College expenses have not been ' free market ' driven, since the Gov started guaranteeing loans
Biden Is About to Commit an Impeachable Offense
- Thread starter GURPS
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College expenses have not been ' free market ' driven, since the Gov started guaranteeing loans
You know what's funny? One of my best friends is also possibly the LEAST political people I know - smarter than me - but doesn't care a whit what happens in Washington. He claims that nothing that ever happens there ever affects him. I think he's just not interested but wants cover for it.
And he came to the same conclusion. And laid out the case to me very clearly. Guaranteeing student loans meant that schools really didn't need to restrict admissions at all. Elite colleges still need to protect their BRAND and are largely supported by private donors, endowments and so forth. They bring in money as a consequence of their research. They don't NEED hoards of undergrads. But they're strongly incentivized to just admit anyone who applies that can complete a semester.
Once loans are guaranteed - there is NO incentive to EVER lower costs. Really, when was the last time a college advertised they were drastically LOWERING tuition?
Imagine how much they'd soak the government, if the government PAID for everyone?
which is why places like Harvard are still selective in whom is accepted, Hardvard does not want the bad press if hordes of brown students drop out after the 1st quarter unable to handle the classes - people whom never should go to college in the 1st place
PeoplesElbow
Well-Known Member
Elite colleges are anything but elite for undergrads. I was surprised to learn this, but a former math professor whose son went to Princeton told me this. Said his son's first Math test he got a 90% and the class average was something like a 30%, that prof was a friend of his so he called him up. He told him that it's a shame his son will be getting the only A in the class and everyone else will be getting a B. Ivy leagues goal is to create a scholar and a gentleman, but they will settle for one of the two is what the Princeton prof told him. It was more about donations to the school as legacies have a 95% acceptance rate, they don't want to piss off someone whose parents can donate a million dollars.
He told me the instant his son was accepted the fund raisers started, Princeton Parents Safari, only 100k, etc.
He told me the instant his son was accepted the fund raisers started, Princeton Parents Safari, only 100k, etc.
So Universities are like any other Political entity or Cult now.
I used to work there. I knew a LOT of students. Harvard is probably the best math institution in the world.
But it only admits about 4% of applicants, and in any given year, twice as many valedictorians apply as get accepted. It does kind of mean that some get in that aren't the best from their school - but Harvard students are pretty damned smart. Ditto their MIT partners down the street.
While this is ESPECIALLY true for MIT - Harvard GRADUATE schools are among or ARE the best in the world, and overall it ranks anywhere from first to third in the world depending on who's asking.
I have two good friends who went to MIT, and two other people I know well. They ALL agree on one thing regarding the MIT undergrad experience - the hardest part was getting IN. After that, they will bend over backwards to see to it you graduate, and nearly all of them do. I don't know if it is still this way, but MIT's freshman year used to be pass/fail. Their premise is, look, we have a TOUGH admission process - we make it that way. Now that you're HERE, we will do the best we can to educate you. We aren't trying to flunk you out.
I don't know what percentage of undergrads at Harvard are on scholarship - but every one of the ones I knew, were. Because otherwise, it's 50k plus per year, not counting room and board.
And there ARE minorities admitted - but they still have to meet the academic standard. That being the case, a lot of them are going free.
PeoplesElbow
Well-Known Member
I will say when I was a graduate student I communicated with and shared research results with other masters students from Princeton, Wichita State University, and Ohio State. I did not find anything lacking in the Princeton guy, but I did not find him exceptional as I was expecting. The guy I consider the brightest was from Wichita State.
I don't think that the same palm greasing goes on with their graduate programs, after all the research through them is really what gives the schools their reputations.
I have had two professors with at least one of their degrees come from MIT and both were very bright, and excellent at teaching. What I consider the smartest professors I've had have all been from a foreign university (Germany, Egypt, and Turkey).
Here is a quick and interesting read, legacy admission isn't as high as I thought, but it was in the late 90's when I got my first hand info from.
Harvard Acceptance Rate for Legacy Students — TKG
Students work hard their entire high school careers with their eyes on the Ivy League. But while they might be busting their behinds to break the single-digit entry rate barriers, what they may not realize is the odds might be even less in their favor. According to data published in the Harvard Crim
www.koppelmangroup.com
I only have to look at most of our elected officials to make my opinion about elite institutions. I am a huge fan of land grant universities.
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