"Look there are kids being born today at St. Mary's who with go the St. Catherine's or St. Christopher's or Collegiate or Benedictine and then go to UVA or Hampden-Sydney or Washington & Lee or wherever the family goes. It's pre-determined. Those slots are theirs the day they are born".

*if they screw up really badly at those private schools they can always go to Randolph-Macon and (at one time) learn economics from Dave Brat.

There are a variety of ways the influential and the affluent come out on top in our system. I knew people growing up whose kids could have gotten into school and whose families wouldn't pay the tuition, and I've known kids who took out student loans and banked them (because they really didn't need them) because of the low interest, essentially earning interest money on those loans.

This is just one more of a long list of things that influential people can do to get their kids into college. Maybe businesses need to stop fixating on the name of the school where someone got a degree and focus on the candidate herself.

There is plenty of blame to go around here. Our system is messed up. We dwell too much on credentialism as it is. Not everyone even needs a college education.

My parents told me, quite plainly, that they couldn't afford it. And that was that. So I went to a state college, which was just fine. It didn't really matter. I got the education, without the stress. I suppose, for some business careers, the school matters, but not for most professions, really. It's what you do after that really matters, unless you are only mediocre in your abilities.

On Wall Street and in the law, I suppose your school matters. Elsewhere, abilities matter more.

Your State was Number One in promoting College Education and had a relatively inexpensive cost system until Reagan blew that up.

We in Wisconsin had a somewhat similiar system at that same time frame which was blown up by Republican Governors in later decades.

And if you were in the top 10% of your Graduating Class,you could apply for and most likely were accepted at any of the State Colleges or State University.

At the time, there was no tuition for state residents. Fees for each semester were about $100. I remember, too, that my dorm room and board, per semester, was $600. We need to return to that model. Seriously.

Was able to do work study plus carry a extended or what was called a accelerated program which got you out the door in three years rather than four.

Like you mention,that model worked extremely well for you and I.

Here is what seemed to blow things up. Vietnam and the S2 program,saw this first hand,State Politico's and those with bucks were abusing the College entrance as a method of keeping Junior out of the Service.

At that time,living in Wisconsin your chances of a Draft Call Up a few days after your 18 th B-Day was a certainty , and Wisconsin had a County Draft Board System that rewarded Draft Board Members with Perks by pumping up the numbers of Draftees.

So if you maintained a 1.75 or higher GPA,your S2 stayed alive.

It didn't take long for my draft notice to show up. But, I fooled them! I enlisted in the USAF for four years.

I went back on the GI bill in 1969. New major, same school. I stayed there, including grad school until the money ran out. Good times!

One semester short,had to help support my family. Got my Draft Notice two weeks after returning home. Flunked the Phys,but got called up four times more and the same results.

Finished up at the U of M as a Weekend Student . Hey,there were several old timers doing the same at the time.

I had been an electronics engineering major, and had a year's worth of credits from Syracuse University from the 24/7 total immersion Russian Language school the USAF sent me to at SU. I re-enrolled as an English major, and for two years, the only classes I took were in the English Department. I had fulfilled all my other requirements earlier and in the USAF, including 3 units of Russian History and 3 units of Political Science. So, about all I did for two years was read and write papers for English professors. It was very easy.

Then, I still had another year of eligibility on the GI bill. So, I went on there in their Master's program. I finished almost all the Master's requirements, but the GI Bill money stopped, so I stopped too. I didn't care. I was back in school killing time, really, until I decided what I wanted to do.

So much for all the Lab Explosions,loved the Sales Business and never looked back. Honestly,have zero clue where my Sheepskin is. Still one of those experiences one can ever have. No friggin regrets,sure met a ton of great folks along the way.

but not a surprise to me. For decades alumni donations have gotten children accepted to schools. Athletes have lower standards than "regular" students. There are countless ways to play the system and many a $$$ related.

The big question is "Why is it so important for students to attend a particular college"? I think that says a lot about our society.