Aurora Sky Castner, a Texas teen who was born in jail and graduated at the top of her class this week, will be attending Harvard University in the fall
Harvard earns enough off trust interest they'd never have to charge another student tuition and room/board if they didn't want to.
They could just take all the smartest kids like this regardless of where they come from.
It's why having the most important part of our education system be for profit has never made sense. Just because you're wealthy or your Daddy went there doesn't mean you should get to take up a spot at one of the best schools on the planet.
You are completely right, and I think everyone in power realizes that. They also realize that they can buy a spot for their kids in a good university, but there is no way in hell their kids would make it to the top any other way. So they have no interest in changing it.
Changing the way universities work in the US would require a freaking revolution. It's not about giving opportunities to those from worse-off backgrounds; it's about taking away opportunities from the rich and tearing down structures of inherited power. So naturally the resistance to doing so is going to be immense, and whoever sets out to do it need to know what they're up against.
Probably why the republicans are so angry about forgiving student loan debts.
I agree there should be free options. State schools, community colleges, trade schools.
However, I'd like to see some level of required service post graduation. Doesn't have to be military. Some type of humanities service, eg: Peace Corps, Habitat for Humanity.
Harvard earns enough off trust interest they'd never have to charge another student tuition and room/board if they didn't want to.
They could just take all the smartest kids like this regardless of where they come from.
They do, technically. The admissions process is need-blind, meaning they decide whether to accept a student before looking at any financials, then provide enough financial aid for them to attend. Something like a quarter of the students don't pay anything.