Inequality In Higher Education In The United States

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As of late, the perceived problems of wealth and income inequality have dominated the political discourse of western nations when considering economics, with many politicians, pundits, and academics pointing towards the allegedly flawed higher education system as a primary catalyst of this inequality. This issue particularly strikes a nerve with the populist left, with long-shot initiatives being proposed in the US to make college debt or tuition-free as to combat inequality. In his op-ed on the legacy system at elite schools in the United States, Evan Mandery proposes something less extreme, that ending legacy would be instrumental in combating inequality on campuses and in the larger economy. He laments the fact that those students with family …show more content…

I believe this claim serves to further my point ending legacy is insufficient if the goal is combatting inequality. These schools still possess class inequality, particularly Oxford and Cambridge, two British schools which accept an outsize portion of applicants from a handful of elite boarding schools (Dorling). Statistically, families of students who come from these schools are significantly wealthier than the averages of their respective countries. Indeed, all three of my examples likely contributed to this fact, with income, donations, and connections among other things all factoring into this imbalance among non-legacy elite schools. Thus, I believe the ending of legacy would not be sufficient in ending class inequality on college campuses, though it certainly might help alleviate these issues. Frankly, I have no antidote in mind to prevent colleges from accepting a disproportionate amount of wealthy students -- barring what I would consider draconian, arbitrary government interventionism. Perhaps it is up to the students and the administration to work together in fostering a more equitable environment, if they truly

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