Nathan Heller on the new activism of liberal arts colleges. Meanwhile, back on most campuses: The focus on extreme political correctness at Oberlin and other elite colleges risks obscuring what less privileged undergraduates are dealing with. Shut up about Harvard: A focus on elite schools ignores the issues most college students face. Eric Hoover interviews Alexander Astin, author of Are You Smart Enough? How Colleges’ Obsession With Smartness Shortchanges Students. The war on stupid people: American society increasingly mistakes intelligence for human worth. Admissions failure: Once college admissions became a measure of both popularity and, somehow, quality, it took on a strange life of its own. Dear parents: Everything you need to know about your son and daughter’s university but don’t. What’s your college degree worth? It may depend on your parents’ income.
