Top College Keep Pulling Farther Ahead
A Washington Post article claims that the top 40 colleges hold 2/3 of the wealth and that the top 10 colleges hold 1/3 of the total. While the top 40 schools have increased their assets by 50% in recent years, lesser ranked colleges only grew by 22%. Top schools receive much more in donations than other schools and they can reinvest that money into modern facilities, world-class professors, and leading research. Top colleges are also making a big push to offer full financial aid to those who need it around the world. Not only are these colleges attracting the smartest students in the world, but they are also the only ones able to allow them to attend for free. With donations being such an important part of a university’s expenditure, attracting the best students regardless of their family’s economic status allows them to receive more donations down the line and show off their alumni to continue bringing in the best students.
The article by the Washington Post describes how top universities are mimicking the economic state of the country with the growing economic divide between the top and “the rest”. It makes sense that the phenomenon is present for rich colleges the same way it is present for rich people but the way colleges stay competitive and keep gaining a lead is much more relevant to us as college students and the effects of it are more present in our lives. The recent news of a $50 million donation to the hotel school solely for financial aid doesn’t just attract students in the U.S. and abroad, but actually opens up the possibility of them attending at a cost acceptable for them. The continual expansion of Cornell, building new dorms, and opening new gyms, is only possible because of the money they have and the return on their investment will only push them farther ahead continually increasing the economic disparity between top universities and other less wealthy colleges. The rich get richer phenomenon is present in many aspects of our life, real and virtual, and we’ve all experienced being a part of “the rest” whether it becoming popular on social media, becoming a professional athlete, or just trying to make money. It is also very interesting to look at this phenomenon from the rich perspective with all of us currently studying at an Ivy and see firsthand how this phenomenon affects us while in this position.