[JoshTko]

I'm continually surprised with how few people, even on HN, understand why private education exacerbates inequality. Limiting access to valuable information to only those who know how to navigate the secretive process will favor those with means. In this case the valuable information impacts lifetime earning income potential hence perpetuating inequality.

I think this blind spot is because many people derive part of their identity with their university.

[vmception]

I’m not surprised about the HN crowd. It fits squarely in the blind spots here.

All the aspiring foreigners aren’t in the US higher education system, and the ones that are overcame other forms of adversity and are fairly exceptional or are party members in China that are practically tasked with going to an American school.

And the Americans? Mostly upper middle class, benefactors of a support system.

[david38]

Except in science this is largely untrue. There is very little Stanford can teach you about computer science that Berkeley can’t.

It’s been shown that the class someone ends up in is far more correlated with their parents than their college. This is why poor kids who go to Harvard typically don’t get rich.

People tend to vastly overestimate the effect a college has on income for almost all fields.

[dfxm12]

I think it's because people are afraid to cop to their privilege. This is based on how defensive people get when it is pointed out. I understand this response on an emotional level, but that should really pass after giving it a second thought (this, of course, assumes one is self aware enough to reflect on it).