Fifty years ago, graduating from any college put you in a pretty elite crowd. Now that a large majority of young people enroll in college, in order to have a competitive edge, getting into an “elite” institution is considered necessary, so students and parents knock themselves out doing all manner of things that are calculated to appeal of admissions officials at top schools and shelling out stupendous sums of money. The education one receives at an elite school isn’t really any better than at “lesser” institutions, but getting a degree from one of them supposedly signals to employers that the student is more talented and trainable.
The lamentable truth here is that college is being ruined for those relatively few students who have a true love of learning because it’s being swamped with those who just want to get stamped with their educational credential and to heck with all that boring academic stuff.
