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Rohit Singh
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[Thu, 22 Apr 2004]
Wealthier Students, Poorer Society
NYT has an article about the increasing fraction of students (especially in top-ranked univs) coming from rich backgrounds. For example, the median family income of a Harvard student is $150K. The median family income of an American is $53K, one-third of it. And its not the bottom quartile of families that has suffered the most. They were always poorly represented. The middle-income families are the ones that've suffered the most, relatively.
"At the most selective private universities across the country, more fathers of freshmen are doctors than are hourly workers, teachers, clergy members, farmers or members of the military combined."
Wow!
Having lived in Stanford and MIT campuses (and near UCSD campus) I can personally vouch for how rich the general undergrad population seems to be. BMWs were far too common in the undergrad parking lots at Stanford. Uber-cool (and pricey!) gizmos are far too common at MIT (less space for cars here ;-).
The reason for this development seems to be that *everybody* is much more desperate to get their kids into good colleges. Richer parents can, however, spend a lot\ more on college-prep, building up an impressive app packet for their kids. And it shows- almost all colleges say that applications have been getting better and better. Some of the undergrad application resumes are just mindblowing. Of course, they are also padded- there just can't be so many multi-tasking socially-conscious polymath prodigies around. And the whole early-decision stuff favours people who don't need fin aid i.e. the rich kids.
There was one more reason why this article struck a chord. Charles Vest, one of MIT's longest serving presidents, is retiring. His eloquent farewell letter mentions a DOJ-initiated lawsuit regarding financial aid in the early 90s. At that time, top univs used to compare notes to best disburse financial aid in the most beneficial fashion (esp to poorer students). DOJ slammed, of all things, an anti-trust motion against them! Apparently, MIT was the only univ that didn't back down. They took it to court, and finally won. Sorta. The trends in fin aid still changed and merit-based financial aid systems started replacing need-based financial aid systems. Admissions, of course, have remained need-blind and merit-based. This change in financial aid means that less aid now goes to poorer, and often less qualified, students. Here's Vest's comment about this:
"...All these factors have combined to cause a massive shift of financial support away from the poor- est students and families to those with somewhat higher incomes. Despite the very real pressures on middle-class families during the last dozen years [i.e. they might need the extra aid], I consider that the world of financial aid is less noble and fair than it once was."
This also ties into the brouhaha going on in India over the IIMs' fees (and soon, I'm afraid, IITs' fees). To be fair, the median family income in India would be about Rs 50K, assuming families with atleast one regular job-holder. As such an IIT fee of about Rs 20-40K is fair considering that my estimated expenses at MIT are $52K (they pay :-) and the median American income is $53K. The IIMs' current fees are about 2 times the median income, but I think thats fair- people who go for MBAs often have savings or loans they can take. Hell! even IIT kids are getting richer. Most of them can now afford computers in their dorms. Even 5-6 years ago, there were lots who hadn't used computers until they came to IIT and could never imagine getting one for home use. The reason why more rich kids are getting into IITs is probably the same as in America- their rich parents can better help them prep.
Of course, I neglected to mention that its pretty much impossible for any really poor kid (whose parents earn less than Rs20K/pa) in India to make it to the IITs/IIMs. His schooling just won't prepare him for the entrance exams. But that discussion will involve India's non-existent primary/secondary education set-up...