During my recent visit to University of Massachusetts at Amherst, I was struck by how the school’s honor’s program was presented as it’s own elite institution rather than an accelerated program within the university. At the information session, the representative boasted about how the honors students get the best education the university had to offer. In addition to special honors seminars with smaller class sizes, they get access to personal advisers, paid fellowships, first pick of classes, a brand new dorm, and even exclusive workshops, seminars and speakers reserved only for honors students. The program sounds less like a challenging academic program and more like a first class plane ticket. Universities often use the term “close-knit community” to describe life at these honors colleges, but what they are really saying is “exclusive community.”
As college tuition has skyrocketed in recent years, public universities, as well as less competitive private universities, have found a way to attract academically strong students: give them all the attention and coddling of a small, private liberal arts school but at a public university price. The influx of top students increases the school’s selectivity and academic reputation, and in a few years time, the school will have a network of wealthy alumni ready to give back.
These honors colleges have a huge appeal to Townsend Harris students who often have the grades to gain admission to top colleges, but who might not be able to afford the $30,000-$60,000 a year price tags. It is no surprise then that Townsend Harris is one of the top feeder schools to the Macaulay Honors college at CUNY. The Macaulay program offers free tuition, a free laptop, private housing, interdisciplinary seminar courses, personal advisers, and a network of internship opportunities. While all these perks can offer a great educational experience, it is only available to those who have the grades.
By giving the smart kids extra attention and rewards, we are dividing students into socioeconomic classes before they even graduate. The message these schools are sending is that the A+ students will receive more attention and be wealthier than the B students. It also sends the message that they are more deserving of these rewards because they have worked harder, when in reality the majority of them are simply more capable than the average student.
What baffles me is why these colleges give all of these benefits to the smartest students. If they’re already smart then they should be able to find a way to learn and to get a job regardless of whether or not they received benefits. What schools really need to be doing is offering these small class sizes and career advisors to all of its students, not just the smart ones. Average students are not stupid, lazy, nor undeserving. If they are given the opportunities that the best students are getting they will undoubtedly improve.
If we want to improve this country’s education we should focus on educating all of our students, not betting all of our resources on the few at the top.
Ken • May 2, 2023 at 6:17 am
I was in my university’s honors college and decided to drop it after my sophomore year. It was just extra work on top of an already busy school and work schedule, and I really have no plans to go to medical school, law school, and grad school in general. The time I could have used actually developing my skills or picking up extra shifts at work for a little more spending money was spent reading and writing a ton. Not to mention the events I skipped and the weight I gained. It did sting a bit after I had dropped the program, but I had a lot more time to do the things I liked instead of being a shut in.
george • Oct 18, 2013 at 11:43 am
So should universities stop giving out scholarships and abolish their honors programs? Wouldn’t you like a spot in Macaulay if you’re a good student, or would you rather be enrolled in a regular CUNY program? Why should I work hard if it means being enrolled in the same program as a student with lower grades than me? You think it’s not fair to make the generalization that A students work harder than B students? How about you take a look around you. The harder you work, the higher your grades are and there are very few exceptions.
Anna • Oct 17, 2013 at 11:16 pm
Saying that B students work less hard than A+ students is dangerous. It is analogical to the republican argument that people who are on welfare are somehow lazy. People have different abilities and there are circumstances in people’s life that we cannot understand. It is unfair to generalize and say that all A students work harder than B students.
Lucy • Oct 18, 2013 at 9:23 pm
But it’s also unfair to make the reverse generalization that all A+ students earn their grades because they are “more capable.” Some A+ students are naturally more inclined towards being good at school, but some work their butts off to get where they are, so shouldn’t they reap the benefits?
Jack • Oct 19, 2013 at 12:03 pm
What if a student was a C student in science/math and an A+ student in English and Writing. Overall, they are a B student, but when they got to college the student wanted to pursue writing/humanities, and worked their butts off in high school in those areas for that reason. The B average is what they needed to get into the college, so why devote time to the classes the student deemed less important to his future? They did well enough to get into the college, so shouldn’t they get all the opportunities that paying sometimes $60,000 a year should afford them? The writer is not saying that the A+ student doesn’t deserve the opportunities because they are ‘smarter’–she’s just saying that everyone deserves the same opportunities once they are ‘in.’
A lot of students get to Townsend as valedictorians of their middle school, but once at Townsend its clear that a lot of people who weren’t the valedictorians at a better middle school might actually be a better student than the former valedictorians. The reason is that the competition is different and the student body is different at each middle school. One valedictorian at one place might be a B student at Townsend. So should we offer advanced classes with smaller class sizes to all former valedictorians since we know they “worked harder”? Should they get first choice of electives and APs? Should they get exclusive club options? Of course not. The rest of us would revolt. It’s the same thing at college. There’s no reason for treating parts of a college like an exclusive country club.
robert • Oct 17, 2013 at 8:56 pm
The B students who get into the “regular” college still deserve to get into the college, so they deserve to get in but because they are not in the first class program they end up paying more. So, the B students’ tuition likely factors into the free ride that the exceptional student gets. How is it communist when the author of the opinion is saying that the person who pays more shouldn’t necessarily get less?
george • Oct 17, 2013 at 8:48 pm
“The message these schools are sending is that the A+ students will receive more attention and be wealthier than the B students.” I thought this was a fact of life… Should students who work less hard have the same benefits as a student who works hard? This article is borderline communist.