Rationing College Opportunity

Americans put great stock in the promise of a college education. Social and economic data confirm that individuals benefit from college. College graduates are more likely to stay employed, buy houses, marry, pay taxes, avoid welfare, commit fewer crimes, volunteer for socially useful causes, vote, be happier and healthier, and live longer. More students take community college courses every year. But few community colleges receive the public funding they need to serve as an academic pipeline to a four-year degree. In the mid-1990s, William Bown and Derek Bok evaluated affirmative-action programs from a sample of America's most selective private and public colleges and universities. Far from wasting young peoples' time and universities' resources, expanding admissions would increase college attainment and American workers' productivity. To be competitive in the high-tech global economy, the United States must reverse the downward trend and increase admissions at four-year institutions.