Harvard or a community college?

This blog from the New York Times brought up an interesting decision: should one give to Harvard or a community college? The responses brought up a spirited debate. Here is my take on it:

• In terms of efficiency, I think giving to the community college would be better. Giving the money to Harvard will likely only be used to help students would have succeeded anyway, particularly at an institution like Harvard that spends over $25,000 per FTE student in academic and student service support and has nearly one full-time employee for every student (see IPEDS). An additional thousand or even a few hundred for a JJC student, many of whom live closer to the edge than a student at Harvard, would witness much higher returns.
• From an emotional standpoint, I think one would feel better giving to the community college. Selective institutions can make all the excuses they want (we enroll maximum Pell students! we have a few low-income students! our students work on campus!). It is a fact that community colleges enroll more low-income students and are much better at accommodating people whose lives are on the margin.
• That all being said, Harvard does play an important role in society and does a lot of great things. It is just that at helping *all* people, instead of the rich and a few economically challenged but academically gifted students, I do not think they are up to snuff when compared to a community college.

This blog came on the heels of a story by Kevin Carey, which showed that between 1990 and 2008, Harvard’s endowment grew by $32 billion and invested millions in new faculty positions, buildings, and land, but did not increase undergraduate enrollment at all. Although private, Harvard does receive much more in public funding through direct student aid, grants, and direct subsidies than many public institutions. So, in my opinion at least, Harvard does a public obligation it is clearly not meeting. A respondent to the blog stated that Harvard is not a university interested in learning or academics. It is a giant corporation that uses the university to make money.

I had an advisor in graduate school who extolled to me the virtues of working to help people, particularly those who are disadvantaged and encounter many more obstacles to helping themselves. Each day I come to work, I am so glad I heeded that advice.