However, while inequality has gone up, accessibility has gone down with those that stand to potentially benefit most from higher education, being functionally barred from such institutions of higher learning. This discrimination takes place both directly and indirectly, with the help of an institutional bias alongside a bias on the part of academicians who at the end of the day, determine who is afforded a place at university and who is not.
Study after study has shown the way in which some of the most elite institutions of higher education in the United States prefer to accept those who come from privileged backgrounds over those that come from more marginalized segments of society. The Opportunity Project, in collaboration with the New York Times, identified the student body at some Ivy League institutions to be almost 50% composed of students who came from the top 10% of income earners in society, with a mere 3%-5% coming from the bottom 20%. This is despite efforts to ensure diversity and equal representation within elite universities of members of a range of segments of society, as a means of preventing these institutions from becoming self-perpetuating eco-chambers of privilege.
Despite valiant efforts, attempts at undermining this negative phenomenon have largely failed, no matter how many programs aimed at increasing diversity are instituted. The reasons are of course multifold, with some noting that the problem actually begins much earlier, at the high school and even elementary school level. Children afforded opportunities at private education come to universities far better prepared than their public school peers, attaining more impressive results on entrance exams and having a more impressive resume. This often includes legacy students, or the children of parents who studied at elite institutions as well, often supporting schools with ongoing donations, making them even more appealing candidates for education at such institutions.
And while the education received at private elementary and high schools often does surpass public education, an issue that cannot be ignored in this context is the admissions process to these, which have, in the past, been accused of including corrupt practices. This includes favoring parents who can make donations to schools, school administration members requesting personal favors from wealthy parents well-positioned to assist on personal matters and even inflated letters of recommendation for children of wealthy families in exchange for what cannot be described as anything other than bribery.
This was the case in the otherwise prestigious Pacific Palisades, California based St Matthew’s Parish School, where principal Alley Michaelson and board members such as Courtney Pade, were accused of giving coveted positions in their otherwise competitive elementary school programs to families that were willing to pay. Alley Michaelson is known to have requested personal favors from more than one parent, while Courney Pade, who was also implicated in the now infamous University of Southern California (USC) admissions bribery scandal, was known to request cash payments. Although complaints were filed, these were brushed under the rug, as was the USC admissions scandal, until it was made public in 2019, and later became a household name when Netflix released its “Varsity Blues” documentary.
This focused on how positions on varsity sports teams were taken advantage of and given out to unqualified children of the wealthy as a means of securing their place at school, as “athletes”. While many of those involved went to prison, there were those that continued their corrupt practices, including Courtney Pade. Thus, only a few weeks ago we saw a similar scandal erupting, yet again at USC, this time involving the falsification of positions of “walk on athlete” positions, or backups, which would never play sports but would be accepted on the false premise that they were indeed aspiring athletes. This scandal saw the current President of USC Carol Folt stepping down, although it remains unclear if others implicated would follow suit.
If the American education system is to maintain its position as the gold standard of education globally, it must be made clear that there is no place for corrupting behavior such as this at American universities. While there are practicalities of running a university that need to be considered, including attracting students able to afford full tuition and parents generous enough to make donations, measures to make universities accessible to those qualified but less fortunate must also be considered. Irrespective of such practical considerations and the question of accessibility, corruption must be rooted out at its core at every level of the American education system. There is no room to allow greed to shape the education, or lack thereof, of the next generation of global leaders.
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