It's Not What You Know

As the saying goes, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.  Unfortunately, that rings true for many facets of life, but one would hope that it wouldn’t apply to getting a college education.  On December 2nd, Reuters published an article shining a light on two American “business men”, Thomas Benson and Stephen Gessner who have been providing international students with an unfair advantage.

Since 2009 Benson and Gessner have worked with three large international corporations in an attempt to help foreign students study in the U.S. by training guidance counselors and developing exchange programs.  As the proverb goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”.  Over the last seven years Benson and Gessner’s not-for-profit and the corporations they consult have essentially created a pay for play system allowing their customers a better shot at getting into an American College… even if they don’t deserve it.

Benson and Gessner set up all expense paid trips for college admissions officers to go to meet students and help them apply for colleges.  Dozens of reputable universities have partaken in these excursions, notably Cornell, Cal Berkley, Michigan, Virginia, Texas, William and Mary and North Carolina.  The increased access to admissions officers that most people don’t have is bad enough, but that is only the beginning.

Dozens of employees from came forward claiming the companies themselves have engaged in application fraud, which entailed writing essays, altering recommendation letters and sometimes even falsifying entire transcripts.  One former employee said “Sometimes, the student didn’t even see (the application) before they submitted it”.

Putting aside the unethical, and even fraudulent issues we enter a potential situation where foreign students get an advantage in this pay for play system.  With Benson and Gessner now turning their focus from China to other markets such as India, Sri Lanka and Africa, how long can we expect colleges to keep tuition increases under control when there is a world of full tuition paying students beating down the door to get in?  I guess this leaves little doubt as to why the college bubble looms large.