There's really no such thing as a true private university in the US, at least not with respect to any of the schools in the of the rankings. All top schools rec

There's really no such thing as a true private university in the US, at least not with respect to any of the schools in the of the rankings. All top schools receive a ton of government money in the form of research grants and other investments and partnerships. Then you add in all the federal money that comes in via the students from federally subsidized student loans, grants, etc and what you have is effectively a school where the funding is public and the management and accountability is private. Much like with banks in the US, the upside is privatized and the downside is socialized. Note - this is not a defense or critique of their policy with regard to race and admissions. I don't believe that it's just or reasonable to use race to lower or raise the bar for anyone. In an ideal world, admissions would be merit based and you'd let the chips fall where they may. The fact is that certain groups place higher or lower levels of value on a specific type of educational achievement. There's nothing wrong with that. In some subcultures in the US, the best thing a young person can do in the eyes of their parents and community is join the military. There are other cultures where that is seen as a bad path. We shouldn't be in the business of telling others what is or is not in their best interests. That should be left to individual families and communities.