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Differences Between Public and Private Colleges

The document compares public and private nonprofit institutions. It discusses the sources of funding, cost of attendance, availability of financial aid, accreditation, religious affiliation, size, degree program offerings, athletics and extracurricular activities, diversity of student bodies, and prestige factors of public and private institutions.

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18 views

Differences Between Public and Private Colleges

The document compares public and private nonprofit institutions. It discusses the sources of funding, cost of attendance, availability of financial aid, accreditation, religious affiliation, size, degree program offerings, athletics and extracurricular activities, diversity of student bodies, and prestige factors of public and private institutions.

Uploaded by

leafedunepal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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This article compares public and private nonprofit institutions.

Within the private sector,


there are also private for-profit institutions, which are run like businesses with the purpose of
generating revenue. We have another article giving an in-depth comparison of for-profit and
nonprofit institutions .

Sources of Funding
The defining difference between public and private institutions is how they are funded.
Public schools are funded mainly by state governments, while private colleges are supported
primarily by their own endowment funds and students’ tuition fees. Private colleges may
also receive contributions from individual donors - perhaps in exchange for getting buildings
named after themselves. (Public colleges also receive donations.)

Cost of Attendance
Another major difference between public and private colleges is the cost of attendance .
Public universities are heavily subsidized by state governments, which enables them to
charge lower tuition rates to students. In-state residents receive favorable tuition rates at
public universities based on the premise that their tax dollars fund the state governments.
Private colleges, on the other hand, are more expensive because they rely more heavily on
students’ tuition payments to cover their operating expenses. Public colleges and universities
are almost always less costly to attend than private schools.

Availability of Financial Aid


Private colleges and universities may be more costly to attend; however, they frequently
offer more substantial tuition discounts than do public universities. Both public and private
colleges can provide federal financial aid to students, but private institutions typically have
more money available to fund grants and scholarships. Public universities, which tend to be
larger in size, are better able to offer work-study positions to a greater number of students.
While private colleges are generally more expensive, their ability to offer more attractive
financial aid packages can sometimes make them more affordable than public universities.

Accreditation
A school can be accredited nationally, regionally, or not at all. Regional accreditation, which
is considered the gold standard of accreditation, is associated with the highest educational
standards. Nearly all public universities are regionally accredited, while many private
colleges are only accredited nationally. Certain private schools, like those with a religious
affiliation, may prefer national accreditation (such as from a church’s accrediting body) over
regional accreditation. For-profit private colleges with no accreditation are notoriously
scandalous and should be avoided.

Religious Affiliation
Public colleges and universities are secular, by law, meaning that they have no formal
affiliation with any religion. Private colleges are not bound by the legal principle of
separation between church and state, and therefore may be religiously affiliated. Non-secular
private colleges do not typically require strict observance of the school’s religion in order to
gain admission, but secular students may be more comfortable attending a non-religiously
affiliated public or private university.

Size
Public universities are generally bigger than private colleges. The student body population,
campus size, and class sizes are all bigger at public schools. With many thousands of
students enrolled at public universities, class sizes of a couple hundred are not uncommon.
The campus environment at public schools is less intimate, with professors less likely to
know all of their students’ names. However, public university campuses are more likely than
those of private colleges to be well-equipped to meet students’ needs, and may feature
restaurants, movie theaters, or other entertainment options, in addition to transportation.

Degree Program Offerings


Many private colleges, such as liberal arts colleges, offer only a narrow range of academic
majors from which to choose. Public universities, meanwhile, usually offer a much wider
array of classes and degree programs. Students who are sure of what they want to study can
benefit from attending private institutions that are well-regarded in their chosen fields, while
incoming freshmen who have yet to choose a major may be better off attending a public
university with many available degree programs.
Athletics & Extracurricular Activities
Students for whom athletics are an important part of the college experience may prefer to
attend a public university. The vast majority of Division I athletic teams are from public
schools. In addition, due to their larger size, public colleges and universities typically offer a
wider selection of extracurricular activities than do smaller private colleges.

Diversity of Student Body


Private and public colleges are diverse in different ways. Private colleges, which charge the
same tuition rates regardless of state residency, tend to attract students from diverse
geographic locations. Public institutions, on the other hand, tend to be demographically
more diverse because the tuition is more affordable. The diversity of public institutions is
additionally enhanced by the wide range of academic majors available.

Prestige Factor
Lastly, and of debatable importance, the perceived “prestige” of public universities differs
from that of private colleges. Public universities typically place lower in the college
rankings than private schools, and frequently have less selective admissions criteria. Private
colleges may employ more distinguished faculty or publish influential academic research
more often. The quality of education received at a private institution is not necessarily
superior to that which can be obtained at a public school, but graduates of highly-ranked or
“prestigious” colleges are typically more sought after in the job market. Notably, some
public colleges and universities carry as much prestige as the more exclusive private schools.

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