Attending a top-tier college doesn't necessarily equate to a life-lasting collegiate experience that will play into career success, says a new poll, and, in fact, it's college life experiences that matter the most.
A new Gallup-Purdue University study reveals the choice of a higher-learning institution doesn't matter as much as what a student experienced while in college, but dismally just 3 percent of all college graduates polled have had the type of college experience that ties to successful career path.
The news comes at a time when entrance to Ivy League schools is fierce given the increasing numbers of students attending college and the rising cost of education which many believe are over-taxing for college students and families.
The joint research effort between Purdue University and the Lumina Foundation studied the relationship between college graduates' lives and the college they attended. It turns out the choice of school "hardly matters" when it comes to future workplace engagement and well-being.
"Just as many graduates of public colleges as graduates of not-for-profit private colleges are engaged at work -- meaning they are deeply involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work. And just as many graduates of public as not-for-profit private institutions are thriving -- which Gallup defines as strong, consistent, and progressing -- in all areas of their well-being," states a release on the study.
It is the support and college experience that plays the big role in terms of long-term outcomes.
" For example, if graduates recalled having a professor who cared about them as a person, made them excited about learning, and encouraged them to pursue their dreams, their odds of being engaged at work more than doubled, as did their odds of thriving in all aspects of their well-being," states the release. " And if graduates had an internship or job in college where they were able to apply what they were learning in the classroom, were actively involved in extracurricular activities and organizations, and worked on projects that took a semester or more to complete, their odds of being engaged at work doubled as well."
The disappointing reveal is that very few college graduates enter the workplace with what the poll calls the "winning combination" of having a supportive college experience that drove their interest to learn and encourage their future dreams with just 14% of graduates strongly agree they were supported by professors who cared
"Those who strongly agree to having had all six of these experiences during their time in college are the rarest of all," states the release, noting that figure was just 3 percent.
The poll indicates that college choices should focus on whether the college's culture is the best for the particular student and not just the academic aspect.
"The answers could lie as much in thinking about aspects that last longer than the selectivity of an institution or any of the traditional measures of college. Instead, the answers may lie in what students are doing in college and how they are experiencing it. Those elements -- more than many others measured -- have a profound relationship to a graduate's life and career. Yet too few are experiencing them," states the release.
