Second tier universities like Lehigh have seen their cachet climb because of the "astonishing competitive crush at the top" reports The New York Times.
"The logjam is the result of supply and demand. The number of students graduating from high school has been increasing, and the preoccupation with the top universities has become a more national obsession. . . Supply, however, has remained constant as sought-after universities have not expanded their freshman classes."
The top tiers are merging. The students struggling for admission to Harvard or Yale are now fighting just as hard to get into Lehigh. “It’s the same tier, basically,” a high school director of guidance counselor states.
The take away: higher education is fracturing in two.
Second tier schools like Bowdoin and Lehigh are rising to the top. Their diplomas, like those from the Ivies, will provide a mark of distinction for children from the most privileged groups.
Meanwhile diplomas from the new lower tier are deteriorating in value, simply replacing today's high school diplomas in providing a mark of perseverence.
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Lenny, thanks for bringing this article to my attention. As a former Ivy admissions officer and father of a daughter 4 weeks away from a Northwestern commencement, truth be told I am glad to have it almost over.
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