If a Harvard Degree is So Valuable, Why Not Franchise It?

But what if higher education is really just the final stage of a competitive tournament? From grades and test results through the U.S. News & World Report rankings of the colleges themselves, higher education sorts us all into a hierarchy. Kids at the top enjoy prestige because they’ve defeated everybody else in a competition to reach the schools that proudly exclude the most people. All the hard work at Harvard is done by the admissions officers who anoint an already-proven hypercompet...

 Chemical Cognitive Enhancers

Pharmaceutical amphetamines (such as Adderall and Ritalin) These drugs have been used withouit a prescription, for their tirednessreducing and concentration-enhancing effects, by about 5% of students in U.S. colleges, according to a recent study, with some colleges reporting rates as high as 25%. Modafinil Modafinil is a nonamphetamine stimulant, marketed to help people with narcolepsy stay awake. It has been reported as popular with otherwise healthy individuals who are using it to mai...