I don't understand this at all. I had a full ride to a lot of "real" DI schools for strictly academics (Miami, Oklahoma, Alabama, etc. without me applying...) and it was a no brainer in the other dirrection... there was no way in hell I was sacrifing an elite education because of a simple cost difference as long as there was a way for me to make it work financially.
I understand going to Youngstown State if its impossible for him to make paying his way to Notre Dame work. Any other scenario? Shouldn't even be a discussion.
Then I wasn't clear enough or you misinterpreted what I said. I also should have said it depends on the program/ major. If you're talking about a major in the arts (history, political science, sociology, etc), the fact that "ND" on it doesn't mean you're going to make more money than you would if it said "Pittsburgh" on it. ND's business school is highly ranked nationwide, but if I can get an accounting degree from another D1 school for free, I'd strongly encourage that, especially if my financial situation isn't one where ND tuition is not a problem.
If a family has the coin to invest $200,000 without hesitation in an ND education and truly believes they're going to get a return on that, that's their call. Every kid, every family, every school, situation, major is going to be different. It's easy for us fans to sit back and say, "hello, you have the chance to go to ND! No brainer!" Take football out of the equation for guys like Jimmy Clausen and Golden Tate. Both Sociology majors. There's no way they'd make more money following that path with a Sociology degree with ND on it if they had the same Sociology degree from USC or Ohio State. The one major selling point for ND is the nationwide network of alumni.
My main point here is if school A has a reputable program for my son's degree and is offering that for free, I'd have a real hard time brushing that off to pay $200,000 to get that degree from ND.
Another interesting factor here: look at some of these big time football schools and you'll find that outside of athletes, they're very exclusive and hard to get into academically. Miami. Florida. Florida State. USC. North Carolina, even Penn State and Ohio State are just a few examples I know of without doing more research.
Sorry for putting all this in the kid's thread. Hope he makes the call that's best for him.
