Interesting stuff, but feels tortured from an analytic standpoint (apparently one I am very familiar with!). The pieces about cost feel almost completely divorced from reality:
An elite education gives you the chance to be rich—which is, after all, what we’re talking about—but it takes away the chance not to be. Yet the opportunity not to be rich is one of the greatest opportunities with which young Americans have been blessed.
Most young Americans - even a large swath of those at the elite universities - will struggle with student loan debt for years, which isn't mentioned here at all. The race to the top of the US News rankings for colleges isn't mentioned - that affects the "second tier" universities just as much as the elite universities. And how can you look at a segment of students going to "second tier" universities and say:
These are the kinds of kids who are likely, once they get to college, to be more interested in the human spirit than in school spirit, and to think about leaving college bearing questions, not resumés.
Interesting stuff, but feels tortured from an analytic standpoint (apparently one I am very familiar with!). The pieces about cost feel almost completely divorced from reality:
Most young Americans - even a large swath of those at the elite universities - will struggle with student loan debt for years, which isn't mentioned here at all. The race to the top of the US News rankings for colleges isn't mentioned - that affects the "second tier" universities just as much as the elite universities. And how can you look at a segment of students going to "second tier" universities and say:
What does that even mean??