David Leonhardt discusses the admission in the most exclusive colleges in the U.S. through the career of the outgoing president of Amherst college, Anthony Marx. In it, he makes the observation that capable students who come from lower income households are unable to make it into elite universities in the U.S. despite the claim by some colleges that the admissions processes are blind to financial capability of students.
One cannot disagree with Anthony Marx's approach to try and ensure that the admissions processes at Amherst capture a more diverse set of students based on their family income and circumstances. However, I think that many universities are altogether unable and unwilling to seek a wider body of students from low income families for the reasons that are obvious. For a private institution that thrives on endowments, it is clear that many would choose borderline students, provided their parents are capable of paying or have a legacy of attendance than a student who is probably the first to attend college from the family.
As a libertarian, I understand fully that some universities may trade away the idea of having a student body representative of the U.S. for the prize of a stable student set. It should be perfectly left to colleges to define the exclusive ideas that will drive their admissions. that Amherst has chosen to interpret its quest for diversity in a different way is its "niche". In my view, that colleges are beginning to define themselves in this way is altogether admirable and Amherst is commended for it.
One cannot disagree with Anthony Marx's approach to try and ensure that the admissions processes at Amherst capture a more diverse set of students based on their family income and circumstances. However, I think that many universities are altogether unable and unwilling to seek a wider body of students from low income families for the reasons that are obvious. For a private institution that thrives on endowments, it is clear that many would choose borderline students, provided their parents are capable of paying or have a legacy of attendance than a student who is probably the first to attend college from the family.
As a libertarian, I understand fully that some universities may trade away the idea of having a student body representative of the U.S. for the prize of a stable student set. It should be perfectly left to colleges to define the exclusive ideas that will drive their admissions. that Amherst has chosen to interpret its quest for diversity in a different way is its "niche". In my view, that colleges are beginning to define themselves in this way is altogether admirable and Amherst is commended for it.
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