How you got your college education mattered most

[Klpno]

Hello everyone,

From the book Thank You for Being Late by Thomas Friedman.

“We think it’s a big deal” where we go to college, Brandon Busteed, the executive director of Gallup’s education division, explained to me for a column I wrote about the poll. “But we found no difference in terms of type of institution you went to—public, private, selective or not—in long-term outcomes. How you got your college education mattered most .” And two experiences stood out from the poll of more than one mil-lion American workers, students, educators, and employers: Successful stuents had one or more teachers who were mentors and took a real interest in their aspirations, and they had an internship related to what they were learning in school .

What does “How* you got your college education mattered most” mean?

Thank you.

[Alan]

The reference to ‘how’ indicates the way in which the education took place. This means the standard of the teaching regardless of the institution.

[Luschen]

Alan is definitely correct, but I feel the quote is also stressing that how the student pursues her education is also important. Seeking out a mentor and applying for internships are actions often the responsibility of the student, not the university, and are “how” the student gets her education.