Oprah Winfrey arrives to give the keynote commencement address at her alma mater, Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee, in May 2023.

Higher Education

The Case for Lesser-Known Colleges

by Elwood Watson August 11, 2026August 13, 2026

The premium on prestigious colleges is wildly overrated. I should know.

The College Board, the non-profit organization that administers the SAT exam, caved to pressure from the Trump administration, scrapping its race-neutral Landscape tool. The decision undermines fairness and abandons high-achieving low-income students. Here, students walk through Harvard Yard, April 27, 2022, on the Harvard campus in Cambridge, Mass.

Higher Education

The College Board Capitulates to Trump

by Richard D. Kahlenberg September 24, 2025September 23, 2025

Magazine

The SAT Meritocracy

by Nicholas Lemann September 1, 1997May 3, 2023

Magazine

The Merit Racket: How SATs are running the GNP

by Nicholas Lemann December 1, 1981February 4, 2023

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SAT

The Case for Lesser-Known Colleges

The College Board Capitulates to Trump

The SAT Meritocracy

The Merit Racket: How SATs are running the GNP

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Big, Ugly Changes to SNAP Are Hitting County Budgets

The AI Alignment That Can Save Us

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The Unheralded End of Mass Incarceration

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Is Neoliberalism to Blame for America’s Health Care Woes?

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