Maybe colleges can just accept the best students and do their job of educating them instead of arrogantly appointing themselves as saviors and righters of all wrongs in the world.
It will be very hard to to force colleges to downsize to the appropriate population count. Lots of prestige and money on the line
Besides, how do you even define "best student". One that scores the highest on the SATs and has the highest high school grade? There's so much more to being a good learner than having the opportunity to get high grades and high test scores.
The triad top colleges look for:
1. SAT score
2. high school grades
3. evidence of being a self-motivated person
If you want to see what a world where universities do that, check Europe in the 11th century. You might just like it
It shouldn’t be controversial to recognize that some students are not capable of success in college.
The degrees with the lowest attrition rates tend to be the ones that are gated behind high admission requirements (e.g. minimum high school grades).
The idea that anyone can be anything is harmful to everyone. If you are 5’2”, you won’t make it in today’s NBA. If you are 400lbs, you are not healthy.
I’m sure some people have been failed by the K-12 educational system, but the answer isn’t to further degrade the college system.
It’s even more predictive when you realize that the SAT/ACT are given a year or two before college: this isn’t tracking someone at age 5, but saying someone a year away from college lacks the skills and knowledge to perform well in class next year.
If schools actually consistently applied standardized test scores as part of admissions, without padding scores for race or economics, it’d be better for everyone. It might sting to be told you won’t do well in college, but wouldn’t that $100 test be better than taking on $50K in debt to find that out?
Research backs this: SAT scores strongly correlate with GPA, retention, and degree completion. High scores even are predictors of life outcomes: income, occupational achievement, medical degrees, etc.
This is pointless if IQ tests can be gamed. It's like those leetcode tests. Smart folk can pass them. But so can anyone that practices for them or anything adjacent to them.
Thus you don't need to be smart to pass the leetcode tests, just have enough time and resources to practice them over and over until you pass.
And thus, it becomes a proxy for people who have the will and resources to practice enough till they pass.
And it shouldn't be controversial to recognize that some students did not receive the $upport needed to succeed in college. Life isn't a meritocracy.