The Value of An Education
This recent "scandal" or "thing": "Dozens are arrested, including parents, in college scandal"
where wealthy parents have bribed or otherwise paid their children's way into prestigious colleges being charged, along with those whom they have bribed by Federal prosecutors, is something I find puzzling.
Why would a parent pay a million dollars to get their child into a university which that child would otherwise be unqualified to attend? In other words, the child was not admitted on the basis of their scholastic merits, but simply because someone was bribed to admit them? To me this suggests that the education that they may obtain is not the point of admission, but rather the prestige associated with matriculation. This means that what is important to those parents is not education but prestige.
And since, it appears, that those parents themselves are possessors or strivers after prestige, that they, for whatever reasons, desire it for themselves or their children. But why spend all this money, exhert all this effort, incur all this risk? To increase their prestige? To increase their child's prestige? Which operationally means what? To increase their potential for increased wealth? To improve their child's chances for "success"?
Fine.
Perhaps what the universities involved should do is develop a clandestine program that would admit children of the wealthy or the aspiring to their university for a suitable price. Thereby, the institution would benefit and the parents would benefit (the children might even benefit, but who cares). The public would think that these kids are smart, and therefore entitled to their accolades and prestige and success, the universities wold profit, the parents wold be satisfied.
What about the coaches and others who were bribed, the little people who wanted to profit from this system? The universities could set up an incentive program where any person approached with the offer of a "bribe" could refer the briber to this clandestine department. This department the could negotiate maximum amount of bribe; they are smart people, after all.
The briber would be issued clear guideline as to who is a reasonable prospect and what to do about "duds" -- a whole thing could be worked out here. The people who are initially offered the bribe, call them "refereres", would then be given a cut of whatever the final negotiation produced -- an incentive to find more wealthy donors. Everybody wins. People who tried to skirt the system would be dealt with harshly. The universities would get lots of money -- perhaps the kids admitted might even turn out to be are credit to the university, the parents would get their prestige, the referrers wold get their "referral bonus", society would get to believe that everything is fair, prosecutors would get to concentrate on "real" crimes.
where wealthy parents have bribed or otherwise paid their children's way into prestigious colleges being charged, along with those whom they have bribed by Federal prosecutors, is something I find puzzling.
Why would a parent pay a million dollars to get their child into a university which that child would otherwise be unqualified to attend? In other words, the child was not admitted on the basis of their scholastic merits, but simply because someone was bribed to admit them? To me this suggests that the education that they may obtain is not the point of admission, but rather the prestige associated with matriculation. This means that what is important to those parents is not education but prestige.
And since, it appears, that those parents themselves are possessors or strivers after prestige, that they, for whatever reasons, desire it for themselves or their children. But why spend all this money, exhert all this effort, incur all this risk? To increase their prestige? To increase their child's prestige? Which operationally means what? To increase their potential for increased wealth? To improve their child's chances for "success"?
Fine.
Perhaps what the universities involved should do is develop a clandestine program that would admit children of the wealthy or the aspiring to their university for a suitable price. Thereby, the institution would benefit and the parents would benefit (the children might even benefit, but who cares). The public would think that these kids are smart, and therefore entitled to their accolades and prestige and success, the universities wold profit, the parents wold be satisfied.
What about the coaches and others who were bribed, the little people who wanted to profit from this system? The universities could set up an incentive program where any person approached with the offer of a "bribe" could refer the briber to this clandestine department. This department the could negotiate maximum amount of bribe; they are smart people, after all.
The briber would be issued clear guideline as to who is a reasonable prospect and what to do about "duds" -- a whole thing could be worked out here. The people who are initially offered the bribe, call them "refereres", would then be given a cut of whatever the final negotiation produced -- an incentive to find more wealthy donors. Everybody wins. People who tried to skirt the system would be dealt with harshly. The universities would get lots of money -- perhaps the kids admitted might even turn out to be are credit to the university, the parents would get their prestige, the referrers wold get their "referral bonus", society would get to believe that everything is fair, prosecutors would get to concentrate on "real" crimes.
posted by Godel at 9:23 PM
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