????你可能是優(yōu)等生,、校隊(duì)隊(duì)員和偉大的人道主義者,，但如果你不是富人子女的話，就只能在候補(bǔ)名單里等著,。起碼美國的喬治華盛頓大學(xué)（George Washington University）最近就曾經(jīng)公開表態(tài),，它會(huì)優(yōu)先錄取申請(qǐng)更少資金資助的申請(qǐng)人。這是“富人照顧措施”系列案例中的一例,。

????多年來,，喬治華盛頓大學(xué)自稱“無視需求”,，換言之，就是對(duì)兩個(gè)資歷相似的申請(qǐng)人,，從不按照他們財(cái)富的多寡區(qū)別對(duì)待,。但是，本月早些時(shí)候,，這所大學(xué)卻改變了立場,，盡管此前一周末它在招生新聞發(fā)布會(huì)上還堅(jiān)持上述立場。喬治華盛頓大學(xué)目前開始“對(duì)需求有所意識(shí)”,，意味著會(huì)將那些要靠資金資助的申請(qǐng)人從“錄取”欄轉(zhuǎn)到“候補(bǔ)”欄中,。

????“我希望我們的大學(xué)成為一所‘無視需求’的教育機(jī)構(gòu)。但實(shí)際情況是,，我們認(rèn)為,，要滿足最大多數(shù)學(xué)生的資金需求，同時(shí)招收學(xué)術(shù)過硬,、構(gòu)成多樣的的生源,，目前的政策是最好的辦法，”喬治華盛頓大學(xué)校長斯蒂文?卡納普對(duì)該校校報(bào)《The Hatchet》表示,。

????校報(bào)的相關(guān)報(bào)道指出,，喬治華盛頓大學(xué)獲得了13.7億美元的捐款，與“無視需求”的同類院校相比,，例如西北大學(xué)（Northwestern's ）71億美元的捐款,，可謂“相形見絀”。說實(shí)話,，喬治華盛頓大學(xué)已經(jīng)參與到一場無休無止的軍備競賽當(dāng)中,，院校相互競爭，爭奪富裕學(xué)生（能全額支付學(xué)費(fèi)的學(xué)生）,。為什么呢,？因?yàn)樵诖髮W(xué)捐款方面，爭取捐款金額的多少取決于學(xué)校的聲譽(yù),。

????不妨看看《美國新聞與世界報(bào)道》（US News & World Report ）聲名狼藉的大學(xué)排名,。學(xué)生人均財(cái)力（簡言之，就是他們消費(fèi)的水平）高,，學(xué)校的排名就高,；而排名前五的大學(xué)所得捐款均超過75億美元。在這個(gè)排名系統(tǒng)里,，院校的利益同學(xué)生的利益不再一致,。

????例如，喬治華盛頓大學(xué)斥資1.3億美元修建新的“超級(jí)宿舍”，3,300萬美元修建紡織品博物館,。賓夕法尼亞大學(xué)（University of Pennsylvania）近期斥資1,000萬美元重修體育館,，增加奧運(yùn)會(huì)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)泳池、男女桑拿,、果汁吧,、高爾夫模擬器和攀巖墻。作為文理學(xué)院的凱尼恩學(xué)院（Kenyon College）則斥資7,000萬美元修建了一個(gè)具有鄉(xiāng)村俱樂部風(fēng)格的運(yùn)動(dòng)中心,。

????上述這些設(shè)施將成為一種砝碼，吸引能支付全額學(xué)費(fèi)的學(xué)生,；但是,，所有這些設(shè)施最終會(huì)拉高教育成本，會(huì)讓美國1萬億學(xué)生貸款危機(jī)雪上加霜,。另外,，這些設(shè)施與高校的核心競爭力有些格格不入。喬治華盛頓大學(xué)的辦學(xué)宗旨是“致力于知識(shí)的創(chuàng)造,、傳播和應(yīng)用”,。建超級(jí)宿舍和這個(gè)宗旨能扯上關(guān)系么？

????為了擔(dān)負(fù)這些舒適享受的成本,，院校將越來越倚重學(xué)費(fèi)收入,。25年前，學(xué)費(fèi)收入占公立大學(xué)收入的25%,，而現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)增長到占據(jù)半壁江山,。學(xué)費(fèi)成本在攀升，聯(lián)邦政府卻在不斷減少對(duì)大學(xué)的補(bǔ)助撥款,。喬治敦大學(xué)（Georgetown University）的研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn),，最具競爭力的大學(xué)中，只有14%的學(xué)生來自收入處于平均線以下的家庭,。過去二十多年里,，這個(gè)比例從來沒有上勝過，說明大學(xué)所謂生源多樣化的許諾并沒有兌現(xiàn),。

????You might be an honor roll student, varsity athlete, and great humanitarian, but if you're not the son or daughter of an affluent person, good luck getting off the wait list. At least that's what George Washington University just confessed by revealing it gives preferential admissions treatment to applicants who need less financial aid. It's the latest in a series of "affirmative action for the wealthy" cases.

????For years, GW claimed to be "need blind," in other words, unbiased in factoring one's financial status when deciding between two similarly qualified candidates. But earlier this month it retracted that position despite touting it as recently as the previous weekend in an admissions information session. GW's new status is "need aware," meaning the university can shift applicants from the "admitted" pile to "waitlisted" if they depend on getting financial support.

????"I would love to see us become a need-blind institution. As matters stand today, however, we believe that our current practice is the best way to meet the financial need of as many students as possible while recruiting an academically strong and diverse student body," University President Steven Knapp told GW's student newspaper The Hatchet.

????The paper also reports that the university's endowment of $1.37 billion "pales in comparison" to peer institutions that are need-blind, citing Northwestern's $7.1 billion endowment. But let's be honest, GW is really part of an unremitting arms race, in which they're vying with competitor schools to entice wealthy students (who can afford to pay face value for their education). Why? Because in the world of college endowments, the size of your proverbial war chest equates to your amount of prestige.

????Look no further than the notorious US News & World Report rankings for guidance. The rankings reward colleges on their financial resources per student (in essence how much they spend), and it just so happens that the five top universities on its list all have endowments bigger than $7.5 billion. This is where the interest of colleges and their students are no longer aligned.

????For example, GW just built a new $130 million "super dorm" and $33 million textile museum. It is not alone. The University of Pennsylvania's gym recently underwent a $10 million renovation to include an Olympic-sized swimming pool, co-ed sauna, juice bar, golf simulator, and climbing wall. Kenyon College, a liberal arts school, has a $70 million athletic center with similar country club features.

????While these amenities are definitely an attractive proposition to prospective students at face value, what they really end up doing is spiking tuition costs, further contributing to America's $1 trillion student loan debt crisis. Additionally, these facilities are inconsistent with the core competency of higher education institutions. To be quite literal about it, the mission of GW is to "commit itself to excellence in the creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge." Are super dorms inherent in this thesis?

????To offset the costs of their cozy amenities, colleges are also more dependent than ever before on tuition money, which now accounts for half of public university revenues, up from a quarter 25 years ago. And while tuition costs are rising, federal spending on college aid is decreasing. Researchers at Georgetown University have found that at the most competitive colleges, only 14% of students come from the lower 50% of families by income, a figure that has not increased over more than two decades, which indicates that university pledges to diversify have not materialized.