The author's position is that the only reason to go to college is to learn academic subjects and obtain a job when graduating. If the same logic were applied t

The author's position is that the only reason to go to college is to learn academic subjects and obtain a job when graduating. If the same logic were applied to automobiles, there'd be no reason to choose a Lexus over a Nissan. College is about the whole experience: friends, contacts, travel, opportunities, and yeah, for some, it just comes down to wanting to to go to a place that "doesn't suck." As for innate ability - well, students were selected based on the college wanting specific types of students, largely because they want to create an unsuckish experience for the students. (There are unmotivated, immature, and/or improperly-backgrounded people in every class, but is it just a couple, or a majority?) As for the focused universities, the ones that bill themselves solely as get-smart-get-job/promotion/whatever, and that fail to deliver, those must be held accountable. If I bought a "Cheaperson S Hatchback" and it consistently failed to take me to work, and a significant portion of other Cheaperson owners reported the same thing, then the problem is in the car, not me, and Cheaperson should be held accountable.