Varsity Blues, Red Herring
By Carol Barash, Ph.D., Founder and CEO, Story2
Has ongoing news of “Varsity Blues” and the high-profile rigging of college admissions really been a surprise?
To people involved in selective college admissions, the scale of the scandal has been egregious in design and scope, but we have seen many pieces of it before: back doors and side doors, one admissions path for the uber-affluent and another path for everyone else, and record or near-record lows rates of acceptance at top colleges and universities. To the outside world, it has further confirmed that the playing field is tilted, and that access can be bought.
I sincerely hope that Varsity Blues results in better, more verifiable commitments to a level playing field at selective colleges. Every time a less qualified student of privilege pushes out a more qualified low-income student, it’s categorically wrong. Yet, it is still a completely accepted part of US college admissions that if you can pay the full cost of college, you have access to one set of choices, and if you can’t, you have another.
So let’s take a step back beyond the news: the Varsity Blues and the path to elite college admissions story is a red herring. It distracts us from more fundamental drivers of disadvantage in US higher education across the board.
First, the places where most people go to college are not even part of the selective college admissions arms race. If we care about equity, we need to turn our attention to the types of colleges most people attend.
A small number of colleges and universities have the national brand recognition that makes news. Only about 1% of colleges and universities have the financial resources to admit students on a need-blind basis. Fewer than 40 US colleges can provide a student’s full demonstrated financial need without loans. Even if we make that part of the admissions game less unequal, we’re still not making the larger system fair.
Second, as a result, most students attend state university campuses and community colleges. This is the reality of college for most people. These are the schools that first-generation college goers attend, along with children of parents earning under $100,000 a year, adults returning to school, and many other segments of students — including single parents, veterans, caregivers of ailing parents. These segments are not served by traditional four-year residential programs.
Third, many students enrolling in these institutions must complete non-credit-bearing remedial courses before entering into an actual degree track. About half of first-year college students discover that they are not ready for continued studies after high school, despite excellent GPAs and getting into college. Because of this gap, many students run out of savings, scholarships, and loans well before getting on track towards degree completion. This factor helps push down graduation rates. Approximately half of students entering college do not graduate.
Fourth and most important, the skills and knowledge instilled in those who make it through fail to match the needs of the workplace. So much of what happens before and after the transition from high school to college leaves students ill-equipped and poorly prepared to handle ever-faster changes in business and the world. When we ignore this problem, most students who graduate from college never learn to connect the dots. The skills that they do develop fall far short of what they will need in the workforce after college.
How can we move forward? Three main changes are needed.
1. Integrating developmental education directly into credit-bearing courses. This learning can occur both in the classroom and during course work with e-learning modules that complement the curriculum. The edtech revolution is creating enormous innovation to make this feasible.
For example, Arizona State University has eliminated free-standing developmental math courses. They implemented a blended learning model with a mix of online and collaborative, activity-based work. They are integrating similar adaptive software-driven learning into other departments. Retention rates have grown from 60% to 85%.
2. Raising the priority of communication skills. The modern workplace desperately needs educational institutions to get this right. Beyond skills mismatches in graduating students, failing to equip them with critical thinking and essential communication skills jeopardizes the transition to professional contexts.
Georgia Tech has adopted an innovative solution by moving writing centers beyond helping students who are struggling with written assignments. Instead, their “Communication Center” focuses on the overall importance of excellent communication for any purpose.
3. Re-envisioning the path from high school to employment as elements of continuous and life-long learning. We have to do better than only offering students help with specific steps in a linear progression. Lack of continuity from campus writing centers to career and transition services does a disservice to students by discounting essential personal development and enrichment.
A pilot group of universities including Georgia State University, Ohio State University, Oregon State University, the University of California — Riverside, and the University of Central Florida is partnering with the University Innovation Alliance to address this issue. They have begun redesigning the services that support the college-to-career pathway. While initiatives such as these show positive change, we need to do more.
True equity must happen within the 90% of colleges and universities that fall outside the typical “elite” classification. It involves a view of learning that is both more pragmatic and more visionary than what usually makes the news. All the attention paid to Varsity Blues has been distracting from this more fundamental need.
About the Author:
Carol Barash, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Story2. The core value of Story2 is enabling people to communicate in a way that weaves enduring human connections. The company teaches science-based storytelling techniques that empower people to speak and write authentically. Using authentic stories reveals who you are in high-stakes moments and in everyday life. Speaking and writing as who you are, from the heart, and in the present helps you advocate for yourself in ways that others hear you. Grounded in the neuroscience of communication, storytelling builds relationships and community between people.
