The historic crisis of confidence in elites has suddenly, unexpectedly, forcefully jumped across institutions, like an uncontrolled wildfire bursting through a clearing. The extent of damage is unknowable, yet surely catastrophic. The ecosystem of higher education in the United States will be significantly altered in the aftermath of the unfolding admission scandal. The disruption of educational institutions already underway may be accelerated.
A Historic, Far-Reaching Scandal
Highly prestigious educational institutions have assumed an out-sized role in American life in recent decades. With severe competition for limited places, recently revealed fraudulent activity in their admissions process takes on far-reaching significance:
—The parents were joined by others in betraying educational institutions with long histories of excellence and service. So, too, the allegations reveal an absence of fidelity to the firms and industries that are the source of the participants’ wealth and status.
—The initial indictments include Hollywood celebrities as well as prominent financiers and lawyers. These rich individuals were apparently convinced that all the advantages accruing to their families were insufficient.
—The abuse of the system by the rich is illuminating the numerous ways that elite institutions place their thumbs on the scale for “legacy” admits (from families that have attended in the past); athletes; geographic, ethnic and racial factors; or unique skills that are sought at a given time (such as music or theater).
—Standardized tests have been compromised. Long controversial, such tests will now be challenged for their failed security.
—Financial practices in higher education have moved into questionable territory. Revenues from federal student assistance programs have become a mainstay. Some suspect this has occasioned perverse incentives, such as students remaining in school longer than otherwise. There are longstanding concerns about the place of athletic programs, which have become profit centers on the backs of amateur athletes.
—The combination of institutional financial interest and various shortcuts to admissions has come together with decades-long grade inflation to erode academic standards. The families engaging in fraud could reasonably conclude that students who fell below admission standards would nonetheless graduate. In this sense, degrees from elite institutions of higher learning are reduced to accoutrements, symbols of status.
—Foundations are at the heart of the rising scandal. Some of the fraudulent transactions involved foundations controlled by the private admission counselor; some involved foundations controlled by the families who gamed the system. Questions will surely arise about foundations run by public and private universities. In some cases operating through foundations may reduce taxable income. They may also constitute a vehicle to conceal transactions that would be questionable if transparent.
Who Is Serving Institutions?
These disparate circumstances illuminate a widespread failure to protect the integrity of vital institutions.
It’s striking that the individuals implicated in criminal activity appear to have given little or no thought to those who would be most harmed by their treachery: the students and families who played by the rules. Already at a disadvantage in today’s elite admission process, those who have done the right thing have incurred serious damage. The resulting disillusionment will surely have consequences.
Unrestrained, Unethical Individuals Invalidate Institutional Integrity
In our new century, boundaries between sectors are breaking down. Involuntary transparency and social media are spreading information in unprecedented ways, at unprecedented speed. A common thread among numerous failures of leadership is the self-serving activity of unrestrained, unethical individuals who invalidate institutional integrity.
In the late financial crisis, Lehman Brothers self-immolated, having gulled credulous investors who relied on the trust built over more than a century. Are historic educational institutions risking similar consequences?
The comparison to Wall Street misdeeds may not be overdrawn. The emerging educational admissions scandal may come to be seen as the equivalent of looting by the rich and upper-middle-class, rioters retreating to cossetted communities, sporting the latest fashions in food, clothing, cars, culture, and politics.
Unrestrained, Unethical Individuals Invalidate Institutional Integrity