For the past couple of years, the news has been full of the college admission scandal. Celebrities, brokers, coaches, and administrators were all guilty of various forms of cheating to get students into "big name" colleges and universities.
What were the real "crimes?" There clearly was lying, forgery, tax avoidance, tax cheating, identity theft, and other real, but minor crimes. To the general public, it was wealthy people using their affluence to cheat the system and get their kids into schools that they probably would not have been admitted to based upon their own merits. But the biggest "crime" was the secrecy involved. School administrators, alumni, boards, and sometimes even the students did not know that this was going on.
It is clear that wealthy parents are more than willing to pay to get their students into slots. It is also very clear that schools can use additional money from endowments to help with their infrastructure or to use for grants for students who are qualified to enter but do not have adequate funds to attend.
Why not put the two together? Why not allow schools to allow a very small number of freshman entry slots to be "bid" for by the parents. I could see a large university allocating 100 slots or a small college with 10 slots to be bid on. The students would complete their normal application process, and the parents would commit to paying the normal full tuition and room/board. However, the parents could then place "endowment bids" of tax-deductible amounts online. The school admissions panel could then take the top 10 bids and evaluate the student's application.
I think it is a "win-win" -- the school receives funding, and students get a chance. Someone could say that the wealthy student "displaced" a slot for someone better qualified. But the additional funding provided would help fund more students
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