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Special Essay

5 American higher

education myths

RAYMOND RAVAGLIA

ORE HARMFUL THAN NOT KNOWING, IS International students often bedazzled
believing something false to be true. Higher ed-
ucation, with its mix of self-appointed experts, by the prospect of enroling in American
Mhigh cost of failure, and aversion to deviating universities are likely to make sub-
from collective wisdom, is a domain in which false beliefs
abound. International students far removed and often be- optimal choices leading to dashed hopes
dazzled by the prospect of enrolling in American universi- for life after graduation
ties are likely to make suboptimal choices leading to dashed
hopes for life after graduation. While great expectations
cannot be entirely prevented, they can be punctured, and there are clear economic benefits to earning a university
their influence dissipated. degree, many misconceptions exist about the importance of
Myth 1. Advanced Placement is a national curricu- choosing a top-ranked university as measured by its admis-
lum. For students from countries with heavy-handed edu- sions percentage and placements record.
cation ministries and highly regimented board examina- A report from the American Enterprise Institute about
tions, it can be hard to accept that the United States does American university education titled ‘Does More Selective
not have a national curriculum. In search of the nearest to College Equal a Bigger Paycheck?’ concludes that four years
a de facto national curriculum, Advanced Placement (AP) after graduation:
emerges as a logical choice. • Median earnings for graduates from less picky four-year
What most parents and students abroad are unlikely to institutions are broadly similar with graduates from more
be aware of is that universities have been suspicious of the selective schools.
quality of Advanced Placement for at least 30 years. This is • The earnings of graduates from less selective universities
why although a score of 3 is widely regarded as a pass, few increase more rapidly than of graduates of top-ranked more
top-ranked universities award credit for less than 4. selective universities.
The truth is that AP does not impact admissions like While selectivity can correlate with career success, it of-
respected international curricula do. While Stanford Uni- ten does so not because of what a student gains in univer-
versity’s Admissions Office requires international students sity, but because of other factors such as legacy status and
in IB or Cambridge International GCSE affiliated schools the social networks of students’ families.
to submit board exam results, AP exam results are a weak Similarly a 2021 study about university selectivity titled
signal, having little impact on admissions. ‘Same major, same economic returns? College selectivity
Myth2. Graduate student experience is equivalent and earnings inequality in young adulthood’ reached this
to the undergraduate. While no one believes graduate conclusion about the correlation between admission selec-
and undergraduate experiences are similar, people often tivity and career success: “We find that recent graduates in
believe stories heard from older family friends and rela- only two majors — business and the social sciences — ex-
tives about big public universities in the US — that they perience a selectivity premium.”
are equivalent or near equal. But there are tremendous Myth 5. Universities don’t exploit their students.
differences between being a graduate and undergraduate The final false belief that parents need to shake is that uni-
student, not least of which is that graduate students are versities operate for the benefit of their students. While this
usually paid to be there while undergrad students pay for may be true in the aggregate, it is rarely true in specific
the privilege. Other differences include class sizes, faculty instances. All universities want all their graduating students
interaction, and housing. This uneven distribution of re- to be successful, but they are satisfied with success mea-
sources invariably makes graduate school enjoyable, and sured from a portfolio perspective rather than on a student-
undergrad life less than ideal. by-student basis.
Myth3. Students graduate in four years. Most in- I encourage parents, especially of international students,
ternational students are aware that university undergrad to carefully reflect upon why universities compete inten-
programs in the US are of four years duration. What they sively to recruit students. Is it because they are mission-
don’t know is that most students take longer to graduate. driven institutions with a long history of developing student
Only 50 percent of international students, and 44 percent talent? Or because they are institutions with a long history
of domestic students, entering university as undergraduates of seeking new revenue sources? They may be both, but
emerge from the academy with a degree within four years. if you don’t know why they are recruiting your child, it is
Indeed, the fact that four-year degrees typically take longer probably because they see you as a big pay day rather than
to complete is why the statistic most often given in the dis- as someone whose child they wish to educate.
cussion of graduation rates is the six-year graduation rate. (Raymond Ravaglia is former Director of Pre-collegiate Studies, Stanford
Myth 4. University selectivity is all important. While University)

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