Elite universities with massive endowments and shrinking acceptance rates are betraying their public service mission. By failing to expand enrollment, they function more like exclusive 'hedge funds offering classes' that manufacture scarcity to protect their brand prestige, rather than educational institutions aiming to maximize societal impact.

Elite universities use "early decision" to tempt applicants with higher admission rates. The catch: accepted students must attend, losing all power to negotiate financial aid. This lack of competition allows universities to inflate prices unchecked, creating artificial scarcity that benefits the institution.

Despite their non-profit status, university administrators and faculty act as capitalists focused on increasing compensation while reducing accountability. They leverage artificial scarcity, cheap government-backed credit, and accreditation barriers to raise tuition faster than inflation, effectively exploiting the middle class under a veneer of nobility.

Top universities with billion-dollar endowments should lose their tax-free status if they fail to grow enrollment. By artificially limiting admissions, they behave like exclusive luxury brands (e.g., "Birkin bags") that cater to the wealthy, rather than fulfilling their mission as engines of social mobility and public service.

The binding nature of 'early decision' programs prevents accepted students from leveraging competing financial aid offers. This tactic, combined with universities raising prices in lockstep, effectively creates a cartel that maintains total pricing power over families.

Most elite universities measure quality by their low acceptance rates. ASU's President Michael Crow flipped this model, defining success by the number of students they include and support, arguing that exclusivity is an outdated, elitist metric that ill-serves a democracy.

The frenzy around elite college admissions is a systemic 'collective action trap.' Even parents and students who understand the limited value of prestige are forced to compete due to intense social pressure and status anxiety, amplified by social media. Opting out individually carries too high a social cost.

Homeowners and local governments block new development, creating artificial scarcity that drives up prices, similar to how luxury brands like LVMH restrict supply to increase value. This "LVMH-ing" of housing makes it unaffordable for younger generations and limits economic mobility.

The primary function of a college degree is to signal desirable employee traits—intelligence, work ethic, and compliance—rather than to impart useful skills. As more people get degrees, the signal weakens, forcing students into an expensive and wasteful 'credential race' for ever-higher qualifications to stand out.