes. She believes that although both set students up for success, she is partial to private universities and would instead study in one. 

“I used to laugh at the people who told me college would go by in the blink of an eye. And then it did. Soak in every single second of these crazy, chaotic, stressful four years. Spend as much time with your friends as you can. The days go by faster and faster the closer you get to leaving. Take advantage of the time you do have.”

In her essay, Harwell gives tips on how to enjoy their years in university, based on her personal experiences. She encourages readers to take reasonable risks, say “yes,” find the right balance between academics and social life, and get involved to make friends. Most importantly, she wants readers to make the most of their college years and enjoy every moment, just as she did. You might also be interested in these essays about assessment .

“In Google’s report of their IT certification course, 61% did not have a four-year degree, typically complete the program in under six months, and earn a median annual wage of $54,760. To be blunt, university degrees are only as valuable as the weight applied by company hiring managers, and Google has just signaled that a $300 certificate has parity with a diploma.”

Leibowitz describes how university has become obsolete to some. Companies such as Google are allowing job applicants to work without a diploma, instead making them take an IT certification program. Other companies such as Levi’s and Gap have followed suit, allowing employees to complete a program in place of a degree. Leibowitz poses the idea of eliminating degree requirements to make work more accessible.

“Graduation has historically been all about projecting into the future — anticipating what’s to come, cherishing the bright spots within these precious college years, formation and self-discovery in an ever-accelerating landscape. Pandemic graduation seems to be about having the brakes thrown into our plans, and being forced to sit still and alone for a very long time.”

Huang reflects on her university experience in remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and imagines the future that her suitemates might live out, and how they have pursued their dreams or changed. Huang is mostly distraught at having to stop her education and an “inferior” graduation experience; however, she is relieved that she can reflect on her time in university, an experience she will treasure for a lifetime. 

5. ​ My University Experience by Jenny

“I would like to tell you that coming to Leeds Beckett on the Speech and Language Therapy course has been the best decision for my career, and I’ve had so much fun living here and making new friends. Making the most of my course’s opportunities, as well as all the opportunities Leeds Beckett gives you like volunteering aboard, joining sports teams and everything else is a really valuable experience which you won’t regret. Put in the work and you’ll get loads out of it!”

Jenny, a student at Leeds Beckett University, writes about how she returned to college after graduating in 2014. However, she wanted to pursue a different career, so she attended university again. She writes about her course requirements, job placements, and overall university experience, and she encourages people to try her course or attend her university if they are interested.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about online learning .

“Although it was maybe difficult for me to slow down and give myself a pat on the back for getting on the dean’s list, writing a 15 page short story I was really proud of, or being nominated for the Student Employee of the Year Award, I still did all of those things and that in itself is something to be proud of. And I think that’s where my focus should ultimately end up.”

Kangas reflects on her time in college, writing that she feels accomplished yet anxious simultaneously. She worked hard but remembered not to be too hard on herself, something she encouraged all students to practice. It is important to find a balance between academic achievement and mental health. She also reminds students not to be afraid of change but to have a positive outlook.

6 Helpful Writing  Prompts on Essays About University

Many say university entails the toughest years of your life, making children dread going to college. Based on your experiences, write about your experience in university and determine whether this claim is factual or not. 

In university, we learn a lot about ourselves and our world. Write about lessons or life skills you may have learned in college and how they have helped you today. Such as becoming more confident, learning to love yourself, connecting with people, or even pursuing new passions in life. Be sure to link your main idea back to how college can help you do better in the future.

For your essay, reflect on your college experience. Answer the question, “how did you grow as a person?” Write about your feelings throughout your university years, particularly how they changed, and describe any skills you may have learned. Be sure to use personal anecdotes for a more heartfelt perspective. 

Before attending university, you must equip yourself with specific skills to help you succeed. You must often obtain certain grades in specific classes to enter university. However, you also need personal skills such as communication, time management, and discipline to complete assignments. Write about some of these skills and explain why they are important. You can also explain how to hone these skills to improve your experience at university.

University can be daunting, especially for people leaving high school and moving city or state to attend university. In your essay, discuss how you can prepare yourself, physically and mentally, to attend university. What should college students know before they start the year? Be sure to use your personal experiences as a basis. You can also give examples of books or articles readers can look at for further knowledge. 

Many argue that university education has become unnecessary in the 21st century. Many famous entrepreneurs and business owners, such as Elon Musk , speak out against university education, saying that life experience and learning on the job are more valuable. Detail your stance on this issue and explain your reasoning. Be sure to support your argument with details and credible sources. 

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers .

If you still need help, our guide to grammar and punctuation explains more.

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Are Private Universities Actually Better Than Public Colleges?

Every country has its own educational system: In Finland, students are only given half an hour’s worth of schoolwork each night; in contrast, South Korean students are in school for 14 to 16 hours each day. No matter how distinct most school systems around the world might be, many have one common denominator; institutions in many, but not all, countries are categorized into two categories: public and private.

Some believe that private school education is inherently more prestigious and challenging than public schools, while others believe that public schools are just as reputable as their private counterparts. So which one is actually the best choice? The elusive answer to this question has been a mystery as long as this question existed.

Dramatic introductions aside, I am not bashing on anyone who attends either of these types of educational systems. I am just sharing my observations and experiences as an attendee of both. I currently attend the University of Southern California (USC) , which is a private university in downtown Los Angeles. Before that, I was enrolled in a public university within the University of California college system: UC Irvine located in Irvine, California. Two very distinct schools but with just about the same reputation within the state, although UK assignment help could assist with both.

To be perfectly clear, I am not speaking for all private and public universities in this country but just what I was able to deduce as a student from both types of school systems, specifically in California. And here is what I found:

The sole difference between private and public schools is how it is funded. Public schools receive the majority of their funding through the state government, whereas private institutions rely heavily on tuition and donations as their main source of income. That is the reason why tuitions at private institutions are inherently more expensive than public state schools.

Depending on the school, each semester at a public university will probably cost around $10,000 to $20,000. According to the College Board , the average cost of attendance at public universities for in-state students in 2018-19 is $21,370, including tuition, fees and housing. For out-of-state students, the average price for attending a public school is $37,430. Compared to a year’s tuition at a private university, it can cost $48,510 on average. At a private school, both in-state and out-of-state students pay the same amount of tuition. These are still big price tags for higher education.

When I was attending a public university, I found that my federal aid disbursement was able to cover the majority, if not the entirety, of my tuition, not including room, board and dissertation writing services . I cannot verify if this is true, but it’s a personal observation from my own disbursement that I found.

Also, it is important to note that just because someone pays more for their education, that doesn’t make their degree worth more. According to U.S News 2020 Best University Ranking, public institutions such as UC Berkeley, UCLA and University of Virginia all made the top 50 rankings. These are prestigious public universities just as much as any private universities on the list.

The student population at public universities is much bigger than private. For example, the University of Central Florida accommodates around 56,972. This is the largest university in America according to undergraduate enrollment in 2017. At a public university, it is common to have more than 100 students in lectures. These types of classes are not as common at a private university.

It is much harder for students to stand out in a lecture class with over 100 students. The only time to make connections is by attending office hours. Class sizes in a private institution are much smaller, which allows students to have more opportunities for one-on-one time with the professor. This is a perk in a private university.

At USC, class sizes range from 10 students to 60 students, but I have yet to encounter a class with over 100 students. However, since the student population and class sizes are smaller, there is more competition among peers who need to take the same classes. Due to the smaller class size, slots are limited for requirement classes, and competition becomes fierce.

For public schools, since the class size is so big, the variety of classes and time slots offered are much more diverse. A larger student body allows the institution to explore and experiment with different course topics. In the spring of 2019, UC Berkeley offered a class called “Next Generation Leaders: BTS,” where students will scrutinize the rising phenomenon of the South Korean Kpop sensation. There is more freedom to seek out classes you want at your university whereas private schools offer a more limited number of fun classes.

Diversity and Campus Life

While pubic universities actively admit students from out of state to boost its diverse population, those students are still reluctant about paying the out-of-state tuition unless the public school reputation exceeds it. Therefore, public universities’ demographics often reflect its own state demographic. At private universities, however, admissions have more flexibility in crafting the class that matches the school’s priorities, according to Jodi Walder-Biesanz, an independent education consultant with College Admission Coach LLC .

So Which Is Better?

After weighing all the pros and cons, the ultimate conclusion is that it all depends on you. Everyone is different, and every student learns differently. I know this is such an anti-climatic ending, but I can only speak for myself and share my personal experience on this matter.

As for someone who attended a public institution and is now currently enrolled in a private college, I genuinely liked my experiences at my public university better.

At Irvine, I felt more at comfortable because the location and campus community fit my personality better than USC. Irvine is a residential, suburban area whereas USC is at the heart of downtown. I felt more at home at Irvine because I grew up in the suburbs and thus felt more comfortable in that environment.

However, UCI was not able to offer me an educational program that I was able to pursue. USC was able to check this important box for me. USC was able to provide me with a passionate environment that allowed me to grow as both a student and a professional. Even though I am not a city person and dislike the hustle and bustle of city life, I ultimately felt that USC could give me so much more than UCI.

Nonetheless, I still consider UCI a better college experience because it gave me my USC experience. Without going to UCI, I would not have met my lifelong friends. I would not have known what I wanted to do. I am so thankful and blessed to have had the chance to see both worlds and would not have it any other way.

• Private colleges
• public education
• UC Berkeley

Stina Chang, University of Southern California

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Should I Go to a Public University or Private College?

As you start applying to colleges, you may wonder: Should I go to a public university or private college?

Ultimately, the choice is yours. But before you make this important decision, you should understand the key differences between public and private schools. Both types of colleges have their advantages, and we’ll discuss them in this article.

What Are Public Universities and Private Colleges and Universities?

Let’s start by defining public and private colleges and universities.

Public universities are institutions of higher learning funded by state governments. Top public universities include:

• University of Michigan
• University of Virginia
• University of California- Los Angeles (UCLA)
• United States Military Academy at West Point
• University of California – Berkeley
• Georgia Institute of Technology

As you can see, universities named University of [State] are public universities. The same is true for universities like Florida State University, Michigan State University, and so on. In fact, public universities are also called state universities.

On the other hand, private colleges or universities  are institutions of higher learning funded by private donors and individuals who are not part of the government. Top private colleges  include:

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Stanford University
• Harvard University
• Yale University
• Princeton University
• University of Pennsylvania

The Ivy League universities and many other prestigious institutions are private universities. Now that you know what “public” and “private” mean, let’s explore the key differences.

Tuition Costs

State residents pay taxes that help fund their state’s public universities. As a result, the government covers part of the cost of attendance at public colleges. This is why tuition is cheaper for in-state residents than it is for out-of-state residents.

Private universities receive no funding from the government. Since all programs and operating costs are funded by private individuals, students must cover the full cost of attendance (without subsidies from the state).

The end result is that tuition at private universities is more expensive than tuition at public universities. The average cost of tuition and fees at private universities for first-year students is $25,914. At public universities, the average cost is $5,897 for state residents.

Remember that attending a public university out-of-state is more expensive. For out-of-state residents attending public universities, tuition and fees totaled $12,383 on average.

The bottom line is this: Public universities are significantly more affordable than private colleges and universities. However, don’t let that deter you from applying . Scholarships and other forms of financial aid can help cut costs.

Class Sizes

Public universities typically have a larger student body than private colleges. The largest colleges in the United States are public universities, some with an enrollment of over 60,000 students.

Of course, this translates to larger class sizes at public universities. Especially in entry-level courses, classes at public universities may take place in an auditorium with up to 200 students.

On average, private colleges and universities have smaller class sizes. This allows for more discussion and closer relationships with professors.

Ask yourself:

• Can I learn independently, or is it important for me to work closely with professors?
• Do I learn better in discussion-based courses?
• Will I enjoy large class sizes, or will I find them overwhelming?

Opportunities

Since public universities serve so many students, they tend to have a wider range of degree offerings. You can find just about any program or degree at a public university.

Private colleges and universities have fewer students and therefore fewer choices. However, many private colleges offer the opportunity to customize your program of study by working closely with advisers.

In addition, public universities often have better facilities due to government funding. This includes innovative research facilities and massive libraries. If you’re interested in scientific research , public universities offer fantastic resources. Private colleges, on the other hand, may give you the chance to work on research with a professor in the field.

• Is my major available at most private colleges?
• Do I want the ability to work closely with advisers and customize my program of study?
• What is more important to me: cutting-edge facilities or collaboration with faculty?

Demographics

Not surprisingly, public universities are mostly filled with in-state students. Private colleges, on the other hand, attract students from across the country and around the world.

If a geographically diverse student body appeals to you, you might be interested in attending a private college.

Campus Life

Public universities tend to have more spirited, energetic campuses. They may have a huge variety of extracurricular activities, a thriving Greek life , and especially competitive sports teams (although this is true of some private colleges as well). Public universities are more likely to have a “party school” reputation.

Private colleges are smaller and quieter, although they strive to offer varied activities as well. Because elite private colleges and universities often attract more scholarly students, the focus is typically more on academics than on sports, partying, and Greek life.

• Do I want the “college experience” of a vibrant, social campus with a wide variety of activities?
• Will a “party school” atmosphere be distracting to me?
• Do I want to be around a lot of people all the time, or do I prefer a quieter, more personal setting?

Student Outcomes

When it comes to graduating on time from a four-year college (note: within six years is considered “on time,”), private universities are leading the way. About 51.3% of private university students graduate on time, in comparison to 45.4% of students at public universities.

How about life after college? Degrees from top private universities can be more marketable because of their reputation. These universities also tend to have highly successful alumni networks, which can be valuable for graduates.

Additionally, according to Nerdwallet , recent public university graduates report earning 80% of the salary brought home by their private college peers. However, your field of study has a more significant impact on your salary than what school you attend.

PayScale reports that Return on Investment is significantly higher for public universities than it is for private universities. Basically, this means that the huge tuition gap does not lead to an equally large salary gap.

• Is significantly higher tuition worth it to me (and my family)?
• Will an increased chance of graduating on time, a more marketable degree, and a potentially higher salary pay off?

The Bottom Line

When it comes to deciding between public and private colleges, there’s a lot to consider. Let’s look at a quick summary.

Public Universities:

• Significantly more affordable
• Larger class sizes
• Lack of close relationships with professors and advisers (at least until your studies become more specialized)
• Less geographically diverse
• More degree programs, extracurricular activities, and cutting-edge facilities
• More vibrant campus environment

Private Colleges:

• More expensive
• Smaller class sizes
• Classes more discussion-based
• Closer relationships with professors and advisers
• More geographically diverse
• Fewer degree programs and activities
• Degree programs may be more customizable
• Students more likely to graduate on time
• May lead to a more marketable degree and higher salary

The final decision comes down to your personal preferences. Would you like a larger or smaller college? Is it important that you’re able to work closely with professors and advisers? Do you need a large selection of degree programs and activities? Is the steep price of private education worth it to you?

Also keep in mind that the differences outlined in this article are generalizations. You can find a smaller public university or a larger private college or university. You can also do your research and find a private university that offers the exact major you’re interested in, or a public university that gives you the option to customize your program of study.

Whether you choose to attend a public or private college, there’s a school out there that’s just right for you.

Author: Jason Patel

Jason Patel is the founder of Transizion, a college counseling and career services company that provides mentorship and consulting on college applications, college essays, resumes, cover letters, interviews, and finding jobs and internships. Jason’s work has been cited in The Washington Post, BBC, NBC News, Forbes, Fast Company, Bustle, Inc., Fox Business, and other great outlets. Transizion donates a portion of profits to underserved students and veterans in of college prep and career development assistance.

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At Niche, we know a college is more than its stats or buildings. We also know it can be hard to figure out a college’s vibe or how students feel about it from its website alone. Using our comprehensive college profiles and social media accounts, you can get a sense of what life at a college is really like. Here are three simple ways to do that.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, private vs. public university: pros and cons.

I'm struggling to decide between attending a private or public university. Can someone provide insight on the pros and cons of each, such as class size, campus environment, and financial aid opportunities?

Of course! Deciding between a private and public university can be a tough choice, but it ultimately depends on your individual preferences and priorities. Below are some pros and cons of both private and public universities in terms of class size, campus environment, and financial aid opportunities.

Private Universities:

1. Smaller Class Sizes - Private universities often have smaller class sizes, which can lead to more individualized attention from professors and a greater sense of community among students.

2. Campus Environment - Many private universities boast beautiful, well-maintained campuses with ample resources and facilities for students.

3. Diverse financial aid opportunities - Private universities often have larger endowments and may offer substantial financial aid packages to qualifying students, including scholarships and grants.

1. Higher Tuition - Private universities typically have higher tuition costs compared to public institutions. However, generous financial aid may offset this concern for qualified students.

2. More Selective Admissions - Private universities may have more selective admissions processes, which can make them more challenging to get into.

3. Limited Program Options - Since private universities are often smaller, they may offer fewer program options compared to larger public institutions.

Public Universities:

1. Lower Tuition (for In-State Students) - Public universities often have lower tuition rates overall and offer significant cost savings for in-state residents.

2. Wide Range of Program Options - Public universities often offer a larger variety of programs, including well-funded research opportunities across various disciplines.

3. Campus Resources - Public institutions typically have extensive resources, including libraries, research facilities, and career services.

1. Larger Class Sizes - Public universities may have larger class sizes, particularly in introductory courses, which can lead to less one-on-one interaction with professors.

2. Campus Environment - Some public universities have less pristine campuses, which may not carry the same aesthetic appeal as private universities.

3. Financial Aid - While public universities do offer financial aid opportunities, they might not be as extensive as those found at private institutions due to limited endowments and funding.

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Public vs. Private Universities

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When choosing the college you’ll attend, there’s an enormous number of compromises and decisions that need to be made. West coast vs. east coast , big vs. small, urban vs. surburban – the list goes on. Perhaps one of the most challenging and nuanced of these decisions is the choice between attending a public or a private university.

There are myriad advantages and disadvantages for both, along with many stereotypes, both good and bad, that contribute to public perception of each. We’ve broken down some common misconceptions and highlighted the differences between public and private universities to help you make the decision that’s best for you.

Factor 1: Tuition and Costs

The first conclusion students and families tend to jump to when comparing public and private universities is cost. Because public universities receive government funding, the assumption is that they’re always cheaper than private universities. While attending a public university certainly can be cheaper than a private one, whether that’s true in any given case depends on a number of factors.

Firstly, and most obviously, it depends on which schools are being compared. Some public schools’ tuition is as high as $17,000. On the other hand, some private schools also boast tuition as low as $5000; a select few are entirely free. Clearly, the conception of private schools as universally more expensive than their government-funded counterparts is simply false.

That being said, on average, the average cost of attending a public school is generally lower than a private school. This difference is especially pronounced when considering in-state vs. out of state tuition. Students who reside in the school’s state (i.e. a California resident attending UC Berkeley) are charged less in tuition fees than students from out of state or out of country. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always mean attending public school is always cheap; even in the in-state cost of attendance at some public schools exceeds $35,000 annually.

The cheaper tuition comes at a price, however; public schools often have fewer resources to assign for financial aid purposes , which can sometimes make a public school with a lower sticker price actually costlier to attend . Aid packages at public schools may be similar to those offered at smaller, less wealthy private schools, but they can’t match the full-ride packages that well-endowed schools like the Ivy League provide.

Aid at public schools tends to be assigned to low-income students, often leaving middle-class students with nowhere to turn. However, recent efforts have been made at many universities to expand financial aid offerings for the middle class. In addition, nearly all public schools offer merit scholarships for exemplary academic or athletic performance. If you don’t feel like paying any tuition at all, the service academies, such as West Point or the Naval Academy, offer top-tier education on a full scholarship under the condition that graduates complete a term of service with the United States military.

For most private schools, cost of attendance is fixed regardless of state or country of residence. There are some private colleges that offer free tuition, most famously the Cooper Union (until its decision to begin charging students tuition in recent years). However, oftentimes the cost of attending private schools is made much more manageable through generous financial aid or merit scholarships. At some schools, students are not expected to pay at all if their family falls into a certain income bracket.

Still, if you don’t qualify for financial aid, financing your education at a private school can be tricky; the annual cost of attendance exceeds $70,000 at some private universities.

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Factor 2: Size and Number of Students

Another commonly cited difference between public and private universities is size. Public universities are usually much larger than private ones; the largest private university, New York University, has a total enrollment of about 20,000 (including graduate schools) while the largest public university, Arizona State University, has over 60,000.

The size of a university has a significant impact on student life. At a large public university, your class will be composed of thousands of students, many of which you’ll never meet, while at a smaller private school, smaller class sizes (usually ranging from 500 – 3000 students) mean you are likely to cross paths with many, if not most of your classmates. Large class sizes allow you to constantly meet new people, but the anonymity of being one in a class of over 8,000 is difficult for some students.

At a private school, smaller classes sometimes mean each student gets more individual attention from faculty or administration, but this isn’t necessarily true. Small discussion classes are often delegated to TAs or grad students who don’t provide the degree of attention a student may expect, and enormous lecture classes for introductory classes like economics or physics often have hundreds of students. Furthermore, the inevitability of meeting most of your classmates at some point can make for a less dynamic social environment than one may find at a large public university.

Concerns about impacted majors and enormous class sizes trouble many potential public school students. It can be more difficult to get into required classes and graduate on time at public schools, especially if a student’s intended major is impacted (the number of students in a certain major exceeds the resources available to the department). Additionally, introductory classes often have hundreds of students and forging close bonds with professors can be difficult as a result. However, going to a public school doesn’t mean you’re doomed to graduate in 7 years. While placement into classes can be more of an ordeal and the student to faculty ratio is usually higher than at a private school, graduating on time is certainly not impossible.

Due to smaller class sizes, graduating on time is more common at private schools. An important factor to note, however, is that as the academic caliber of a school increases, so does the on-time graduation rate. Students at top-ranked universities are usually ambitious enough to take rigorous course loads to graduate on time and drop out at a lower rate than lower-ranked universities, regardless of whether the universities in question are public or private.

Factor 3: Amenities and Student Life

Amenities available to students are another supposed difference between public and private schools, although this difference becomes increasingly negligible every year. While it is commonly assumed that private universities, by nature of their private funding, are able to offer nicer amenities (dining, housing, student activities, etc.) to their students, that is no longer universally true. While ultra-rich universities the likes of Harvard or Yale do tend to spend more money on their students than the average public school, the difference in quality of student life is not enormous. Many public schools offer excellent food and state-of-the-art facilities in student unions, gyms, dorms, and other meeting spaces.

If you’re deciding between a public and a private university, avoid relying on generalizations or stereotypes about each to make your decision. Obviously, the experiences of students at both types of schools can vary wildly, so research and evaluate each school based upon its own merit, not merely what you’ve assumed based off its public or private designation. What you find may surprise you!

How to Decide

Below, we’ve compiled a table summarizing the differences between public and private universities. Keep in mind these are general statements, and by no means apply to all public and private universities; if you’re deciding between a public and private school, it’s in your best interest to do research on each to make the best-informed decision possible.

To learn more about starting your college search, check out these posts:

How to Start Your College Search

Choosing a College: How to Get Started

7 Tips to Help You Escape Going to the Wrong College

Should Student-Teacher Ratio Matter When I’m Choosing a College?

Seven Tips for Creating Your College List

Curious about your chances of acceptance to your dream school? Our free chancing engine takes into account your GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and other data to predict your odds of acceptance at over 500 colleges across the U.S. We’ll also let you know how you stack up against other applicants and how you can improve your profile. Sign up for your free CollegeVine account today to get started!

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What Is a Private University?

Learn how a private university differs from a public institution and a college

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• Ph.D., English, University of Pennsylvania
• M.A., English, University of Pennsylvania
• B.S., Materials Science & Engineering and Literature, MIT

A "private" university is simply a university whose funding comes from tuition, investments, and private donors, not from taxpayers. That said, only a small handful of universities in the country are truly independent of governmental support, for many higher education programs such as Pell Grants are supported by the government, and universities tend to get significant tax breaks because of their non-profit status. On the flip side, many public universities receive only a small percentage of their operating budgets from state tax payer dollars, but public universities, unlike private institutions, are administered by public officials and can sometimes fall victim to the politics behind state budgets.

Fast Facts: Private Universities

• Private universities, unlike public universities, receive little if any money from state taxpayers.
• All of the most selective universities—Harvard, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern—are private universities.
• Private universities, as opposed to private colleges, offer undergraduate and graduate degrees.
• Private universities often cost much more than public ones, but with financial aid, they may actually cost less.

Examples of Private Universities

Many of the country's most prestigious and selective institutions are private universities including all of the Ivy League schools (such as  Harvard University  and Princeton University ), Stanford University ,  Emory University , Northwestern University , University of Chicago , and Vanderbilt University . Because of separation of church and state laws, all universities with a distinct religious affiliation are private including  University of Notre Dame , Southern Methodist University , and Brigham Young University .

Features of a Private University

A private university has several features that distinguish it from a liberal arts college or community college:

• Undergraduate and graduate student focus:  Unlike liberal arts colleges, universities often have significant masters and doctoral programs. MIT, for example, has nearly 3,000 more graduate students than undergraduate students.
• Graduate degrees:  Most degrees awarded from a liberal arts college are four-year bachelor's degrees; at a private university, advanced degrees such as an M.A., M.F.A., M.B.A., J.D., Ph.D., and M.D. are also common.
• Medium size:  No private universities are as large as some of the huge public universities, but they tend to be larger than liberal arts colleges. Total undergraduate enrollments between 5,000 and 15,000 are typical although there are certainly some that are smaller and some that are larger. Some private (as well as public) universities have significant online programs, but in this article we'll consider only the residential student population.
• Broad academic offerings:  Universities are typically made up of several colleges, and students can often choose courses in the liberal arts and sciences or more specialized fields such as engineering, business, health, and fine arts. You'll often see a school called a "comprehensive" university because it covers a full spectrum of academic areas.
• Faculty focus on research:  At big-name private universities, professors are often evaluated for their research and publishing first, and teaching second. At most liberal arts colleges, teaching has the top priority. That said, a majority of private universities actually do value teaching over research, but these schools rarely have the name recognition of the research powerhouses. Faculty members at regional public universities tend to have much higher teaching loads than the faculty at prestigious flagship state campuses.
• Residential:  The majority of students at private universities live at college and attend full time. In general, you'll find far more commuter students and part-time students at public universities and community colleges .
• Name recognition: The most prestigious and well-known schools in the world are largely private universities. Every member of the Ivy League is a private university, as are Stanford , Duke , Georgetown ,  Johns Hopkins  and MIT .

Are Private Universities More Expensive than Public Universities?

At first glance, yes, private universities typically have a higher sticker price than public universities. This is not always true. For example, out-of-state tuition for the University of California system is higher than many private universities. However, the top 50 most expensive institutions in the country are all private.

That said, sticker price and what students actually pay are two very different things. If you come from a family that earns $50,000 a year, for example, Harvard University (one of the most expensive universities in the country) will be free for you. Yes, Harvard will actually cost you less money than your local community college. This is because the country's most expensive and elite universities are also the ones that have the largest endowments and the best financial aid resources. Harvard pays all costs for students from families with modest income. So if you qualify for financial aid, you should definitely not favor public universities over private ones based solely on price. You may very well find that with financial aid the private institution is competitive with if not cheaper than the public institution. If you are from a high income family and won't qualify for financial aid, the equation will be quite different. Public universities are likely to cost you less.

Merit aid, of course, can change the equation. The very best private universities (such as Stanford, MIT, and the Ivies) do not offer merit aid. Aid is based entirely on need. Beyond these few top schools, however, strong students will find a range of opportunities for winning substantial merit-based scholarships from both private and public universities.

Finally, when calculating the cost of a university, you should also look at the graduation rate. The country's better private universities do a better job graduating students in four years than the majority of public universities. This is largely because strong private universities have more financial resources for staffing required courses and providing quality one-on-one academic advising.

A Final Word About Private Universities

As you work to create your college wish list , don't rule out private universities because you think they will be too expensive. Instead, search for schools that are a good match for your educational, professional, and personal goals. Be sure to visit small colleges, public universities, and private universities so that you get a feel for the pros and cons of each.

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10 benefits of private colleges

By julia siemens, august 2019.

When it comes to choosing a college or university, there’s a lot to think about. Location. Size. Public or private? Of course, we’re a bit biased on that last one, but we have good reason to be. Here are the top 10 reasons we think a private university is the way to go.

1. It’s not as expensive as you think Just because a private university has a higher sticker price than a public one, doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll pay more. Private universities work hard to offer scholarships and financial aid to make their school affordable for families. At Seattle Pacific University, 95% of students receive financial aid.

2. Smaller class sizes Small class sizes mean that professors and students will know your name and it will be easier to participate and ask questions. You won’t find a massive classroom packed with 200 students at SPU. Our average class size is 21!

3. Professors, not graduate assistants With the smaller class sizes and higher faculty-to-student ratios at private universities, professors know you. They might even ask you to help with their research project or invite you to their house for dinner. Graduates of Seattle Pacific often talk about how their professors boosted their confidence and changed their career trajectories.

4. Connections, connections, connections Speaking of which, it’s easier to get a strong, glowing reference from a professor who knows you. Local companies often reach out to Seattle Pacific faculty when seeking to hire quality internship and job candidates. Ninety-three percent of SPU graduates are employed or in graduate school one year after graduation.

5. Direct entrance into majors At many public schools, large class sizes mean you might get into the university, but have to apply separately to your major program, especially if it’s a competitive one. At many private universities, like SPU, most majors are open enrollment, meaning you can be automatically admitted to your major of choice and start pursuing your passion and career from day 1.

6. Tighter alumni networks Alumni groups at private universities tend to be smaller and well-connected, which can also help you find jobs. SPU alumni work at major companies and nonprofits around the world — including every Fortune 500 company in Seattle (there are 13!).

7. Home away from home Get ready for a tight-knit community. Many private colleges and universities are much smaller in size than their state-run counterparts. We don’t have to tell you that it’s easier to know other students from a student body of 3,000 compared to 30,000. Seattle Pacific also has a lot of well-attended activities, fun traditions in the residence halls, clubs, and ministries that help make it feel like home.

8. Mentorship It’s much easier to find staff and faculty mentors at private universities. At SPU, the mentorship doesn’t stop within the campus. We also have a mentor program with 1,700 Seattle-area professionals ready to connect with students.

9. More opportunities to make a change Want to lead a club or be president of the Associated Students of Seattle Pacific? The small size of a private college makes it easier to become a campus leader. SPU has hundreds of campus leadership positions, and even has a club where students can invest some of the University’s money — now that’s responsibility!

10. The choice to pursue faith within the classroom You can find faith-related clubs at public universities. But if you’re looking for a holistic faith experience in college, a faith-based private university may be a good fit for you. At Seattle Pacific, students can come from any faith background, but all of our professors are Christians and scholars at the top of their fields. Explore or go deeper in Christian faith in the classroom, campus ministries, worship events, and service opportunities.

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Advantages And Disadvantages Of Studying in a Private University

• Post author: Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka ACMC
• Post published: May 28, 2022
• Post category: Scholarly Articles

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Studying in a Private University: Most secondary school students want to go to university after high school, and many find it difficult to choose between a private and a public university because they don’t know which can offer the best services in terms of educational training for their dream course. This is a result of the many controversies raised about public and private schooling and the criticism placed on one sector of the university above the other.

Some students are still enthusiastic about entering a private university, while others are not, especially those from well-to-do households whose parents are always infatuated with the projected or presumed good morals and high level of education their children would receive from these private universities. But as we all know, everything that has advantages also has its share of disadvantages. So, before you rush into selecting a specific sector of institutions, you should carefully consider both the pros and cons. Hence, this article focuses on the benefits and drawbacks of one type of university, namely, a private university.

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Table of Contents

What Is A Private University?

A private university refers to a tertiary learning institution that is funded by students’ guardians and private endowments from allies of the institution, corporations, and alumni. They don’t receive their primary funding from the government. Private schools are generally smaller than public schools and have smaller class sizes than public schools. The same goes for their universities. Some private universities may also have religious affiliations.

Private universities, as opposed to private colleges, provide graduate and undergraduate degrees and are frequently significantly more expensive than public universities, but they may be less expensive with financial help. They are also the most selective colleges in the United States and throughout the world.

Private institutions include Madonna University, Covenant University, Stanford University, and even the well-known Harvard University. Private universities, on the other hand, make up the majority of a country’s most prominent institutions.

Also see: Advantages and Disadvantages of being a teacher

The Advantages (Merits) of A Private University

1. The Class Size Is Smaller: One of the key advantages of private universities is that class sizes are smaller. If you attend a big public institution, you may find yourself in lecture halls with hundreds of other students, all directed by the same instructor.

At private universities, you will only have a few other students in your classes. Professors may now focus on one-on-one learning, and lecturers can work with each student individually to help them succeed in class.

2. Better Care: The individual wellness of students is effectively provided for in private universities. For example, the lodging is far superior to that provided by public schools. While public institutions can have lighting or water issues, this is not always the case for private universities.

Their classrooms and educational atmospheres are typically in much better shape. Students at private colleges, for example, will not be seen scrambling to acquire seats owing to restricted sitting space because everyone gets to sit comfortably. Learning becomes much simpler with excellent well-being since students are less stressed.

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3. Improved Concentration in the Learning Process: Private schools provide a more comprehensive learning experience than public institutions. Every student at Nigerian private schools receives individualized attention. These schools’ professors must all pay close attention to each student and help them overcome their shortcomings.

Your weaknesses are readily identified and remedied with this style of learning. In public schools, though, you will not have the same luxury. Because of the school’s size and population, it is frequently hard to offer each student a personalized learning experience. The school’s management has practically no personal contact with the kids. They are frequently unaware of the pupils’ psychological requirements.

4. Reliable Graduation Date: Another primary benefit of private institutions in Nigeria is that they are more reliable. Unlike state institutions, which are prone to strikes, private universities in Nigeria have little to no chance of going on strike. In Nigeria, it is common to hear of government or public university strikes or closures.

The disadvantage is that this extends the amount of time students must devote to a program. Other significant downsides include an increase in criminality among these schools’ pupils as a result of their inactivity. You can compute the precise day you will graduate at a private institution, but you can’t do the same at a public school since unforeseen strikes might occur.

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5. Educational Experience and Tools of Superior Quality: Most public colleges are not just well-equipped to give rich educational experiences to their students. This may be quantified in terms of laboratory equipment standards, as well as the amount or availability of laboratory equipment per student. As a result, the children’s learning is impacted.

6. Improved Lecturer Relationship: You have a higher chance of establishing a better relationship with teachers at private universities. Lecturers also seldom miss class to educate pupils on how to comprehend. You can meet with your professor to acquire extra information if you have concerns about a topic or need assistance navigating through some areas of the course. In a public university, this is quite improbable.

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Disadvantages (Demerits) Of Private University

1. Education Costs:  Students at private institutions pay excessive tuition as though they aren’t learning anything. After all the education costs, what has a student from a private institution in Nigeria invented or accomplished? Not only is the tuition excessive, but the expense of living in private institutions is far greater than on public campuses, where you may prepare your meals, walk to the market, and purchase food at lower costs. You don’t believe you’re old enough to be fed like a baby at a private institution, do you?

2. Limited Course Options: Private institutions have fewer majors and course options, which is a drawback. Students have few options for their course of study, and if they wish to go to graduate school, they may have none at all. A few majors are available in bachelor’s programs at several private colleges.

Even within majors, there may be fewer courses available than at a bigger public institution with a comparable curriculum.

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3. Independence and Liberty: You don’t want to be trapped in a location like a newborn, a prisoner, or a microwaved meal. You need more room, more freedom, more exploration, and you need to get out and do new things.

Unfortunately, attending private institutions, particularly ones controlled by religion, will not help you do this, and I know you don’t want this to be the case. You must also wear your favorite outfit, something you can only do at a public institution. You live the regular corporate routine of a bank employee at a private university.

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4. Exposure:  At a public university, you meet people from all walks of life, and people from all walks of life meet you. You’ve seen everything. However, if you attend a private institution, you will graduate without having met a fourth of your life, let alone your life meeting you.

5. Maturity:  When you graduate from a public institution, you are immediately an adult since you have been formed by the educational system. When you graduate from a private institution, on the other hand, it’s as if you’ve just given birth.

6. Extensive Effort: You will learn at a public institution that hard work is required, and you will witness it with your own eyes. Students at private schools are still treated as if they were in nursery school.

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There are various tertiary institutions that students can pick from. So, students contemplating a type of postsecondary school should weigh the benefits and drawbacks of their alternatives rather than dismiss private institutions because they believe they would be excessively expensive. A school that meets a student’s educational needs and guides them in the direction of their future job objectives is the best option for higher education.

Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.

Essay on Public Schools vs Private Schools

Public school vs private school essay introduction, public schools vs private schools: classroom size & admission, essay about private and public schools: cost & tuition, private school vs public school essay conclusion.

Need to compare and contrast public and private schools? Essay samples like this one will help you with this task! Here, you will learn about advantages, disadvantages, and differences between public schools vs private schools. Choose your side of the debate and persuade the readers in your public school vs private school essay!

Comparing private and public schools can be more or less like comparing oranges and apples, two very disparate things that can never be held on similar standards. Choosing the best school for your child is one of the most important decisions parents have to make for their children but most parents rely on rumors and hearsay in deciding on whether to send their children to a private or a public school.

The best ways to determine whether you are making the right decision for your child is by visiting the school and asking for clarification from teachers for all your queries. What school your youngster attend to is a personal decision which is greatly determined by the family values, special needs of the kids, his mannerisms and interests.

This essay critically compares the differences and similarities, advantages and disadvantages and the issues that a rise in both private and public schools that affects the education of the children mainly preschool kids the its effects they on the kids future life.

Statistics show that some time back private school used to do better than public schools but recently this gap has been narrowing and making it harder for parents to choose between a private independent school with a high price tag on it, from a local public school which is relatively cheaper (Diana, 2006).

According to Maureen ( 2011, pp.10) public schools usually have larger class sizes due to the fact that they are required to admit every child who meets the qualifications set by the government. This offers an advantage to the pre-school children by improving their communication and socializing skills since they interact with more children from different races, cultures and social classes.

However, large classes are also disadvantageous in that it reduces the ratio of teachers to students and this tends to limit the teacher’s concentration on students hence limiting the children’s there performance. The average ratio of teachers to students in public schools is 1:17while in private schools its 1:9.

Private schools on the other hand are very selective in terms of their admissions. Some schools cannot admit students from certain religions, races or even economic status. This tends to reduce the population of private schools. Some of the long term effects to children attending privately owned pre-schools are poor socializing skills due to the low population size and similar social classes, religion and lack of diverse cultures (Robert, 2011, pp4).

Public schools are cheaper and they are funded by the government and some of them are usually underfunded. They are a part of the large school system which is part of the government and this makes them vulnerable to the political influence hence exposes them to political vulnerabilities which if experienced affects their performance.

The economic status of the country and the government also greatly affects the operations of public schools. Their curriculum is determined by the government and as you know different regions face different challenges hence the need for different curriculum to meet the different needs. (GreatSchools, 2010, pp.5)

Private schools on the other hand charge a higher tuition fee which is the major source of its funds. This makes them independent and protects them from the political realm hence they are free to determine their own curricula which is usually single minded, producing best results by providing the best quality of education possible (Eddie , 2011, pp.4)

In cases of children with special needs public schools usually have special programs and specially trained teachers who are well trained to work with such children. In contrast most private schools lack these programs and they are sometimes forced to deny such kids admission to their institutions and sometimes these services may be offered at an extra cost.

Is the question about which schools are better, private or public schools, answered yet? I bet not since there are no clear conclusions since they both have advantages and disadvantages as we have seen. In a nut shell the best school for ones child depends on the values, mannerisms, family, back ground, needs and interests of both the parents and the children. In other words one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

Diana, J. S. (2006). Public Schools Perform Near Private Ones in Study . Web.

Eddie, R. (2011). Pre School Education: Private Schools Vs PublicSchools . Web.

Great Schools Staff. (2010). Private versus public . Web.

Maureen, B. (2011). Public vs. private : Which is right for your child? Web.

Robert, N. (2011). Private vs Public Schools: Class Size. Web.

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IvyPanda. (2023, October 28). Essay on Public Schools vs Private Schools. https://ivypanda.com/essays/public-schools-vs-private-schools/

"Essay on Public Schools vs Private Schools." IvyPanda , 28 Oct. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/public-schools-vs-private-schools/.

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IvyPanda . 2023. "Essay on Public Schools vs Private Schools." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/public-schools-vs-private-schools/.

1. IvyPanda . "Essay on Public Schools vs Private Schools." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/public-schools-vs-private-schools/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Essay on Public Schools vs Private Schools." October 28, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/public-schools-vs-private-schools/.

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Private and Public Universities Compare and Contrast Essay

Introduction

            Various factors determine the choice of a university, including the location, program of study, costs involved, and the environment (Department of Homeland Security, 2013). These factors are therefore essential in choosing to join either a public university or a public university. The premise of the current essay is to explore the similarities and differences between a public university and a private university. 

Similarities

            One major similarity between private and public universities is that both are characterised by a diverse student body. In this case, students from ethnic minority races, those with learning difficulties, and/or intellectual abilities are likely to be admitted to either of these types of learning institutions. Both private and public universities also share similarities in terms of programs or courses offered (Bentley University, 2015), not to mention that they both offer diverse cutting-edge equipment and learning facilities to enable students realise their academic success.  Another similarity between public and private universities is that in boost type of academic institutions, there is emphasis on student learning and self-improvement. This is because the purpose of education is to challenge the student intellectually, regardless of whether you attend a private university on a public one (Bentley University, 2015). However, some private universities are renowned for their rigorous academic programs which they take pride in, although many public universities also carry more prestige for their strong academic achievements.

Differences

            Private universities and public universities differ in terms of funding. This often affects students as the source of funding is associated with tuition fees. For most public universities, the state governments act as the main sponsor. State and federal governments thus pay the tuition fees of students in public universities, in addition to also offsetting their operational costs.  Consequently, public universities tend to have much lower tuition fees than private universities. This leads to a heavy subsidy on the cost of attending public universities. In contrast, private universities are largely dependent on tuition fees charged to their students for their operational needs, as well as the occasional funding from affiliated organisations, such as religious affiliates. This explains why private universities have to charge higher tuition in order to cater to their educational needs (Peterson's, 2017). However, the issue of cost is equally tricky, especially if there is out-of-state public tuition involved. In this case, some private universities may actually be cheaper than public universities (Bentley University, 2015).

            Public and private universities also differ with regard to the size of the student population and the degree offered. Public universities are relatively larger with some public universities having a student population that runs into hundreds of thousands. For example, the University of London has a student population of over 170, 000 (The University of London, 2017). Conversely, private universities are relatively smaller, with some having only a few thousand students.  Public universities also give students a wide range of majors to choose from. A large public university enrols undergraduate students in varied academic programs including liberal arts and highly specialised disciplines like engineering. Private universities, on the other hand, offer only a handful of majors, with most sticking to a specific academic focus. For example, some private universities may focus on computer science or fine arts (Peterson's, 2017). The average public universities in the United States have a student population of 43,186 (Friedman, 2016) whereas the average private university in the United States has a student population of 1,920.  

            Both private and public universities also differ in terms of class size and demographics. Private colleges retain small classes. The smaller, student-professor ratio in private universities encourages the development of a close-knit study environment where students can get one-on-one attention from their professors (Bentley University, 2017). This environment is absent in most public universities where 200 or more students could be enrolled in a single class, and more so in lower-division courses. However, classes in public universities mean that students have access to more facilities for their social and educational purposes, more networking opportunities, and increased diversity (Fortenbury, 2013).  The demographic ratio of students enrolled in private universities is different from that of students in public universities. For instance, public universities are more likely to admit a higher number of in-state students who also pay lower tuition in comparison with the out-of-state students admitted to the same university (Peterson's, 2017). On the other hand, private universities are not overly concerned about the state residency of students seeking admission and for this reason, the student body in private universities is characterised by enhanced geographical diversity.

            The debate of whether private universities are better than public universities and vice versa is an old one. However, various factors determine the choice of attendance, including cost, location, and environment. That said, private universities differ from public universities in terms of source of funding, size of student population and courses offered, and class size and demographics. All of these factors determine the academic performance and prestige of a university and by extension, the choice by student on which of the two to attend. 

Bentley University (2015). Public vs. Private Universities: Which Is Better for Grad  Students?

Department of Homeland Security. (2013). What is a Public University? What is a Private University?

Should you choose a public or private college?

Friedman, J. (2016). 10 Universities With the Most Undergraduate Students .

Petterson's (2017). Public University vs. Private College .

 The University of London (2017). About us .

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• Public university vs private university paragraph

Answer : (200 words)

The university which is primarily funded by the government of a country is called public university. On the other hand, the university which does not receive its primary funding from a government is called private university. Private university is often considered as an educational nonprofit organization. Though both universities offer higher education to the students after HSC level, there are some differences that set them apart. The biggest difference between public and private universities usually lies in the price. Most of the private universities tend to run higher tuition fees than a state-funded public university.  Private universities often possess smaller classrooms and a smaller campus. But public universities hold a large campus with huge transportation facilities. A public university usually offers a large range of programs on different subjects. A public university offers housing facilities to the students. But many private universities do not give housing facilities to the students. In spite of many lacks in facilities, in our country, some private universities are trying to offer a better quality of education to the students. Private and public universities do not offer the same experiences, but any student who wants to succeed in will find valuable lessons at either place.

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• From Businesses and Banks to Colleges and Churches: Americans’ Views of U.S. Institutions
• 1. Colleges and universities, K-12 public schools

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Americans’ views of whether educational institutions are having a positive or negative impact on the country are essentially unchanged since late 2022 . About half (53%) say colleges and universities are having a positive impact, while 45% say they’re having a negative impact.

Views of the impact of K-12 public schools are identical (53% positive, 45% negative). These also are little changed from 2022, though somewhat less positive than in 2021 (when 61% had a positive opinion).

Partisanship and ideology

Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to view both colleges and K-12 schools positively.

Roughly three-quarters (74%) of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say colleges have a positive impact – nearly as many (72%) say the same of K-12 public schools.

Only about a third of Republicans and Republican leaners express positive opinions about the impact of colleges (31%) or K-12 public schools (34%). 

There is a sharp ideological divide among Republicans in views of educational institutions. Just 20% of conservative Republicans say colleges have a positive impact – roughly half the share of moderate and liberal Republicans who say the same (53%). The difference is similar when it comes to opinions about how K-12 public schools affect the country.

Democrats are less ideologically divided: Liberal Democrats are more likely than conservative and moderate Democrats to view colleges and public schools positively, but sizable majorities in both groups say colleges and public schools have a positive effect.

Age, education

Younger adults and those with more formal education are more likely than older adults and those with less education to view educational institutions positively.

Colleges and universities

• Roughly six-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 (63%) say that colleges and universities are having a positive impact, compared with 56% of those 30 to 49 and 52% of those 50 to 64.
• Among those ages 65 and older, more say that colleges are having a negative impact (56%) than say they are having a positive impact (40%).
• 59% of those with at least a bachelor’s degree view colleges and universities positively, compared with 50% of those without a bachelor’s degree.

K-12 public schools

• 58% of adults under 30 say that K-12 schools are having a positive impact, as do 54% of adults ages 30 to 64. This drops to 46% among those ages 65 and older.
• Six-in-ten college graduates say that K-12 public schools are having a positive impact, compared with 49% of those without college degrees.

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Opinion Guest Essay

This Is Peak College Admissions Insanity

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By Daniel Currell

Mr. Currell, a lawyer and consultant, was a deputy under secretary and senior adviser at the Department of Education from 2018 to 2021. He is a trustee of Gustavus Adolphus College.

• May 1, 2024

Selective college admissions have been a vortex of anxiety and stress for what seems like forever, inducing panic in more top high school seniors each year. But the 2023-24 admissions season was not just an incremental increase in the frantic posturing and high-pressure guesswork that make this annual ritual seem like academic Hunger Games. This year was different. A number of factors — some widely discussed, some little noticed — combined to push the process into a new realm in which the old rules didn’t apply and even the gatekeepers seemed not to know what the new rules were.

It happened, as these things often do, first gradually and then all at once.

It started with a precipitous rise in the number of people clamoring to get in. The so-called Ivy-Plus schools — the eight members of the Ivy League plus M.I.T., Duke, Chicago and Stanford — collectively received about 175,000 applications in 2002. In 2022, the most recent year for which totals are available, they got more than 590,000, with only a few thousand more available spots.

The quality of the applicants has risen also. In 2002, the nation produced 134 perfect ACT scores ; in 2023 there were 2,542 . Over the same period, the United States — and beyond it, the world — welcomed a great many more families into the ranks of the wealthy, who are by far the most likely to attend an elite college. Something had to give.

The first cracks appeared around the rules that had long governed the process and kept it civilized, obligating colleges to operate on the same calendar and to give students time to consider all offers before committing. A legal challenge swept the rules away, freeing the most powerful schools to do pretty much whatever they wanted.

One clear result was a drastic escalation in the formerly niche admissions practice known as early decision.

Then Covid swept through, forcing colleges to let students apply without standardized test scores — which, as the university consultant Ben Kennedy says, “tripled the number of kids who said to themselves, ‘Hey, I’ve got a shot at admission there.’” More applications, more market power for the schools and, for the students, an ever smaller chance of getting in.

Last year, the Supreme Court’s historic decision ending race-based affirmative action left colleges scrambling for new ways to preserve diversity and students groping in the dark to figure out what schools wanted.

Finally, this year the whole financial aid system exploded into spectacular disarray. Now, a month after most schools sent out the final round of acceptances, many students still don’t have the information they need to determine if they can afford college. Some will delay attending, and some will forgo it entirely, an outcome that will have lasting implications for them and, down the line, for the economy as a whole.

These disparate changes had one crucial thing in common: Almost all of them strengthened the hand of highly selective colleges, allowing them to push applicants into more constricted choices with less information and less leverage. The result is that elite admissions offices, which have always tried to reduce the uncertainty in each new year’s decisions, are now using their market power to all but eliminate it. This means taking no chances in pursuit of a high yield, the status-bestowing percentage of admitted students who enroll. But low uncertainty for elite colleges means the opposite for applicants — especially if they can’t pay the full tuition rate.

Canh Oxelson, the executive director of college counseling at the Horace Mann School in New York, says: “This is as much uncertainty as we’ve ever seen. Affirmative action, the FAFSA debacle, test-optionality — it has shown itself in this one particular year. Colleges want certainty, and they are getting more. Families want certainty and they are getting less.”

In 2024, the only applicants who could be certain of an advantage were those whose parents had taken the wise precaution of being rich.

The Early Bird Gets the Dorm

For Ivy Wydler, an elite college seemed like an obvious destination, and many of her classmates at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C., were headed along the same trajectory. After her sophomore year of high school, she took the ACT and got a perfect score — on her first try, a true rarity. Her grades were stellar. So she set her sights high, favoring “medium to big schools, and not too cold.”

Touring campuses, she was dazzled by how great and exciting it all seemed. Then she visited Duke, and something clicked. She applied in the binding early decision round.

It’s a consequential choice. Students can do so at only one college, and they have to promise to attend if accepted, before knowing what the school’s financial aid offer will be. That means there is at least a chance an applicant will be on the hook for the full cost, which at Duke is $86,886 for the 2024-25 year. Students couldn’t be legally compelled to attend if they couldn’t afford it, but by the time they got the news, they would have already had to withdraw their other applications.

If full tuition isn’t a deal killer, as it wouldn’t be for Ivy’s family, the rewards are considerable. This year, just over 54,000 high school seniors vied to be one of only 1,750 members of Duke’s incoming class. The 6,000 who applied in the early decision round were three times as likely to get in as the 48,000 who applied later.

Until recently, early decision was a narrow pathway — an outlier governed, like the rest of this annual academic mating season, by a set of mandatory practices laid out by the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which is made up of college admissions officers and high school counselors. Those rules said, for example, that colleges couldn’t recruit a student who was already committed to another school or actively encourage someone to transfer. Crucially, the rules said that colleges needed to give students until May 1 to decide among offers (noting early decision, which begins and ends in the fall, as a “recognized exception”).

The Justice Department thought those rules ran afoul of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which bars powerful industries from colluding to restrain competition. At the end of 2019, NACAC agreed to a settlement mandating that the organization “promptly abolish” several of the rules and downgrade the rest to voluntary guidelines. Now, if they chose to, colleges had license to lure students with special offers or benefits, to aggressively poach students at other schools and to tear up the traditional admissions calendar.

At that point, nothing restrained colleges from going all in on early decision, a strategy that allows them to lock in students early without making any particular commitments about financial aid. Of the 735 first-year students that Middlebury College enrolled last year, for example, 516 were admitted via binding early decision. Some schools have a second round of early decision, and even what amounts to an unofficial third round — along with an array of other application pathways, each with its own terms and conditions.

With the rules now abandoned, colleges got a whole new bag of tricks. For example, a school might call — at any time in the process — with a one-time offer of admission if you can commit on the spot to attend and let go of all other prospects. Hesitate and it’s gone, along with your chances in subsequent rounds. “We hear about colleges that are putting pressure on high school seniors to send in a deposit sooner to get better courses or housing options,” says Sara Harberson, the founder of Application Nation, a college advising service.

To inform these maneuvers, colleges lean on consultants who analyze applicant demographics, qualifications, financial status and more, using econometric models. High school seniors think this is checkers, but the schools know it’s chess. This has all become terrifying for students, who are first-time players in a game their opponents invented.

Application season can be particularly intimidating for students who, unlike Ivy, did not grow up on the elite college conveyor belt. When Rania Khan, a senior in Gorton High School in Yonkers, N.Y., was in middle school, she and her mother spent two years in a shelter near Times Square. Since then she and her younger brother have been in the foster system. Despite these challenges, she has been a superb student. In ninth grade, Rania got an internship at Google and joined a research team at Regeneron, a biotechnology company. She won a national award for her study of how sewage treatment chemicals affect river ecosystems. Looking at colleges, she saw that her scores and credentials matched with those of students at the very top schools in the country.

One of the schools she was most drawn to was Barnard. “I like that it’s both a small college and” — because it’s part of Columbia — “a big university. There are a lot of resources, and it’s a positive environment for women,” she said. And it would keep her close to her little brother.

Barnard now fills around 60 percent of its incoming class in the early decision round, giving those students a massive admissions advantage. It would have been an obvious option for Rania, but she can’t take any chances financially. She applied via the general decision pool, when instead of having a one in three chance, her odds were one in 20.

Officially, anyone can apply for early decision. In practice it’s priority boarding for first-class passengers.

Unstandardized Testing

When selective colleges suspended the requirement for standardized testing, it didn’t really seem like a choice; because of the pandemic, a great many students simply couldn’t take the tests. The implications, however, went far beyond mere plague-year logistics.

The SAT was rolled out in 1926 as an objective measure of students’ ability, absent the cultural biases that had so strongly informed college admissions before then. It’s been the subject of debate almost ever since. In 1980, Ralph Nader published a study alleging that the standardized testing regimen actually reinforced racial and gender bias and favored people who could afford expensive test prep. Many educators have come back around to regarding the tests as a good predictor of academic success, but the matter is far from settled.

Remarkably, students still take the exams in the same numbers as before the pandemic, but far fewer disclose what they got. Cindy Zarzuela, an adviser with the nonprofit Yonkers Partners in Education who works with Rania and about 90 other students, said all her students took the SAT this year. None of them sent their scores to colleges.

These days, Cornell, for example, admits roughly 40 percent of its incoming class without a test score. At schools like the University of Wisconsin or the University of Connecticut , the percentage is even higher. In California, schools rarely accept scores at all, being in many cases not only test-optional, but also “test-blind.”

The high-water mark of test-optionality, however, was also its undoing.

Applicants tended to submit their scores only if they were above the school’s reported median, a pattern that causes that median to be recalibrated higher and higher each year. When Cornell went test-optional, its 25th percentile score on the math SAT jumped from 720 to 750. Then it went to 760. The ceiling is 800, so standardized tests had begun to morph from a system of gradients into a yes/no question: Did you get a perfect score? If not, don’t mention it.

The irony, however, was that in the search for a diverse student body, many elite colleges view strong-but-not-stellar test scores as proof that a student from an underprivileged background could do well despite lacking the advantages of the kids from big suburban high schools and fancy prep schools. Without those scores, it might be harder to make the case .

Multiply that across the board, and the result was that test-optional policies made admission to an elite school less likely for some diverse or disadvantaged applicants. Georgetown and M.I.T. were first to reinstate test score requirements, and so far this year Harvard, Yale, Brown, Caltech, Dartmouth and Cornell have announced that they will follow. There may be more to come.

The Power of No

On Dec. 14, Ivy got an answer from Duke: She was rejected.

She was in extremely good company. It’s been a while since top students could assume they’d get into top schools, but today they get rejected more often than not. It even happens at places like Northeastern, a school now ranked 53rd in the nation by U.S. News & World Report — and not long ago, more than 100 slots lower than that. It spends less per student on instruction than the Boston public schools .

“There’s no target school anymore and no safety school,” says Stef Mauler , a private admissions coach in Texas. “You have to have a strategy for every school you apply to.”

Northeastern was one of the 18 other schools Ivy applied to, carefully sifting through various deadlines and conditions, mapping out her strategy. With Duke out of the picture, her thoughts kept returning to one of them in particular: Dartmouth, her father’s alma mater. “My mom said, ‘Ivy, you love New Hampshire. Look at Dartmouth.’ She was right.” She had wanted to go someplace warm, but the idea of cold weather seemed to be bothering her less and less.

Meanwhile Rania watched as early decision day came and went, and thousands of high school seniors across the country got the best news of their lives. For Rania, it was just another Friday.

A Free Market in Financial Aid

In 2003, a consortium of about 20 elite colleges agreed to follow a shared formula for financial aid, to ensure that they were competing for students on the merits, not on mere dollars and cents. It sounds civilized, but pricing agreements are generally illegal for commercial ventures. (Imagine if car companies agreed not to underbid each other.) The colleges believed they were exempt from that prohibition, however, because they practiced “ need-blind ” admissions, meaning they don’t discriminate based on a student’s ability to pay.

In 2022, nine current and former students from an array of prestigious colleges filed a class-action antitrust lawsuit — later backed by the Justice Department — arguing that the consortium’s gentlemanly agreement was depriving applicants of the benefits of a free market. And to defang the defense, they produced a brilliant argument: No, these wealthy colleges didn’t discriminate against students who were poor, but they sure did discriminate in favor of students who were rich. They favored the children of alumni and devoted whole development offices to luring the kinds of ultrarich families that affix their names to shiny new buildings. It worked: Early this year, Brown, Columbia, Duke, Emory and Yale joined the University of Chicago in conceding , and paying out a nine-figure settlement. (They deny any wrongdoing.) Several other schools are playing on, but the consortium and its rules have evaporated.

This set schools free to undercut one another on price in order to get their preferred students. It also gave the schools a further incentive to push for early decision, when students don’t have the ability to compare offers.

For almost anyone seeking financial aid, from the most sought-after first-round pick to the kid who just slid under the wire, the first step remained the same: They had to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form, or FAFSA.

As anyone knows who’s been through it — or looked into the glassy eyes of someone else who has — applying for financial aid can be torture at the best of times. This year was the worst of times, because FAFSA was broken. The form, used by the government to determine who qualifies for federal grants or student loans, and by many colleges to determine their in-house financial aid, had gotten a much-needed overhaul. But the new version didn’t work , causing endless frustration for many families, and convincing many others not even to bother. At mid-April, finished FAFSA applications were down 29 percent compared with last year.

“The FAFSA catastrophe is bigger than people realize,” says Casey Sacks , a former U.S. Department of Education official and now the president of BridgeValley Community and Technical College in West Virginia, where 70 percent of students receive federal funds.

Abigail Garcia , Rania’s classmate and the 2024 valedictorian of their school, applied to in-state public colleges as well as Ivies. She couldn’t complete the FAFSA, however, because it rejected her parents’ information, the most common glitch. She has financial aid offers from elite schools, all of which use a private alternative to the government form, but she can’t weigh them against the public institutions, because they are so severely delayed.

For most students, 2024’s FAFSA crisis looks set to take the uncertainty that began last fall and drag it into the summer or beyond. “That’s going to reduce the work force in two to four years.” Ms. Sacks says. “FAFSA completions are a pretty good leading indicator of how many people will be able to start doing the kinds of jobs that are in highest demand — registered nurses, manufacturing engineers, those kinds of jobs.”

As the FAFSA problem rolls on, it could be that for the system as a whole, the worst is still to come.

Can Any of This Be Fixed?

On the numbers, elite college applicants’ problems are a footnote to the story of college access. The Ivy-Plus schools enroll less than 1 percent of America’s roughly 15 million undergraduates . If you expand the pool to include all colleges that are selective enough to accept less than a quarter of applicants, we’re still talking about only 6 percent of undergraduates. The easiest way to alleviate the traffic jam at the top is to shift our cultural focus toward the hundreds of schools that offer an excellent education but are not luxury brands.

Luxury brand schools, however, have real power. In 2023, 15 of 32 Rhodes scholars came from the Ivies, nine from Harvard alone. Twenty of this year’s 38 Supreme Court clerks came from Harvard or Yale. If elite colleges’ selection process is broken, what should we do to fix it?

Here’s what we can’t do: Let them go off and agree on their own solution. Antitrust law exists to prevent dominant players from setting their own rules to the detriment of consumers and competitors.

Here’s what we won’t do: Legislate national rules that govern admissions. Our systems are decentralized and it would take a miracle for Congress not to make things worse.

But here’s what we can do: Hold the schools accountable for their processes and their decisions.

Institutions that receive federal funds — which include all elite colleges — should be required to clearly state their admissions criteria. Admissions as currently practiced are designed to let schools whose budgets run on billions of taxpayers dollars do whatever they want. Consider Stanford’s guidance to applicants: “In a holistic review, we seek to understand how you, as a whole person, would grow, contribute and thrive at Stanford, and how Stanford would, in turn, be changed by you.” This perfectly encapsulates the current system, because it is meaningless.

Colleges should also not be allowed to make anyone decide whether to attend without knowing what it will actually cost, and they should not be allowed to offer better odds to those who forgo that information. They should not offer admissions pathways tilted to favor the rich, any more than they should offer pathways favoring people who are white.

It just shouldn’t be this hard. Really.

The Envelope Please …

Ivy has the highest academic qualifications available inside the conventional system, and her family can pay full tuition. Once upon a time, she would have had her pick of top colleges. Not this year.

Over the course of the whole crazy admissions season, the school she had come to care about most was Dartmouth.

Along with the other seven Ivies, Dartmouth released this year’s admissions decisions online on March 28, at 7 p.m. Eastern. Ivy was traveling that day, and as the moment approached, she said, “I was on the bed in my hotel room, just repeating, ‘People love me for who I am, not what I do. People love me for who I am, not what I do.’”

She was rejected by Duke, Vanderbilt, Stanford, Columbia and the University of Southern California, where Operation Varsity Blues shenanigans could once guarantee acceptance but, as Ivy discovered, a perfect score on the ACT will not. She landed on the wait list at Northeastern. She was accepted by Michigan and Johns Hopkins. And Ivy was accepted at both her parents’ alma maters: the University of Virginia and Dartmouth, where she will start in September.

For Rania, the star student with an extraordinary story of personal resilience, the news was not so good. At Barnard, she was remanded to the wait list. Last year only 4 percent of students in that position were eventually let in. N.Y.U. and the City University of New York’s medical college put her on the wait list, too.

A spot on a wait list tells applicants that they were good enough to get in. By the time Rania applied to these schools, there just wasn’t any room. “It was definitely a shock,” she said. “What was I missing? They just ran out of space — there are so many people trying to get into these places. It took two weeks to adjust to it.”

She did get lots of other good news, a sheaf of acceptances from schools like Fordham and the University at Albany. But then came the hardest question of all: How to pay for them? Some offered her a financial aid package that would leave her on the hook for more money than undergraduates are allowed to take out in federal student loans. Even now, some colleges haven’t been able to provide her with financial aid information at all.

Rania had all but settled on Hunter College, part of the City University system. It’s an excellent school, but a world away from the elite colleges she was thinking about when she started her search. Then at almost the last moment, Wesleyan came through with a full ride and even threw in some extra for expenses. Rania accepted, gratefully.

For Rania, the whole painful roller coaster of a year was over. For so many other high school seniors, the year of broken college admissions continues.

Daniel Currell, a lawyer and consultant, was a deputy under secretary and senior adviser at the Department of Education from 2018 to 2021. He is a trustee of Gustavus Adolphus College.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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No One Has a Right to Protest in My Home

The difference between a private yard and a public forum

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Produced by ElevenLabs and News Over Audio (NOA) using AI narration.

As a constitutional scholar and the dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, I strongly defend the right to speak one’s mind in public forums. But the rancorous debate over the Israel-Hamas war seems to be blurring some people’s sense of which settings are public and which are not. Until recently, neither my wife—Catherine Fisk, a UC Berkeley law professor—nor I ever imagined a moment when our right to limit a protest at a dinner held at our own home would become the subject of any controversy.

Ever since I became a law-school dean, in 2008, the two of us have established a custom of inviting each class of first-year students over for a meal. These dinners help create and reinforce a warm community, and, to accommodate all students, they take place on many evenings during the year. The only exceptions were in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID. So last year and this year, at the request of the presidents of the third-year classes, we organized make-up dinners on three successive nights and invited each of the 400 graduating students to attend one.

The week before the dinners on April 9, 10, and 11, though, a group at Berkeley called Law Students for Justice in Palestine put a profoundly disturbing poster on social media and on bulletin boards in the law-school building. No dinner with Zionist Chem while Gaza starves , the poster declared in large letters. (Students sometimes refer to me as “Chem.”) It also included a caricature of me holding a bloody knife and fork and with what appeared to be blood around my lips—an image that evokes the horrible anti-Semitic blood libel, in which Jews are accused of killing and cannibalizing gentile children. The poster attacks me for no apparent reason other than that I am Jewish. The posters did not specify anything I personally had said or done wrong. The only stated request was that the University of California divest from Israel—a matter for the regents of the University of California, not the law school or even the Berkeley campus.

George Packer: The campus-left occupation that broke higher education

Several Jewish students and staff members told me that the posters offended them and asked me to have them removed. Even though their presence upset me too, I felt that I could not take them off bulletin boards at a public law school. Though appalling, they were speech protected by the First Amendment.

The group responsible for the posters was not content to have its say on paper. Student-government leaders told me that Law Students for Justice in Palestine demanded that my wife and I cancel the dinners; if not, the group would protest at them. I was sad to hear this, but the prospect of a demonstration in the street in front of our home did not change our plans. I made clear that we would still host dinners for students who wanted to attend.

On April 9, about 60 students came to our home for dinner. Our guests were seated at tables in our backyard. Just as they began eating, I was stunned to see the leader of Law Students for Justice in Palestine—who was among the registered guests—stand up with a microphone that she had brought, go up the steps in the yard, and begin reading a speech about the plight of the Palestinians. My wife and I immediately approached her and asked her to stop speaking and leave the premises. The protester continued. At one point, my wife attempted to take away her microphone. Repeatedly, we said to her: You are a guest in our home. Please leave.

The student insisted that she had free-speech rights. But our home is not a forum for free speech; it is our own property, and the First Amendment—which constrains the government’s power to encroach on speech on public property—does not apply at all to guests in private backyards. The dinner, which was meant to celebrate graduating students, was obviously disrupted. Even if we had held the dinner in the law-school building, no one would have had a constitutional right to disrupt the event. I have taught First Amendment law for 44 years, and as many other experts have confirmed, this is not a close question.

Some attendees sympathetic to the student-group leader recorded a video. An excerpt of it appeared on social media and quickly went viral. Soon newspapers and magazines published stories about it. Some commentators have criticized my wife for trying to get hold of the microphone. Some have said that I just should have let the student speak for as long as she wanted. But in all of the dinners we have held over more than 15 years, not once has anyone attempted to give a speech. We had no reason to change the terms of the dinner to accommodate someone from an organization that put up anti-Semitic images of me.

After struggling over the microphone, the student said if we let go of it, she would leave. We relented, and she departed, along with about 10 other students—all of whom had removed their jackets to show matching T-shirts conveying a pro-Palestinian message.

Michael Powell: The unreality of Columbia’s ‘liberated zone’

The dinners went forward on Wednesday and Thursday. On Thursday night, about 15 people came to our home and stood on the street in front of it, and then on the path directly next to our backyard. They chanted loudly and at times offensively. They yelled and banged drums to make as much noise as possible to disturb the dinner. The event continued.

Being at the center of a social-media firestorm was strange and unsettling. We received thousands of messages, many very hateful and some threatening. For days, we got death threats. An organized email campaign demanded that the regents and campus officials fire my wife and me, and another organized email campaign supported us. Amid an intensely painful sequence of events, we experienced one upside: After receiving countless supportive messages from people we have met over the course of decades, we felt like Jimmy Stewart at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life .

Overall, though, this experience has been enormously sad. It made me realize how anti-Semitism is not taken as seriously as other kinds of prejudice. If a student group had put up posters that included a racist caricature of a Black dean or played on hateful tropes about Asian American or LGBTQ people, the school would have erupted—and understandably so. But a plainly anti-Semitic poster received just a handful of complaints from Jewish staff and students.

Many people’s reaction to the incident in our yard reflected their views of what is happening in the Middle East. But it should not be that way. The dinners at our house were entirely nonpolitical; there was no program of any kind. And our university communities, along with society as a whole, will be worse off if every social interaction—including ones at people’s private homes—becomes a forum for uninvited political monologues.

I have spent my career staunchly defending freedom of speech. As a dean, I have tried hard to create a warm, inclusive community. As I continue as dean of Berkeley Law, I will endeavor to heal the divisions in our community. We are not going to solve the problems of the Middle East in our law school, but we must be a place where we treat one another with respect and kindness.

SUNY Purchase, New Paltz college protests: What's legal and what's not? What experts say

Pro-Palestinian protests from New York to California have dominated the news in recent weeks, some simmering as peaceful encampments, others escalating into takeovers of campus buildings and leading to student arrests.

Hundreds were arrested at Columbia University and City College in New York City earlier this week, and police broke up encampment protests at SUNY Purchase and SUNY New Paltz late Thursday and arrested dozens more . Encampments have also sprung up at the University of Rochester, Cornell University and Syracuse University.

If you’re a student, college employee or bystander, you might wonder about legal versus illegal protest actions, and how to know the difference. 

Here are some guidelines to keep in mind, from legal experts and the history of First Amendment freedoms.

What's behind the protests? Why are students protesting at Columbia and around the nation? Here's what shaped today's movements

Where does free speech come into play? 

The U.S. Constitution's First Amendment covers a wide swath of speech types, but has its limits. 

It’s so wide ranging that it is easier to single out the things it doesn’t cover, said Lindsie Rank, the Campus Rights Advocacy Director with the non-partisan Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE,) . 

Rank, a lawyer, has a background in social science and advises protesters on both sides of the aisle on their rights and restrictions when it comes to protest movements.

“On a public college campus, the First Amendment is in effect in full force,” Rank said.

“(Students) have the freedom of expression to engage in protest in open outdoor areas of campus,” which can be considered “public forum”-type areas, she noted.

Live updates: Police break up encampments at NYU, The New School; other protests continue

Things that aren’t covered under the First Amendment include violence — things like breaking windows or damaging property would be considered crimes, and aren’t protected — and true threats, like telling another person you’re going to hurt or harm them.

Lawmakers, students and faculty have raised concerns of harassment and threats toward Jewish students by pro-Palestinian protesters in recent weeks. Congress passed a bill Wednesday that more clearly defines “antisemitism,” in hopes of providing guardrails for colleges discerning between criticism of Israel and illegal, discriminatory conduct.

Another unprotected action would be “incitement,” which can be defined as directing a riled-up crowd to do something unlawful — a question that has been hotly debated in recent years regarding former President Donald Trump’s connection to the Jan. 6, 2021, rally and attack at the U.S. Capitol. 

Private versus public campuses 

Private colleges and universities have much more discretion than public ones when it comes to restrictions around protests and rallies, and they are not required to honor Constitutional rights, according to FIRE.

However, many of them have policies that in some way guarantee freedom of expression for the student body, and often reflect First Amendment principles. Students are allowed to protest on those campuses to the extent that those policies and codes of conduct allow.

Time, place, manner: Here's why they matter

Both public and private universities are allowed to place parameters around rallies and protests regarding when, where and how they are conducted.

“While an encampment might be a peaceful protest, it still might not be a protected peaceful protest,” Rank said. 

For example, just like a town may place restrictions on whether you can use a megaphone to blast music in your backyard at 9 p.m., a college can require that protests not interfere with ongoing student education, or block walkways through campus. A campus or the municipality surrounding it may require permits for tables or amplification, or for any protest that spills out onto area roads or sidewalks.

Syracuse University, which has had an encampment on campus since Monday , handed out flyers to students explaining that campus policies allow students to “assemble in an orderly manner and engage in peaceful protest, demonstration and picketing,” but restrict discrimination against any one group or disruption of university academic operations or events, among other stipulations.

Another thing to consider for college administrations in response to protests is even-handedness, Rank said — are they applying the same standards to one group as another?

And when force is used — such as when police were requested to clear an encampment at the University of California Los Angeles in the early hours of Thursday morning after violence erupted the night before — is it proportional to the matter at hand?

“Having an even-keeled and proportional response to even unprotected speech is going to help have a better culture of free expression on your campus,” she said.

Columbia faculty, students continue protests; police order dispersal of gathering at UCLA: Updates

Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on campus protests for Wednesday, May 1. For the latest news, view our live updates file for Thursday, May 2.

NEW YORK − Hundreds of faculty and graduate student workers rallied on a sunny Wednesday afternoon outside Columbia University’s only open entrance, protesting the university’s decision hours earlier to send police on campus and arrest more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Protesters held signs, including “no cops on campus,” as police entered and exited the campus gates just feet away. Others held signs calling for university President Minouche Shafik to resign. Faculty members said access was heavily restricted, as campus was closed for a second day in the period before finals, open only to students living on campus and essential workers.

The NYPD announced almost 300 arrests had taken place Tuesday at Columbia and City College − hours before Los Angeles police in riot gear swept onto UCLA's campus to break up a violent melee between dueling protesters as opposition to Israel's war in Gaza continued to roll through universities across the nation.

Dozens of the New York arrests involved demonstrators removed from an administration building at Columbia, where officers also took down encampments that had been the epicenter of the protests nationwide.

"Students and outside activists breaking Hamilton Hall doors, mistreating our Public Safety officers and maintenance staff, and damaging property are acts of destruction, not political speech," Shafik said in a statement Wednesday. She added that many students felt unwelcome on campus because of the disruption and antisemitic comments made by some protesters.

At City College, affiliated with City University of New York, officials requested NYPD assistance after the college said students and "un-affiliated external individuals" refused to leave. The school issued a statement saying students have a right to demonstrate peacefully but that police were called in because of "specific and repeated acts of violence and vandalism, not in response to peaceful protest."

About 1,200 people in southern Israel were killed and more than 200 taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7. The Israeli retaliatory assault has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and obliterated much of the enclave's infrastructure. The humanitarian crisis has fueled outrage on some U.S. campuses and spurred demands for an end to investment in Israeli companies and amnesty for student protesters.

Developments:

∎ New Hampshire State Police said personnel were at the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College on Wednesday night "in response to illegal activity and at the request of local law enforcement." At the University of New Hampshire, police arrested 10 to 20 pro-Palestinian protesters who started setting up an encampment after a rally. Officers at Dartmouth College cleared out the final tents at the campus encampment shortly before 11:40 p.m., its student newspaper reported .

∎ Several hundred protesters gathered Wednesday for a peaceful demonstration on Ohio State University. School officials had locked up some buildings in anticipation of the demonstration. Unlike last week's protest, which led to almost 40 arrests, the crowd began dispersing around 9 p.m. and the demonstration ended before 10 p.m.

∎ Columbia Provost Angela Olinto said all academic activities at the school's main campus for the rest of the semester, including final exams, will be held remotely, with some minor exceptions.

∎ Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he supports the strong law enforcement response unleashed on protesters at the University of Georgia and Emory University in Atlanta. “Send a message,'' he said. "We are not going to allow Georgia to become the next Columbia University.”

∎ Protesters and police clashed at the University of Wisconsin in Madison when officers broke up an encampment there Wednesday. Video from the scene showed some protesters being pinned to the ground.

∎ Tulane University said at least 14 protesters were arrested from the "illegal encampment" the school said was dominated by protesters "unaffiliated with our community."

Police order dispersal of large pro-Palestinian gathering at UCLA

Police ordered a large group of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators to leave or face arrest late Wednesday, a night after violence erupted at the encampment by counter-protestors.

Video posted on social media showed counterdemonstrators battering a makeshift barricade around pro-Palestinian protesters at the Los Angeles campus. The Los Angeles Police Department said it responded to UCLA's request to restore order "due to multiple acts of violence within the large encampment" on the campus.

The Los Angeles Times reported police did not intervene for more than an hour after arriving as counterdemonstrators wearing black outfits and white masks − some armed with metal pipes and sticks − repeatedly tried to breach the perimeter of the encampment while campers pushed back and several fights broke out.

Los Angeles police said in a statement Wednesday that officers made no arrests and did not use force in its response to the UCLA campus Tuesday night. The department also noted that no officers were injured.

UCLA canceled Wednesday classes and Chancellor Gene Block, who blamed the violence on a "group of instigators'' who attacked the encampment, said the student conduct process has been initiated and could lead to disciplinary action including suspension or expulsion.

The Times also reported University of California President Michael Drake told the Board of Regents that 15 people were injured in the overnight fracas, and he's ordering an independent review of the events, including how UCLA handled them.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom condemned the violence, saying in a statement , "The right to free speech does not extend to inciting violence, vandalism, or lawlessness on campus. Those who engage in illegal behavior must be held accountable for their actions − including through criminal prosecution, suspension, or expulsion.''

The Jewish Federation Los Angeles issued a statement saying it was "appalled" at the violence, which did not "represent the Jewish community or our values." But the statement also said the UCLA administration was at fault for allowing an environment that made students feel unsafe.

UCLA students barricade themselves in courtyard in tense protest

Hundreds of students at UCLA barricaded themselves in a courtyard between two campus buildings Wednesday, using sheets of plywood, planks, ropes, and tents to block the doors leading from the buildings into the outside area.

The mood was anxious. Sporadic announcements over a loudspeaker informed students they were part of an illegal settlement and would face consequences if they remained. In response, the crowd chanted: “We’re not leaving, we’re not leaving.”

“I’m terrified, obviously, I think everybody is,” said 21-year-old student Aidan Doyle. “But we’re going to stay as long as we possibly can, until we’re being physically removed.”

Thousands of students were spread out in the areas directly outside the main protest. Organizers shouted over loud speakers that they didn’t need any more supplies as piles of protective equipment, pizza and Gatorade grew at the main entrance to the camp.

On Tuesday night, the camp was attacked by a group of violent counter-protesters, who fired chemical agents and fireworks into the protestors and assaulted dozens of people.

– Will Carless

Columbia faculty members protest decision to bring in police

Some of faculty and graduate student workers rallying outside Columbia's gates wore orange safety vests that said “faculty,” which they donned days earlier to help protect students in the encampment. 

“There is not a single university left in Gaza, and I bet a lot of you feel there is not a university here in Morningside Heights,” Joseph Hawley, an associate professor of classics, told gatherers, referring to the neighborhood around the school. “But I’m here to tell you the university is here on this sidewalk.”

Barricades still lined city streets outside Columbia’s campus as police officers stood watch. Shafik has asked the New York Police Department to remain on campus until May 17, two days after graduation.

Mana Kia, an associate professor, read a draft statement from the Columbia chapter of the American Association of University Professors saying members "unequivocally condemn President Shafik, the Columbia board of trustees and other senior administrators involved in the decision to call in the NYPD and clear the encampment of student protesters." The statement said the association has "no confidence in the administration."

Organizer says 'ordinary people,' not agitators behind protests

Less than three hours before a huge deployment of New York City police officers broke up an encampment and retook a building at Columbia on Tuesday night, Mayor Eric Adams made a forceful case that the pro-Palestinian protest at the school had been hijacked by "outside agitators'' bent on sowing chaos.

Those involved in pushing for the movement off-campus disagree, saying it belongs to regular folks trying to raise awareness to the Palestinians' plight.

Manolo De Los Santos, an organizer with The People’s Forum, said those joining the protests alongside students are just “ordinary New Yorkers.”“The power of this moment is that it’s everyone coming together,” he said. “It’s health care workers, it’s teachers, it’s city workers. It’s ordinary people who feel so strongly.”   

‘Never felt this much tension on campus,' UNH student says

Police arrested pro-Palestinian protesters who started setting up an encampment in front of the University of New Hampshire's Thompson Hall Wednesday night.

UNH Police Chief Paul Dean estimated between 10 to 20 protesters were arrested after a rally led to demonstrators attempting to set up an encampment at the state’s flagship university, drawing local and New Hampshire State Police. Some demonstrators shouted at officers, calling them "cowards" and chanting "free Palestine."

The peaceful rally lasted until around 6:30 p.m. Then, Dean said protesters rushed in to form an encampment and attempted to barricade their tents. Leftover tents and items on Thompson Hall's lawn were removed by police around 9 p.m., loaded onto a truck as dozens of students watched. 

Shane Tilton, a sophomore who lives in a nearby residence hall, said he walked over to observe after hearing the commotion. He watched from beneath the Thompson Hall arches as the encampment was removed from the most well-known gathering spot on campus.

“I’ve never felt this much tension on campus,” Tilton said. “I feel like there’s a lot of tension. From my perspective, it seems like the cops don’t have much to do here. They seemed like they were here to jump at this opportunity and see some action.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Hampshire condemned police’s actions Wednesday night in Durham and at a similar protest at Dartmouth College in Hanover.

“Freedom of speech and the right to demonstrate are foundational principles of democracy and core constitutional rights," said Devon Chaffee, executive director of the state ACLU. "We urge university and government leaders to create environments that safeguard constitutionally protected speech."

– Ian Lenahan and Deb Cram, Portsmouth Herald

'Intifada' chants by some protesters are 'horribly upsetting'

Dozens of protesters gathered Wednesday in and around Fordham University’s Leon Lowenstein Center in Manhattan and established an encampment. The group is demanding the university divest from all companies “complicit in the Israeli occupation and ongoing siege,” according to a statement from the Fordham for Palestine Coalition.

As the demonstration grew throughout the afternoon, it also attracted a handful of onlookers and opponents who occasionally shouted pro-Israel remarks as they passed. Asa Kittay and Carly Connors said they were in class down the street when they heard demonstrators chanting “Intifada,” an Arabic word for uprising or rebellion. Kittay, who held up a tablet with an image of the Israeli flag, said it was “horribly upsetting.”“I believe that these two states can co-exist peacefully,” Connors said. “I do not believe in an intifada. That is not very anti-genocide.” John Lefkowitz, who attended the protest with friends who go to Fordham, said he believes the demonstrations are sometimes incorrectly characterized as antisemitic by people who are uninformed about the position of anti-Zionism.“It’s often told that Jews should feel unsafe in pro-Palestine circles. As a Jew, I’ve never felt unsafe in a pro-Palestinian circle,” he said. “These people are great, they’re not anti-semites.”

Back to the future: Columbia a focal point again in protest history

The descent of police on Hamilton Hall at Columbia University outfitted in full riot gear and enforcing mass arrests Tuesday night fell on the same date and place police cracked down on antiwar protesters in 1968. Some fear the clash heralds a similar outcome at the upcoming Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where political leaders are emboldened to sic the cops on demonstrators ever more intent on showing up.“I don’t think it’ll keep anyone from Chicago, it might even inspire more people to come,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC and the national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.Democrats already feared a repeat of the chaos from 56 years ago where police and demonstrators clashed, drawing all eyes away from the convention.At the crackdown at Columbia April 30, 1968, police arrested over 700 people and over 100 injuries were reported, according to a Columbia University Libraries publication. Police arrested almost 300 people Tuesday between Columbia and City College, according to the city’s top cop.

– Michael Loria

Arraignments from first arrests at New York universities begin

Late Wednesday night, the first arrests from the protests at Columbia University and the City College of New York began to be arraigned at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse, the same building where former President Donald Trump’s hush money trial is underway.

Outside the court’s arraignment part, dozens of the protesters’ supporters gathered in the halls, many of them wearing keffiyehs. The mood was jubilant, and many were chatting or conferring with each other in small groups.

When one protester exited the courtroom after his arraignment, he was quickly swarmed by friends and dropped to the floor in a brief moment of celebration.

That protester, who was at the City College demonstrations, had been charged with assaulting a police officer, a felony, and resisting arrest. However, the prosecutor handling his case recommended to the judge that he be released from jail, given that police “continue to investigate” the incident.

Arrests across U.S.: Campus protests across the US result in arrests by the hundreds. But will the charges stick?

– Asher Stockler, The Journal News

NYU encampment stays in place after others in city were torn down

The day after other city schools saw violent clashes with police, the encampment at NYU's lower Manhattan campus stood untouched. Punctuated by faded chalk reading "End Jewish and Palestinian hate," the collection of tents and chairs took up about one city block near 181 Mercer Street, where the university's Paulson Center is located. 

Fenced-off and guarded by a smattering of campus security, the encampment was bracing for hot weather with some protesters carrying umbrellas to block out the sun and one arriving with large bags of ice. Demonstrators needed to present a school ID to enter the encampment. The barricades held signs reading, "Fund our education, not the occupation" and listing the protesters' demands, which include divestment and closing NYU's Tel Aviv campus.

The shadow of Tuesday's mass arrests and the forced removal of encampments on the other end of the island at Columbia and City College of New York was evident. Just outside the barricades, a group of demonstrators huddled to practice safety tactics.

− Anna Kaufman  

New York students continue protests day after mass arrests

Hundreds of demonstrators at Columbia University and City College of New York gathered Wednesday evening a day after administrators from both universities called police in riot gear on the protesters.

“Our encampment is what it could look like to be liberated,” Hadeeqa Arzoo, a City College student, said, as several cars honked in support while she led chants of “Free Palestine.” “So I will continue to cultivate these spaces of liberation within the belly of the beast. That is resistance.”

Even if both schools no longer had encampments, demonstrators promised to continue their activism in support of Palestinians and in opposition to schools’ investments in Israel.

“There is not a single student-led uprising in history met with severe state-sanctioned violence that did not end up being right,” Maryam Alwan, a Columbia student organizer, said. She likened their cause — and police's response — to the civil rights movement and Black Lives Matter protests, including allegations of outside agitators and property damage.

As the sun fell outside City College’s campus in West Harlem, several dozen police officers surrounded the protesters standing inside barricades. The rally, which included two Islamic prayers, would continue into the night before students returned to Columbia, some walking down the valley and back up the hill to the other campus.

– Eduardo Cuevas

UT-Dallas confirms 17 arrests hours after encampment set up

The University of Texas at Dallas confirmed law enforcement officers arrested over a dozen people hours after pro-Palestinian student demonstrators constructed an encampment Wednesday.

UT-Dallas spokesperson Brittany Magelssen told USA TODAY that 17 people were arrested on criminal trespassing charges as of 5 p.m. local time Wednesday after university officials gave written notice to remove the tents. Magelssen said UT-Dallas requested outside law enforcement officers to assist. 

“Individuals may peacefully assemble in the common outdoor areas of campus to exercise their right to free speech, but they may not construct an encampment or block pathways. In the last six months, there have been several peaceful protests on the UT Dallas campus,” Magelssen said. "The UT Dallas Police Department and area law enforcement partners are continuing to monitor the situation."

The UT-Dallas chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine said in a social media post students began setting up the "Gaza Liberation Plaza" encampment at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“We reject our university’s complicity in profiting off the genocide. We will continue to escalate and put pressure on our university until UTD/UTIMCO divest from war profiteers and Palestine is free,” the student organization said early Wednesday.

High school students joining the protest movement

The proliferation of antiwar protests in college campuses across the U.S. is filtering down to the younger academic levels , and some of the grown-ups are not happy about it.

A sit-in planned for Wednesday at a Chicago prep school is the latest among high school demonstrations showing support for embattled Palestinians in Gaza. On Monday, about 100 high school students in Austin, Texas,  walked out of their classes in protest . Last week, students in western Washington state similarly expressed their objection to the U.S. backing Israel's military efforts in Gaza.

"I'm protesting against a government that is actively hurting people just because of where they were born and what language they speak," Pia Ibsen, a senior at McCallum High School in Austin, told USA TODAY. Ibsen helped organize a walkout and left class for about an hour and a half.

Some school and government officials have tried to stop the protests, arguing they create a hostile environment for Jewish students. That was the case last week when two county commissioners in New Jersey demanded a school district's superintendent cancel a pro-Palestinian walkout at East Regional High in Voorhees Township. The protest was replaced by a rally for human rights.

− Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Kayla Jimenez

UAW members hope presence at protest will 'move the needle'

In addition to the campus protests, hundreds of people bearing pro-Palestinian signs and t-shirts gathered at New York City’s Foley Square on Wednesday afternoon for a march and rally led by labor organizers on International Worker’s Day.

Participants included Brian Sullivan, 45, a member of the United Auto Workers whose local chapter represents social workers. Sullivan said seeing labor organizers come out in such large numbers could help “really move the needle.”

“UAW endorsed Joe Biden and hopefully he feels some exposure here, that if he doesn’t do what’s right and what the UAW members are asking for, he risks that endorsement,” Sullivan said.

Jeremy Montano, another UAW member who works in the legal field, said the recent “explosion of interest” in the conflict in Gaza, particularly on college campuses, has also given him some hope. “Obviously it’s balanced out with a lot of despair about what’s actually happening in Gaza,” said Montano, 37. “But there’s been a little bit of a source of hope that maybe longer term things might change.”

Almost 300 protesters arrested in NYC; student group says some were injured

New York City police made 119 arrests at Columbia University and 173 at City College in Tuesday night's crackdowns on protesters, Commissioner Edward Caban said Wednesday. Charges range from trespassing to criminal mischief to burglary, and the breakdown of students to non-students facing charges was not yet available, he said.

Police said there were no injuries, although CUNY for Palestine issued a statement saying one student suffered a broken ankle, two had teeth broken and others received burns from pepper spray used by police during the clash.

Mayor Eric Adams said drones and encryption radios used at Columbia provided police with the element of surprise when they retook Hamilton Hall, adding that "professionals at radicalizing" had influenced the student protesters and co-opted the protest but without providing details.

Officers climbed into Hamilton Hall, which protesters had occupied earlier Tuesday, through a second-story window. Within three hours Tuesday night, they had retaken the building, NYPD said.

"It was about external actors hijacking a peaceful protest and influencing students to escalate," Adams said. "We cannot allow what should be a lawful protest turn into a violent spectacle that serves no purpose."

Fordham, another NYC university, establishes encampment

Outside Fordham University’s Leon Lowenstein Center building on Wednesday, another encampment sprung up. Students, faculty and community members surrounded by law enforcement officers and newly erected barricades chanted “Free, free Palestine” and “Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.” Inside, demonstrators including current and former students milled around their tents, played drums, banged on windows and held up signs reading “Free Palestine” and “Divest genocide funds” for passersby to see.

Julie Norris, a 27-year-old Fordham alumni, said she arrived before 8 a.m. Wednesday to help establish the encampment. Norris, who spoke to USA TODAY on the phone from inside the Lowenstein Center, estimated about 30 people were inside with her and said they plan to stay until their demands are met.

“The students can’t be stopped,” she said. “We saw intense repression against students on other campuses yesterday, and this morning students are ready to stand back up. There’s going to be no business as usual until Palestine is free.”

Northwestern, Brown reach deal: Make pact with student demonstrators to curb protests

Some campus protesters cut deals, claim victory

Some student activists who pitched tents and camped on university lawns to protest Israel's military attacks in Gaza have begun to declare victory after hammering out agreements with school administrators.  Northwestern University  just outside Chicago became the first U.S. school to publicly announce a deal on Monday. On Tuesday, Brown University protesters broke camp after President Christina Paxson said the Rhode Island school will bring divestment demands to a vote. Organizers hope the deals set a new precedent for protest encampments around the U.S. and show a way to find common ground without using force.

“What these students have done is truly, truly historical,” Summer Pappachen, a graduate student and organizer of the Northwestern encampment, told USA TODAY on Tuesday amid cleanup of the lawn students held for days. “We have been able to achieve (our goals) while keeping students safe.”

− Michael Loria

Columbia building cleared: Police storm into building held by pro-Palestinian protesters

What are college protests across the US about?

The  student protesters  opposed to Israel's military attacks in Gaza say  they want their schools to stop funneling endowment money  to Israeli companies and other businesses, like weapons manufacturers, that profit from the war in Gaza. In addition to divestment, protesters are calling for a cease-fire, and student governments at some colleges have also passed resolutions in recent weeks calling for an end to academic partnerships with Israel. The protesters also want the U.S. to stop supplying funding and weapons to the war effort.

More recently, amnesty for students and professors involved in the protests has become an issue. Protesters want protections amid threats of disciplinary action and termination for those participating in demonstrations that violate campus policy or local laws.

− Claire Thornton

Contributing: Reuters