????你可能是優等生、校隊隊員和偉大的人道主義者，但如果你不是富人子女的話，就只能在候補名單里等著。起碼美國的喬治華盛頓大學（George Washington University）最近就曾經公開表態，它會優先錄取申請更少資金資助的申請人。這是“富人照顧措施”系列案例中的一例。

????多年來，喬治華盛頓大學自稱“無視需求”，換言之，就是對兩個資歷相似的申請人，從不按照他們財富的多寡區別對待。但是，本月早些時候，這所大學卻改變了立場，盡管此前一周末它在招生新聞發布會上還堅持上述立場。喬治華盛頓大學目前開始“對需求有所意識”，意味著會將那些要靠資金資助的申請人從“錄取”欄轉到“候補”欄中。

????“我希望我們的大學成為一所‘無視需求’的教育機構。但實際情況是，我們認為，要滿足最大多數學生的資金需求，同時招收學術過硬、構成多樣的的生源，目前的政策是最好的辦法，”喬治華盛頓大學校長斯蒂文?卡納普對該校校報《The Hatchet》表示。

????校報的相關報道指出，喬治華盛頓大學獲得了13.7億美元的捐款，與“無視需求”的同類院校相比，例如西北大學（Northwestern's ）71億美元的捐款，可謂“相形見絀”。說實話，喬治華盛頓大學已經參與到一場無休無止的軍備競賽當中，院校相互競爭，爭奪富裕學生（能全額支付學費的學生）。為什么呢？因為在大學捐款方面，爭取捐款金額的多少取決于學校的聲譽。

????不妨看看《美國新聞與世界報道》（US News & World Report ）聲名狼藉的大學排名。學生人均財力（簡言之，就是他們消費的水平）高，學校的排名就高；而排名前五的大學所得捐款均超過75億美元。在這個排名系統里，院校的利益同學生的利益不再一致。

????例如，喬治華盛頓大學斥資1.3億美元修建新的“超級宿舍”，3,300萬美元修建紡織品博物館。賓夕法尼亞大學（University of Pennsylvania）近期斥資1,000萬美元重修體育館，增加奧運會標準泳池、男女桑拿、果汁吧、高爾夫模擬器和攀巖墻。作為文理學院的凱尼恩學院（Kenyon College）則斥資7,000萬美元修建了一個具有鄉村俱樂部風格的運動中心。

????上述這些設施將成為一種砝碼，吸引能支付全額學費的學生；但是，所有這些設施最終會拉高教育成本，會讓美國1萬億學生貸款危機雪上加霜。另外，這些設施與高校的核心競爭力有些格格不入。喬治華盛頓大學的辦學宗旨是“致力于知識的創造、傳播和應用”。建超級宿舍和這個宗旨能扯上關系么？

????為了擔負這些舒適享受的成本，院校將越來越倚重學費收入。25年前，學費收入占公立大學收入的25%，而現在已經增長到占據半壁江山。學費成本在攀升，聯邦政府卻在不斷減少對大學的補助撥款。喬治敦大學（Georgetown University）的研究人員發現，最具競爭力的大學中，只有14%的學生來自收入處于平均線以下的家庭。過去二十多年里，這個比例從來沒有上勝過，說明大學所謂生源多樣化的許諾并沒有兌現。

????You might be an honor roll student, varsity athlete, and great humanitarian, but if you're not the son or daughter of an affluent person, good luck getting off the wait list. At least that's what George Washington University just confessed by revealing it gives preferential admissions treatment to applicants who need less financial aid. It's the latest in a series of "affirmative action for the wealthy" cases.

????For years, GW claimed to be "need blind," in other words, unbiased in factoring one's financial status when deciding between two similarly qualified candidates. But earlier this month it retracted that position despite touting it as recently as the previous weekend in an admissions information session. GW's new status is "need aware," meaning the university can shift applicants from the "admitted" pile to "waitlisted" if they depend on getting financial support.

????"I would love to see us become a need-blind institution. As matters stand today, however, we believe that our current practice is the best way to meet the financial need of as many students as possible while recruiting an academically strong and diverse student body," University President Steven Knapp told GW's student newspaper The Hatchet.

????The paper also reports that the university's endowment of $1.37 billion "pales in comparison" to peer institutions that are need-blind, citing Northwestern's $7.1 billion endowment. But let's be honest, GW is really part of an unremitting arms race, in which they're vying with competitor schools to entice wealthy students (who can afford to pay face value for their education). Why? Because in the world of college endowments, the size of your proverbial war chest equates to your amount of prestige.

????Look no further than the notorious US News & World Report rankings for guidance. The rankings reward colleges on their financial resources per student (in essence how much they spend), and it just so happens that the five top universities on its list all have endowments bigger than $7.5 billion. This is where the interest of colleges and their students are no longer aligned.

????For example, GW just built a new $130 million "super dorm" and $33 million textile museum. It is not alone. The University of Pennsylvania's gym recently underwent a $10 million renovation to include an Olympic-sized swimming pool, co-ed sauna, juice bar, golf simulator, and climbing wall. Kenyon College, a liberal arts school, has a $70 million athletic center with similar country club features.

????While these amenities are definitely an attractive proposition to prospective students at face value, what they really end up doing is spiking tuition costs, further contributing to America's $1 trillion student loan debt crisis. Additionally, these facilities are inconsistent with the core competency of higher education institutions. To be quite literal about it, the mission of GW is to "commit itself to excellence in the creation, dissemination, and application of knowledge." Are super dorms inherent in this thesis?

????To offset the costs of their cozy amenities, colleges are also more dependent than ever before on tuition money, which now accounts for half of public university revenues, up from a quarter 25 years ago. And while tuition costs are rising, federal spending on college aid is decreasing. Researchers at Georgetown University have found that at the most competitive colleges, only 14% of students come from the lower 50% of families by income, a figure that has not increased over more than two decades, which indicates that university pledges to diversify have not materialized.