One downside is that for certain professions, elite schools are increasingly becoming an exclusive pathway. It is mattering more and more, not less and less. This is not true across the board, but it’s true in politics (not just for elected officials), business, finance, and, increasingly, in tech.
Given that, these schools are a sort of bottle-neck to having people participate in those fields–and those are the fields that shape society for all of us. If these schools are largely unavailable for the most talented and hard working student who come from the poor, the middle, and even the professional classes, that’s undemocratic. It’s damaging overtime because our literal corporate and political overlords will be drawn nearly exclusively from a single class.
This is not to say that an individual has to go to HYPMS (Harvard Yale Princeton MIT Stanford) to be successful–there’s lots and lots of paths to success. And certainly not everyone at those schools comes from the elite. But it’s a force that is perpetuating keeping the same families in the most powerful positions in America for generations.
Lets say Mr. Smith loves to think about the Glory Days when he used to get drunk and pass out on the lawn of State U.
Mr. Smith has done VERY well for himself, his son is 16, and he is thinking about making a very large donation to State U. He knows his son is mostly worthless, but he wants him to experience the glory of State U, just like he did so many years ago.
You have a daughter that is 17, she is bright and is going to State U to major in microbiology.
Let’s propose two scenarios:
State U declines Mr. Smith’s donation due to the fact that they would have to accept Smith Jr. The microbiology dept continues to share a bare-bones building with the Math department. You pay $6,000 a semester for your daughter to go there.
State U accepts Mr. Smith’s donation. This is the extra cash they needed to build a new microbiology building (which bears his name, Smith Hall). They are able to hire better microbiology faculty since the new facility is a draw for next level professors. You only have to pay $5,500 a semester. Your daughter’s education definitely took a step up. On the flip side, Smith Jr is accepted to the university despite his lackluster grades and drive. He is majoring in business and is following is his father’s collegiate footsteps (mostly drunk). He graduates with a 1.8 GPA and goes on to run his father’s business.
The reality is that many of these dream schools are that way directly because of the mega donors. A school with a multi-billion dollar endowment and the amenities that go along with it didn’t get that way from the student’s tuition payments alone. Although it feels unfair that the rich have preferential access, the reality is that the middle-class kid wouldn’t find the school so desirable if the rich weren’t putting so much money into that system.
For example, a state school might have a primary campus and several satellite campuses. They all provide similar educational opportunities, but students are clamoring to get into the primary campus because of the nicer facilities, premier sports, alumni network, etc. Getting into the primary campus is very difficult, but the satellite schools are often seeking more applications. But the whole reason the primary campus is so nice is because donors are giving millions of dollars for the benefit that high donation brings. If the advantage of donating is taken away, the donations will go way down and that campus will lose much of what makes it so desirable.
The problem is that when the price of admission and graduation gets too cheap then the value of a diploma goes down. The diploma is to certify that you were smart enough to get in and conscientious enough to graduate. When too many people buy their way to the diploma then the value of it goes down for everyone. At least with Affirmative Action you can look and see who didn’t deserve their diploma and do the proper discounting. I don’t think it should be done for less than $2 million otherwise it would be too common and hurt the rest of the alumni.
I’m OK with it in general principles, but too often it’s donated to a school that doesn’t need the money because it has a big enough endowment anyway. Universities should pool their donations like waitresses pooling tips…
Did you just say that? If you see a black person with a diploma from an exclusive school, you “discount them”? And you can tell by looking?
I cannot begin to tell you how ridiculous this is. I cannot begin to tell you how many highly qualified black students I have sent to elite colleges–all of them with test records that put them in the top 1% of students in the country. I can’t even.
And, as I just said in great detail, elite colleges take under-qualified rich white kids all the time. Because they went to the right feeder. Because they play water-polo at a very high level. Because their great grandparents went to the school. ALL of those things carry more weight with the admissions committee than race. All of those things are not “visible” when you meet someone. And all together, those ways add up to way more than the 8% or so of slots taken up by African Americans.
I can see where you’re coming from, although I don’t agree - the number of students who get into college this way is vanishingly small, except perhaps among the high-prestige Ivies.
The university I work at is currently fundraising to try to build a new science center. $100 million is what they’re reaching for. It’s very hard to get there. There’s no way they’ll be upset at the kind of donations we’re talking about.
So, “Fred” is from a modest middle class family, so he has worked hard throughout his public school career to maintain almost a perfect grade point average. He has done everything possible to qualify for the outstanding universe of his dreams. Unfortunately for Fred, someone with a million dollars just bought his spot in the freshman class, and now Fred is on the outside looking in.
So, does that qualify as “a sanctimonious sense of fairness”, or does it qualify as a gross injustice?
That is true. You could give $50 million to Harvard, Yale or Stanford (the wealthiest private schools) and barely make a difference to the endowment amount.
Plus the cost of attendance at the elite schools is so high that, if the money is used for scholarships, it’s not covering the cost for many students. On the other hand, you could put the $50 million towards scholarships at a public university (even a community college) and help out a much greater number of students.
I met someone once who had worked at an elite school, and she pointed out that the donors want to put their names on shiny new buildings, usually ones designed by starchitects. Meanwhile the campus is littered with older buildings that are still functional but boring, and still need upkeep. No one is volunteering to pay for a new roof for the nineteenth century gym. She said that many of these buildings wind up being filled with back office staff.
Cripes on a Cracker! These people are willing to pay a million bucks! Let 'em in the damn classes. Give them a folding chair to carry with them. Hell, just print them up a damn diploma. Give them a degree in Music Appreciation. It’s not like they are going on Medical School or anything.
You’ve specifically created a scenario to fit your point of view. The only two option are your daughter failing because the guy doesn’t get it, nor succeeding because he does. You’re ultimately just begging the question.
You ignore the immediate possibility that your daughter is one of those who doesn’t make it to the college because one of the rich guys got in. You assume no long term consequences of letting these people in. You assume no consequences of putting stupid people into positions of power. You ignore the idea of money corrupting everything.
I mean, you do realize your #2 is why Donald Trump is president, right? Trump didn’t earn anything he has. Is your daughter really better off under him? This is exactly what happens when we let money, no merit, decide what power people get.
I don’t approve of money buying people into false education credentials. No rationalization will make this ultimately better for society.
I genuinely believe in “all men are created equal” and should be given equal opportunity. I genuinely believe that most if not all of the problems in this world are caused by people making excuses to not have equality.
The pillars of morality are harm reduction and fairness. You are only considering the short term effects of 1, and ignore the other. What disheartens me is how few people care.
Many of the top-paying employers for new graduates exclusively recruit from elite universities.
So rich families can entrench their advantage, generation after generation.
But with larger (better) facilities, more faculty, and more money, there is no reason that the University can’t let in 10 more people. The University letting in one person for millions of dollars is not a zero sum game.
Trump did not get to be president because of this. Do you really think that anyone voted for him because of his degree from some university?
Which they have been doing since we had universities. This case is only different because it involves cash payments to coaches and photoshop, rather than time-honored political pressure and toadying.
I don’t have a problem with someone donating a pile of money to a school and getting their name on a building, and then their kid getting accepted to the school. At least many future students and staff there will benefit, and the kid took up only one spot.
I agree this is not the same thing as the current scandal where shysters and fixers benefited financially and the school only got a half-interested, spoiled brat as a student.
Do you think that such an act would just get the kid accepted at the school? There will be pressure throughout her/his stay to go easy on the kid because of that donation and the possibility of future donations.
I am sure that is possible and probably happens. But, how would you police that? I would gather schools don’t have the time or resources available to determine if a donor kid is getting treated softly, academically.