The Dual Commodification of Schools and Students in the Higher Education Admissions Marketplace

• In Event: Higher Education and Society

Abstract

We offer a historical and statistical analysis in order to produce a holistic view of American college-going since the Second World War. We define college-going as the relationship between access, which we define as the relationship between institutions and educational policies, and choice, which we define as the decisions made by students given the constraints arising from access patterns. We suggest that, contrary to the origins of financial aid policy, an implicitly adversarial relationship exists between access and choice, institutions and students. The admissions marketplace is thus dually-commodified and therein approximates status-marking behavior of luxury goods. We conclude by suggesting policy-implications designed to address the problem of equity in a dually-commodified marketplace.

Authors

• Ezekiel W. Kimball, Curry College

• Rodney P. Hughes, The Pennsylvania State University