by Dave Tomar
Additional thanks to those who played a critical support role in the process of writing this book: Brett Lean, Lori Lean, Casey Jones, Rich Miller, Bill Serotta, Howard Ross, Emad Hasan, Janene Hasan, D. Jones, Matt Young, Hilary Siegel, Jon Adler, Chris Hezel, Lisa Hezel, Glenn Oettinger, Mike Stiebel, Kellen Sporney, Phil Brown, Jess Lauer, Rachel Lauer, Kelani Edmonson, Mike Thomas, Lily Thomas, Aaron Vill, Ari Rom, Lauren Tanzer, Kelly Schorn, Low Cut Connie, Emily Pinzur, Adriana Sabatini, Dena Lebovic, Cary Neff, Wendi Snyder, and Jodi Kratchman.
Thanks also to those upon whom I called for editorial notes, fact-checking, and feedback: Adam Weiner, Brian Schorn, Michael Kratchman, Daniel Swerdlin, Dave Lauer, and Ian Snyder. Particular thanks to Dave and Ian, who served a primary role in supporting the text with key figures, findings, ideas, and insights. Sorry, guys, but your fingerprints are all over this thing.
Thanks to Liz McMillen, editor at the Chronicle of Higher Education. Ms. McMillen and staff provided a respectable forum, a receptive environment, and a perceptive editorial process for the initial “Shadow Scholar” article. Ms. McMillen’s support, boldness, and energy were essential to the article’s success and to the opportunity for me to tell my story here.
An enormous debt of gratitude is owed to Sydelle Kramer and Susan Rabiner of the Rabiner Literary Agency. I have been blessed with agency representation that is smart, patient, and perfectionist. Sydelle and Susan have battled on my behalf and deserve tremendous credit for putting me in a position to write this book.
Likewise, I am deeply indebted to Benjamin Adams and the staff at Bloomsbury USA. Ben’s sharp editorial eye and intuitive reading are as much on display here as is my own work. I am particularly grateful to Ben for his fearlessness in allowing this story to evolve organically and for allowing it to be told in a way that is frank and accurate. Thanks also to managing editor Lisa Silverman and legal counselor Alan Kaufman for their critical input.
An unparalleled gratitude is also owed to my longtime friend and colleague Howard Megdal. Editor in chief of The Perpetual Post and author of the devastating Madoff-era e-book Wilpon’s Folly, Howard is a writer and reporter of boundless energy and unimpeachable integrity. His eternal advocacy of, enthusiasm for, and confidence in my work have long been sources of determination for me even when at my most disenchanted.
Thanks to the poker boys, the finest bunch of degenerate gamblers that a guy could know.
Thanks to my sisters, Jen, Heather, and Meredith, for never failing to keep me humble.
Thanks to Debbie, Lionel, Joel, and Linda. I hate to defy reliable old stereotypes about how in-laws are supposed to suck, but you guys are pretty much the coolest people I know.
Thanks to Grandma for always asking me how “the book” was going, even during the many years that I wasn’t writing any book at all. That’s the kind of motivation that gets your ass in gear.
To my parents: I can’t imagine the frustration that it must have been to raise me. Thank you for not drowning me in the tub when you had the chance. More important, thank you for giving me the gifts of love, humor, and self-reliance. I value these things above all others.
To my wife, my soul mate, my best friend, my B: I’m a better man because of you. Our kind of love never seems to get old. It’s better than silver and gold.
Notes
Chapter 2: Rich Kid Sid
1. Deborah Frett, “Fact or Fiction: Is Gen Y Lazy?” Huffington Post, April 22, 2010, www.huffingtonpost/deborah-frett/fact-or-fiction-is-gen-y_b_547883.html.
2. Mark Scott, “Retirement: Gen Y’s Empty Piggy Bank,” Bloomberg Businessweek, July 15, 2010, www.businessweek.com/investor/content/jul2010/pi20100715_116291.htm.
3. Jenny Anderson, “L.I. Inquiry on Cheating Now Covers Five Schools,” New York Times, November 9, 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/nyregion/sat-cheating-inquiry-on-long-island-expands-to-include-act.html.
4. James Ford, “DA: Teens Paid College Student Thousands to Take SATs,” WPIX 11, September 28, 2011, www.wpix.com/news/wpix-seven-arrested-in-sat-cheating-ring-20110927,0,3389576.story.
5. Gianna Palmer, “Students Prosecuted for Cheating on College Entrance Exam,” Reuters, November 22, 2011, www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/22/us-education-cheating-idUSTRE7AL2UT 20111122.
Chapter 3: The RU Screw
1. Curtis Eichelberger and Oliver Staley, “Rutgers Athletics Grow at Expense of Academics Unlike at Texas,” Bloomberg.com, Au-gust 16, 2011, www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-16/rutgers-boosting-athletics-at-expense-of-academics-fails-to-emulate-texas.html.
2. Ibid.
3. Mary Beth Marklein, “4-Year Colleges Graduate 53% of Students in 6 Years,” USA Today, June 3, 2009, www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-06-03-diploma-graduation-rate_N.htm.
Chapter 5: Twenty Years of Schooling…
1. Robert Applebaum, “Here’s a Demand: Forgive Student Loan Debt,” Guardian, October 3, 2011, www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/oct/03/demand-forgive-student-loan-debt.
2. Mac McClelland, “Stat of the Day: Don’t-Lend-College-Students-Money Edition,” Mother Jones, October 5, 2011, motherjones.com/rights-stuff/2011/09/stat-day-dont-lend-college-students-money-edition.
3. Ezra Klein, “Who Are the 99 Percent?” Wonkblog, Washington Post, October 4, 2011, www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/who-are-the-99-percent/2011/08/25/gIQAt87jKL_blog.html.
4. Peter J. Henning, “Crisis May Seem Criminal, but Try Making a Case,” DealBook (blog), New York Times, January 28, 2011, deal book.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/crisis-may-seem-criminal-but-try-making-a-case/.
5. Jesse Bricker et al., Surveying the Aftermath of the Storm: Changes in Family Finances from 2007 to 2009, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 2011, p. 7, www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2011/201117/index.html.
6. Paul R. La Monica, “Big Bonuses Alive on Wall Street. Why?” The Buzz (blog), CNNMoney, October 18, 2011, money.cnn.com/2011/10/18/markets/thebuzz/index.htm.
7. Annalyn Censky, “Surging College Costs Price Out Middle Class,” CNNMoney, June 13, 2011, money.cnn.com/2011/06/13/news/economy/college_tuition_middle_class/index.htm.
8. Heidi Shierholz, “New College Grads Losing Ground on Wages,” Economic Policy Institute, August 31, 2011, www.epi.org/publication/new_college_grads_losing_ground_on_wages/.
9. Censky, “Surging College Costs.”
10. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Unemployment Demographics,” 2011, www.deptofnumbers.com/unemployment/demographics.
11. Mary Pilon, “Student-Loan Debt Surpasses Credit Cards,” Real Time Economics (blog), Wall Street Journal, August 9, 2010, blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/08/09/student-loan-debt-surpasses-credit-cards/.
12. “The Fraud at the Heart of Student Lending Exposed—the One Sentence Everyone Should Read,” Zero Hedge, October 18, 2011, www.zerohedge.com/news/fraud-heart-student-lending-exposed-one-sentence-everyone-should-read.
13. Catherine Rampell, “Many with New College Degree Find the Job Market Humbling,” New York Times, May 18, 2011, www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html.
Chapter 7: Thanksgiving and the Great Depression
1. Shelley Emling, “‘Boomerang’ Children: When the Nest Isn’t Empty Anymore,” New York Times, June 25, 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/06/24/your-money/24iht-mboom.html?pagewanted=all.
2. Mark Trumbull, “Boomerang Kids: Recession Sends More Young Adults Back Home,” Christian Science Monitor, November 29, 2009, www.csmonitor.com/Business/2009/1124/boomerang-kids-recession-sends-more-young-adults-back-home.
3. Christine Hassler, “Cockpit Parents: How They’re Flying 20-Somethings into the Ground,” Huffington Post, March 18, 2011, www.huffingtonpost.com/christine-hassler/cockpit-parents_b_836914.html.
Chapter 8: Ain’t No Love in the Heart of the City
1. U.S. Department of Education, “Highlights from PISA 2009: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Reading, Mathematics, and Science Literacy in an International Context,” National Center for
Educational Statistics, December 2010, www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011004.
Chapter 9: Degree Mill University
1. John Lauerman, “For-Profit Colleges Face State Crackdowns as U.S. Rules Delayed,” Bloomberg Businessweek, April 7, 2011, www.businessweek.com/news/2011-04-07/for-profit-colleges-face-state-crackdowns-as-u-s-rules-delayed.html.
2. Chris Kirkham, “At Kaplan University, ‘Guerrilla Registration’ Leaves Students Deep in Debt,” Huffington Post, December 22, 2010, www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/22/kaplan-university-guerilla-registration_n_799741.html.
3. Chris Kirkham, “For-Profit College Recruiters Taught to Use ‘Pain,’ ‘Fear,’ Internal Documents Show,” Huffington Post, February 8, 2011, www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/08/for-profit-college-recruiters-documents_n_820337.html.
4. Ibid.
5. U.S. Department of Education, “Highlights from PISA 2009: Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in Reading, Mathematics, and Science Literacy in an International Context,” National Center for Educational Statistics, December 2010, www.nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2011004.
6. Ibid.
Chapter 11: Tunneling Out
1. U.S. Census Bureau, “Students Who Are Foreign Born or Who Have Foreign-Born Parents,” Statistical Abstract of the United States, 2012, www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/tables/12s0228.pdf.
2. Carola Suárez-Orozco et al., “Academic Trajectories of Newcomer Immigrant Youth,” Developmental Psychology 46, no. 3 (2010): 608.
Chapter 15: Graduation
1. Plato, The Republic, trans. Benjamin Jowett, available at Internet Classics Archive, classics.mit.edu/Plato/republic.html.
Footnotes
1 Schiano was hired as head coach of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers following a 2011 season that helped him eke out a career winning record at Rutgers.
2 A phrase coined in 2006 by then Alaska senator Ted Stevens (R), probably intended to demonstrate the elderly public servant’s poor understanding of the technology that is the lifeblood of our economy, society, and culture today.
3 William and Mary, often cited as authoring the first formal honor code in the American university system, identifies this as the end goal of any university.
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