Sunday, April 20, 2008

01 April Post Revisited

The Economist just ran a quick piece about university acceptances (http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11058525) that includes one line echoing the point I was making with my April 1st entry -- the cachet of a specific degree is variable over time. It can rise (the article names Bowdoin and Middlebury specifically) or can fall (take your pick of the post-gender integration women's liberal arts schools).

Remember, I wasn't making the hackneyed but often-true "degree doesn't matter" argument (though I will add here that the two *best* Navy JOs I've ever worked with -- in terms of smarts, competence, and drive -- went to small schools in Illinois and New Jersey that most folks may not recognize and far fewer could geo-locate) but something I hope was a little more novel -- if the students make the school great, more great students should equal more great schools (which is true....and it's why American higher ed is the world's envy).

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