Goldstein the Republican?

HorsesAss.Org » Blog Archive » Hike tuition to save higher ed: "I disagree with my Republican friend, Mr. Goldstein.

In the rest of the world getting into a top college is much more competitive than its here, Admission by ability and effort is a sort of rationing but it makes a hell of a lot more sense than rationing by how rich is Daddy.

Unlike athletic scholarships, that are plentiful, academic scholarships are rare in our system, Moreover, academic awards are almost always means tested. Even Merit Finalists only get a few hundred dollars if their parents are middle class!

So, WADR to a conservative like David Goldstein, it seems to me that we should address this issue by a much more efficient use of our tiered system of schools. Here is the SJ plan:

1, Nationalize the Merit awards and provide enough funds so we can support the best students. Testing should be improved to allow rating community achievements, background vs achievement, athletic achievement as well as numerical scores. This would help ensure diversity.

2. Make the elite schools “public” unless they are willing to forego federal funding. This would entail their agreeing to accept Merit awards as FULL payment for residential tuition.

3. Focus the top state schools, the “research universities” on serving a smaller set of students who can benefit from this"

Here is the beginning of my post. And here is the rest of it.