I think there's the learning itself that's valuable. And i also think the social networks are really valuable. So let's talk about the rich getting richer, not in the country, but in the university eco system. One fact is that many of the elit universities, including an spe brown, have really nice, big endowments. An endowment is not a giant savings account that we can use for whatever we want. It's actually comprised of literally thousands of gifts from donors that are targeted to very specific purposes. When the endowment grows, the extra money that comes out has to go to that purpose. The largest use in our endow is scholarships. A lot of it
Enrollment is down for the first time in memory, and critics complain college is too expensive, too elitist, and too politicized. The economist Chris Paxson — who happens to be the president of Brown University — does not agree. (Part 3 of “Freakonomics Radio Goes Back to School.”)