Starting back in the 1980s, many Americans came to believe that the more prestigious a college was, the better it must be. With US News annually ranking colleges, students were strongly inclined to select the highest-ranked one they could get into without much thought to expense.

Thankfully, people are moving away from that mindset, and in today’s Martin Center article, Grace Hall shows that they’re right.

She writes:

Where ROI is concerned, reputation is not as important as major. When students spend more on a ‘Hidden Ivy,’ they assume they will get a higher ROI. But the Bloomberg analysis shows that they might be better off going to a lower-cost state school (and choosing a major in a STEM field) in order to maximize their ROI.

Yup. Prestige doesn’t mean a better education. Often, in fact, undergraduates are largely ignored at prestige schools. Don’t waste your time and money in pursuit of that fancy diploma for the wall.