Results follow reports of grade inflation, plagiarism, antisemitism, and more
An Ivy League diploma is losing its worth in many employers’ eyes.
A recent Forbes survey found employers have grown more skeptical of applicants from the most prestigious schools in the U.S. in the past five years – a period marked by race-based admissions, grade inflation, antisemitism, plagiarism, and leadership “double standards.”
According to the survey, one in three employers said they are less likely to hire an Ivy League graduate than they were five years ago. Meanwhile, only 7 percent said they were more likely to hire them.
Employers’ hesitation was specific to the Ivy Leagues, too.
The survey found 42 percent of hiring managers are more likely to hire public university graduates and 37 percent private university graduates, compared to five years ago.
What’s more, hiring managers were three times as likely to say public universities have improved in preparing students for jobs than Ivy League universities. Just 14 percent said Ivy Leagues have gotten better at preparing students, while 37 percent said public universities have, the survey found.
Forbes reports:
“The bloom has been off the Ivies,” says Fred Prager, a senior managing director at Hilltop Securities and a trustee at California’s Claremont McKenna College whose investment firm specializes in higher education. “What has occurred more recently, with the pandemic and with all this nonsense going on, post October 7th, and all the rest has just been a bit of an accelerant.” […]
“Being able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes is really important,” says Laura Bier, a San Diego-based management consultant specializing in healthcare and defense. “Kids who’ve been to a public school have had a broader diversity of friends from different backgrounds, teachers from different backgrounds and are better able to be nimble in those situations.”
The results are hardly a surprise. Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania lost several major donors – and later both their presidents resigned – amid criticism about their handling of antisemitism on campus.
Major law firms and judges also have issued letters to top law schools that raise concerns about their priorities and warn students about antisemitic activism.
Who can blame them? When “diversity” and “equity” take priority over merit and nearly every student receives an A, it’s hard for employers to figure out who is the best candidate for the job.
When universities quietly let slide calls for the “genocide” of Jews while allowing students to shout down those who believe it’s wrong to kill an unborn baby – and a majority of students believe that’s acceptable, employers are going to wonder about the values of Ivy League applicants.
The point of college is to prepare students for successful careers. It’s clear the Ivy Leagues need a major re-evaluation of their priorities and missions. Trustees, administrators, and especially parents and future students should be paying attention.
IMAGE: Plo/Shutterstock
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