Game On: Why College Admission Is Rigged and How to Beat the System

Game On: Why College Admission Is Rigged and How to Beat the System by Susan F. Paterno

College is very expensive today. Efforts to "democratize" college have been appropriated by the "elite" to maintain the status quo. The start of the book is loaded with anecdotes and superficial analysis. She keeps going back to Reagan as the cause for expensive college. (But it was still easy to work your way through college in the 90s, well after Reagan left office.) US News and World Report also is seen as a source of problems. The attitude is that college are almost innocent bystanders who have been "forced" to behave like businesses. 

The criticism of capitalistic influences in student loans glosses over the government side of the issue. Colleges charge ridiculous prices, then provide some "financial aid" packages. Huge loans are offered without any guarantee that the borrower could pay. If it was truly free market, the loaners would have more stake in the game. Would a lender really loan $100,000 for somebody to get a degree that has an average starting salary of $20,000? If the government exited the picture, then the gregarious loans would not be made. This would leave a lot of the most disadvantaged students unable to attend the priciest colleges, and that could be ok. Alternatively, what if funding was unbundled from tuition. You get only a certain amount to borrow. If that covers school, great. If not, go some place cheaper. The author consistently attacks the "free market" forces in education, barely touches on the big problems caused by schools themselves. They are the ones encouraging created the country club and then expecting the government to foot the bill. The for-profit schools have come in to fill a niches that other colleges are lacking, such as catering to working adults. Even as "nonprofit" schools have started similar offers, they are often more expensive than the for-profits.

The author has a few good points, but seems blinded to the big picture. Her kids attended well-to-do suburban LA schools and she works as a college professor. The college admission consultant racket she criticises primarily impacts people in those circles. Despite the faults, American colleges are still respected more than many of the lower-priced foreign counterparts. Why is this so? How can Universities retain their edge without costing a fortune?