> For any with eyes to see, Harvard's graduation rate should be a mark not of pride but of shame: an elite so confident in its own ability to pick winners and losers that it requires them to prove nothing at all once present, yet so determinedly exclusive as to turn away all but a tiny fraction of those who would test themselves against it.
I feel like I've heard this argument before and a common rebuttal is the fact that one year at Harvard costs $82,866 - or Or $331,464 for a 4-year degree (albeit before financial aid) [1].
Is the point here that Harvard should increase its attrition rate?
I think that is a weak argument considering the comparison they set up with the SEALs and the military. Yes, SEAL training is hard and it has a high attrition rate, but to go to SEAL training you must first be in the Navy. If you don't make the cut you go back to the regular Navy - which means you still have a job, housing, medical benefits, etc. (Also, when you get out you get the GI Bill).
There is no "Navy" to fall back on if you fail out of Harvard; just a potentially crushing amount of student debt.
I agree that elite universities should strive to be elite, but I just don't follow the logic of that particular part of this piece.
I feel like I've heard this argument before and a common rebuttal is the fact that one year at Harvard costs $82,866 - or Or $331,464 for a 4-year degree (albeit before financial aid) [1].
Is the point here that Harvard should increase its attrition rate?
I think that is a weak argument considering the comparison they set up with the SEALs and the military. Yes, SEAL training is hard and it has a high attrition rate, but to go to SEAL training you must first be in the Navy. If you don't make the cut you go back to the regular Navy - which means you still have a job, housing, medical benefits, etc. (Also, when you get out you get the GI Bill).
There is no "Navy" to fall back on if you fail out of Harvard; just a potentially crushing amount of student debt.
I agree that elite universities should strive to be elite, but I just don't follow the logic of that particular part of this piece.
[1] https://registrar.fas.harvard.edu/tuition-and-fees