Eboo Patel, known for his inter-faith work, weighed in on how to reverse access to educational privilege - elite institutions (yes, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Penn, Dartmouth, Duke, Vanderbilt and more) should admit only students whose families make less than $100,000/year for the next decade. Unfortunately, advice such as Patel's is countered by others who advise "Climb or Die" in order for private institutions, especially those not yet branded as "elite," to survive.
Inequity in access is not only characteristic of elite private institutions but of selective publics as well, perhaps justifying the applicability of Patel's advice beyond the Ivy League. The proposal would not only benefit those students who have never had access to elite higher education before but would benefit the students who typically go to elite universities and never have the opportunity to actually see how the other 90% lives.
I believe Patel is accurate in saying that those students who have the supposed credentials and money to go to select universities will not suffer - they will still enter a work world that is based on networks of generational privilege. One difference that would come from reversing access is that suddenly students who have the capability to function in elite education would be afforded the opportunity to fulfill their potential. Another difference is that the new <$100,000/year students would transfer elite institutions and the knowledge the disseminate in very important ways.
Based on decades of research that indicates that how students engage in their learning is more important to educational outcomes than where they attend university, undistinguished universities would also suddenly be able to demonstrate that they actually provide a quality of education that is commensurate with what elite institutions claim. The playing field among young people and institutions would begin to level in ways that has never been seen anywhere in the world and what a difference it could make.
I believe Patel is accurate in saying that those students who have the supposed credentials and money to go to select universities will not suffer - they will still enter a work world that is based on networks of generational privilege. One difference that would come from reversing access is that suddenly students who have the capability to function in elite education would be afforded the opportunity to fulfill their potential. Another difference is that the new <$100,000/year students would transfer elite institutions and the knowledge the disseminate in very important ways.
Based on decades of research that indicates that how students engage in their learning is more important to educational outcomes than where they attend university, undistinguished universities would also suddenly be able to demonstrate that they actually provide a quality of education that is commensurate with what elite institutions claim. The playing field among young people and institutions would begin to level in ways that has never been seen anywhere in the world and what a difference it could make.
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