- MIT is Gen Z’s dream university to attend, whereas parents would rather see them attend the Ivy League’s Princeton University, according to a new survey.
Move over Harvard—students have a new favorite dream school, and it may not necessarily be what their parents envision.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is students’ No. 1 dream school of 2025, according to a survey of college hopes and worries from The Princeton Review. Parents, on the other hand, would prefer their child attend Princeton University—an Ivy League institution.
While students and parents may butt heads over their very top university of choice, their top 5 picks have a lot of overlap—with Harvard, Stanford, and Yale joining MIT and Princeton in their rankings, albeit in different orders.
Plus, agreeing on where they want to go is one thing. Actually getting in is another issue they’ll have to contend with.
Whereas two decades ago, about 16% of applicants were accepted into MIT, it’s only about 4.5% today. Princeton no longer releases its acceptance rate on its website, but according to U.S. News, it only accepts 4% of applicants today—compared to closer to 10% in years past.
No wonder, college admissions stress is “high” or “very high” among 73% of the survey’s respondents, which included over 7,000 students and 2,000 parents.
Compared to when the survey was first introduced in 2003, anxiety levels are up 17%—and it’s about the get worse thanks to potential cuts.
The top 10 dream schools among students
- Massachusetts Insitute of Technology
- Harvard University
- Stanford University
- Princeton Unversity
- Yale University
- Columbia University
- New York University
- University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of California–Los Angeles
The top 10 dream schools among parents
- Princeton Unversity
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Stanford University
- Harvard University
- Yale University
- University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
- Columbia University
- Duke University
- New York University
- University of Texas–Austin
The price of college is an increasing worry
With student loan debt ballooning to around $2 trillion, students and parents are also wary about the rising price tag of a 4-year degree.
The estimated annual cost of attendance of top-ranked institutions is nearing the six-figure range, with MIT charging students (or rather, parents) $86,000. Princeton’s price is closer to $91,000. Nearly everyone is betting on financial aid helping out, with 98% of the survey respondents indicating that applying for aid was a priority.
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While the potential for a better job and higher income were indicated as the top benefit of a college degree, debt is a growing stressor. A plurality of respondents—38%—say the level of debt to pay for the degree was their biggest worry, up from a mere 6% in 2003, when getting into a first-choice college was the bigger concern.
And despite all the negative noise coming from top-ranked colleges like Harvard and Columbia, as well as fears of AI making college less relevant, students and parents are not deterred: 99% say yes, college will be worth it.