How to select a college in an insane era

It is a fairly universal agreement, until Biden, that President Jimmy Carter was the worst president in the modern history of our nation.  One of his administrative failings was revealed when he was Georgia’s governor.  He was a control freak.  He just could not let go, because he had to have his hand in everything.

Carter appointed one of my dearest Atlanta friends to a high post, and he left after less than six months.  I asked him why, and he said Carter was the lousiest administrator he ever knew.  

Carter also established America’s Department of Education.

Obviously, Jimmy thought, if the government controlled education, it would improve matters.  Once again, he mistakenly did not believe the saying, “What government touches, it ruins and often destroys.”

Now that higher education is financially out of reach for more aspirants, and more people believe that a college education no longer has historical merit, how does one go about selecting a college?

As a parent of five, all of whom went to college (three of the five went beyond), I told them I would let them choose schools they thought were suitable, and upon graduation, they would not owe anything beyond their debt to society.

Even though my personal wealth is larger now, I could not make such a commitment today, because education costs are off the charts.  Furthermore, the cost of prep schools is more than college back when they went, and the purchasing power of the dollar has shrunk because of inflation and mindless spending.

Once the federal government created the Pell Grant loan program, etc., colleges and universities raised tuition and became less concerned about student admissions losses.  Furthermore, due to their growing dependency on student federal loans and research grants while the government introduced more social legislation, administrative hires exploded, raising educational costs even higher.

Hillsdale College did something unique.  The people running that school did not like the government telling them what courses they should or could not teach because many of their students were attending on federal borrowings, so they ran a campaign that substantially increased their endowment.

Hillsdale now will pay the tuition of any student it accepts where there is an unmet financial need.  Hillsdale is a conservative small liberal arts school in Michigan.

The college on whose board of advisers I served (St. John’s College, otherwise known as The Great Books College) recently reduced its tuition to an acceptable level, which has allowed its student body to expand, and its financial operation no longer runs at a killing loss — all due to a generous challenge gift by a former student.

So, in view of the above, what unsolicited advice would I give parents and their progeny in selecting a college?

As a parent, you are making a large investment and should, as Reagan said, trust but verify.

I would allow your child, perhaps with the advice of a counselor, to make his school selection unless his choice is cost-prohibitive.

Second, I would also explore certain parameters:

a) The ratio of administrators to students would have to be within reason.

b) There would be no history of students taking over administrative offices.

c) The school president’s role must go beyond simply raising funds, and there should be no history similar to recent incidents at so many Ivies.

d) As for the faculty, I would want to ensure that they are sprinkled with some youth and not all radical liberal types.  Inquire as to the faculty’s educational backgrounds.

e) I would like to know about the school’s endowment and how the school has managed it, its historical returns, and whether there is exceptional funding from the Middle East.

f) I would also want to know the racial and or ethnic mix of the student body and how the school has handled any antisemitic incidents.  This applies regardless of the student applicant’s religious affiliation.  Lack of faculty backbone is disruptive for all students and overall campus tranquility.  If you seek a war zone, join the Marines.

g) Obviously, visit the campus if possible.  Walk around, and ask students questions.  They are your best information sources.

h) There are other inquiries relating to housing, food, medical facilities.  Today, parents have a bit of leverage because schools have begun to seek and place emphasis on the serious-minded productive-type kids and want to avoid, if possible, obvious troublemakers. Schools are not above searching for applicant social media postings etc.

I once interviewed potential students for the University of Pennsylvania, my own alma mater.  Times were different in the ’50s — far less sophisticated and penetrative.  The focus was more on records, grades, essays, board results than the student.

The ’50s were a more tranquil period…and then all hell broke loose in the ’60s.

I hope my own travails and experiences as a father of educated children has been of some benefit.

Image via Pxfuel.