Conrad is a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor, a faculty member with the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, and the faculty director of the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education (WISCAPE).

Among the questions Conrad was asked include: “What type of universities do you think provide the best return on investment?”

“It depends on how you define ‘return on investment,’” Conrad tells Walethub.com. “If you define return on investment as a private benefit, the most prestigious liberal arts colleges and world-class universities give you the best return. If you define return on investment as learning with and from others not simply for personal advantage but as opportunity not only to thrive in the workplace but no less to thrive in your personal and public life, then you need to consider often invisible liberal arts colleges, regional colleges and universities, and two-year colleges. Never underestimate the likely benefits of these institutions.”

To read Conrad’s nuanced take on a range of related issues, check out his responses on this Wallethub.com web page.