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College Tuition — Legacy Preference Or Walk On Water

Feb 21, 2017
by Caroline Miller
college assistance for the wealthy and poor, Dan Golden, good grades are sometimes not enough, legacy preference, Pay to Play, The Price of Admission
2 Comments

Sitting down to coffee with a woman who runs a small non-profit organization, she began our conversation by thanking me for my recent contribution. Her remarks were gracious and allowed me to imagine I’d given significant assistance to her cause.  Later, however, she let slip that another donor had written a check ten times greater than mine.  Naturally, my illusion of generosity burst like a soap-bubble.

Based on that occurrence, I smiled while reading an article about  legacy preference,  a policy among colleges and universities which gives admission preference to  the  offspring of wealthy alums.  “People think that if they give  a couple hundred thousand or a million they’re big donors.”   But what gets a university’s attention is a gift of $15 million “which could fund 10 to 15 scholarship kids …” (Pay to Play,” by Dan Golden, Town&Country, 2/17, pg. 127.)

Legacy preference has been roundly criticized by writers like Dan Golden.  His book, published 10 years ago, The Price of Admission, described the practice as elitist and discriminatory.  After much public debate, some institutions made accommodations.  One trend among schools with a history of having benefitted from the slave trade has been to give legacy preference to the descendants of slaves.  Children from low-income families have also gained ground.  A wide number of assistance and scholarship programs now exist for them.  “Harvard, Yale and Stanford give a full ride, including tuition plus room and board, to students whose family income is below $65,000.” (Ibid pg. 127.)

Courtesy of google.com

To offset these new policies, colleges and universities  rely more than ever on the largesse derived from legacy preferences.  But what happens to students in the middle, applicants with good grades who don’t fall into any special category?  The answer is  they have difficulty being admitted to top-tier universities and are likely to graduate with a crushing debt load if they are.

As one Notre Dame official put it, “The poor schmuck who has to get in on his own has to walk on water.”  And if the student Is white or Asian American,  “the schmuck has to walk on water – during a tsunami.” (Ibid pg. 127).

 

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2 Comments
  1. Maggi White February 21, 2017 at 8:14 am Reply
    It was insensitive for the woman to mention a bigger donor, unless she was sharing the information because she felt since you supported the nonprofit you would be equally pleased that it was getting large donations to push it forward. It is true that middle class have a tough situation regarding scholarships, etc., compared to very poor and some minorities. However, an argument could be made that nothing in life is fair and it has been the least fair, far longer, for the ones who are currently benefitting.
    • Caroline Miller February 21, 2017 at 8:42 am Reply
      Regarding my contribution, I'm certain no insult was intended. I made the connection during a long conversation that took many turns. Your final point about fairness is true. Things are unfair, but I'm sure you agree, we mustn't be satisfied with that status quo. .

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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