• David Shaw made a hedge trade on his children’s academic futures, donating $1 million every year for ten years to Harvard, Stanford, Yale and Princeton, and half that to Brown and Columbia. Just solid asset management, according to Dealbreaker.
  • The Meritocracy Trap: A new book argues that rather than being a democratic ideal, acquisition of status and wealth based strictly on merit has been a disaster for America. The Wall Street Journal review.
  • Why not auction off college seats to the highest bidder, wonders a Harvard enrollment manager.
  • More South Korean academics have been caught naming their kids and their friends’ kids as co-authors on scientific papers in an attempt to help them in securing a university place.
  • The Varsity Blues scandal is the subject of a Lifetime movie. Watch the trailer.