Are You Smart Enough? How Colleges' Obsession with Smartness Shortchanges Students

Are You Smart Enough? How Colleges' Obsession with Smartness Shortchanges Students ASTIN, A. 2016. STERLING, VA: STYLUS PUBLISHING. 147 PP.

Reviewed by Matthew Fifolt

In Are You Smart Enough? Astin poses a simple yet profound statement regarding postsecondary education in the United States: "Colleges and universities have come to value merely being smart more than developing 'smartness'" (1). That is to say that institutions of higher education are so preoccupied with acquiring the smartest students in order to increase or maintain their reputational standing that they fail to fulfill their principal mission-"to educate people, to equip them with appropriate knowledge, skills, and other personal qualities that enable them to perform critical functions in the society and be responsible citizens" (37).

According to Astin, this obsession with smartness has created a pecking order of colleges and universities based on the number of smart students institutions can enroll, as determined by standardized tests such as the ACT or SAT. He notes, "The 'quality' or 'excellence' of a college or university is thus judged on the basis of the average test scores of its entering students, rather than on how well it educates them once they enroll" (5). This focus on inputs is akin to judging the quality of a hospital based on the wellness of its patients (admitting only the least sick patients) rather than the care patients receive.

The author contends that the institutional pecking order is based not on objective measures of performance but rather on people's beliefs about which institutions are 'the best.' Long before there were commercial institutional rankings (e.g., U.S. News & World Report), there were shared beliefs and folklore about elite colleges and universities. These beliefs were validated over time by specific events, such as a professor being awarded a Nobel prize or the institution receiving a large government grant.

Astin identifies a reciprocal relationship between institutional resources and reputation: "Having more resources makes it easier to enhance your reputation, and having a good reputation helps you acquire more resources. The most significant resource, of course, is smart students" (15). Regardless of the type of measures used, three conclusions may be draw on the basis of college rankings over time:

♦ The pecking order of U.S. colleges and universities has changed...