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> If you graduate from an elite university, and you are sharp enough to find the next wave to surf, America is still a fine place to be. But the cost of that ed
by morgante 12y ago
> If you graduate from an elite university, and you are sharp enough to find the next wave to surf, America is still a fine place to be. But the cost of that education is crazy now. Your parents have to among the fortunate to afford it.
Not really. That's a pernicious myth. The elite universities have amazing financial aid which actually makes it easiest to attend for those who can least afford it. The hurdle is getting in, which by definition is impossible for the vast majority of Americans.
Not that any of this matters. The continued success of the elite is irrelevant to the continued struggles of the 99.5%.
- Zigurd 12y agoElite universities can offer a hand up to those extraordinary cases of highly intelligent kids coming up from poverty. But they are MUCH less affordable for and admit far fewer kids from ordinary educational backgrounds with middle class parents. I doubt my own trajectory is repeatable without an added couple $100k in debt.
- morgante 12y ago> But they are MUCH less affordable for and admit far fewer kids from ordinary educational backgrounds with middle class parents. That's just false. Huge numbers of middle class students enroll in elite institutions. My family is decidedly middle class and, in line with their standard financial aid policies, every elite university I applied to offered an aid package which would make it affordable. The total debt required would have been around $5k over 4 years (just books). Obviously this is just anecdotal, but I do elite education's unaffordability is a pernicious myth which keeps great students from applying.