"At least 27 of the country's 1,000 private colleges have either closed or are planning to close since the beginning of 1997, up 35 percent from the previous five-year period. People are figuring out that an expensive degree may not make much difference in marketability. 50 years ago, half of all college students went to private colleges compared to less than one-fifth of today's students. " Dan Miller (Career Coach) Nashville, TN I graduated from a fairly exclusive private high school and even I new 15 years ago that the public universities in this country had long since caught up. I guess Mr. Miller has the statistics to prove it.