Ruth simmons was a spoiled brat as the youngest person in her family. Went to mexico to study spanish, where people didn't stare at her like she was an alien. "Education introduced me to the reality of who i was in the context of the world"
We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate their products to win market share and prestige points. In the first episode of a special series, we ask what our chaotic system gets right — and wrong. (Part 1 of “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)