Does It Matter Where You Go to College?
EXCERPTS: Research suggests that elite colleges don’t really help rich white guys. But they can have a big effect if you’re not rich, not white, or not a guy. Ivy League and equivalent institutions provide more than world-class instruction. They confer a lifetime of assistance from prodigiously connected alumni and a message to all future employers that you’re a rarified talent. College isn’t just an education; it’s a network, a signal, and an identity. Elite schools seem disproportionately responsible for minting the American elite. About 45 percent of America’s billionaires and more than half of Forbes ’s list of the most powerful people attended schools where incoming freshmen average in the top first percentile of SAT scores. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/does-it-matter-where-you-go-college/577816/