Too often college students and their parents are lead to believe that the best education is one from an Ivy League – Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale – or other pricey, prestigious school. However, according to a recent Wall Street Journal survey, having a college degree from a fancy university isn’t always on the top of the list for hiring companies.
No, the fact is that most hiring companies want students who are well-rounded academically and prepared to enter the workforce. That translates into looking at students from large state universities such as Penn State, Texas A&M University, University of Illinois, Purdue University and Arizona State University.
Hiring Companies Have Reasons for Going to State Schools
But there’s more to it than that. Hiring companies have their reasons for recruiting from large state schools.
First, with limited budgets for college recruiting and the travel that comes with it, it’s just more practical to focus on large schools. Next, they feel that many graduates from top state universities are better prepared academically, especially because state schools often provide students with practical work skills. And finally, many corporations form partnerships with state schools for other projects like internships and co-ops.
Who are these employers? Think major employers such as Google, General Electric and Campbell Soup, along with approximately 30 other industries who hired nearly 43,000 new college graduates last year.
Top 25 Colleges Hiring Companies Visit
According to the survey, here are the top 25 favorite college picks:
- Penn State
- Texas A&M University
- University of Illinois
- Purdue University
- Arizona State University
- University of Michigan
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- University of Maryland
- University of Florida
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Brigham Young University
- Ohio State University
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute
- Cornell University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Wisconsin
- UCLA
- Texas Tech
- North Carolina State, Raleigh
- University of Virginia
- Rutgers University, New Brunswick
- University of Notre Dame
- MIT
- University of Southern California
- Washington State University
Yes, there are a number of impressive college names on this roster. But what these schools have in common is a large student body. That translates into a larger number of grads, and therefore, larger pools of possible employees for the hiring companies to choose from.
College students and parents who think that private college education is the ticket into a great company and long-term career might want to think again. It’s not that there is anything wrong with an Ivy League education. But then again there’s nothing wrong with a state college education either, especially since it seems that employers love to find employees at much-less expensive state universities.
Deborah S. Hildebrand - Deborah S. Hildebrand is a freelance writer & HR consultant with 20+ years in human resources & a Bachelor's degree in Business.
Join the Conversation