UTAD donations down more than 25% last year

[tm3]

Where does the high school senior with the 99th percentile test scores but who doesn't know what she wants to do for a living yet for in? She looks at the rankings of the best public school in her state, and she laughs, and she goes somewhere else. We have a half dozen public university campuses in Tennessee. They don't all have to pander to the least common denominator.

The Research Triangle is great for the state of North Carolina. It doesn't exist without UNC-Chapel Hill being an elite institution. Ever heard anyone from North Carolina complain about it?

I obviously can't speak for all of those theoretical seniors, but it has been my observation that the ones with means don't pick any state school -- they go to Duke, Harvard, Swarthmore, etc.

Those with parents who can't pony up $50k or so a year might have to settle for UT. But, combine a kid that smart with the UT honors programs, the ability to take graduate school classes as an undergrad, and the general fact that the job one lands is more a factor of which professional school they attend rather than undergrad, and IMO the end result is not too shabby.