Are the Ivies Exploitive?

Business Week published an interesting article today about the effect of ‘Ivy plus’ schools on public universities and on higher education in general.

The Ivies cannot fairly be blamed for public education’s financial predicament, but they certainly are exploiting it. Even the most prestigious of public universities are increasingly hard-pressed to repulse richly financed Ivy Plus raiding sorties seeking to steal distinguished faculty members and their research grants. Public schools are being drained for the benefit of the ultra-elite, says Robert J. Birgeneau, chancellor of the University of California at Berkeley. “The further you project into the future, the more frightening it becomes.”