Incidentally, the marriage market is probably the strongest reason to pay for expensive private schools. Going to Harvard may not get you a better job but almost certainly puts you in an exclusive dating pool for life. Admittedly thin research on this topic confirms the obvious: one research team finds that over half of women’s financial payoff for college quality comes via marriage.108 There is nothing counterintuitive about the idea that schools improve your spouse more than they improve you. If you go to Harvard, you’ll be the same person, but you’ll meet the elite.
