College returns are independent of prior test scores, undercutting meritocratic admissions logic

Evidence

So the objective educational system has etched the meritocratic perspec­ tive deeply into both popular culture and social science methodology. … But if social efficiency is the objective, the justification for a meritocratic admissions policy must rest on the assertion that “smart” people benefit more from college than those with lower test scores and grades. Stated more technically, the return from higher education, namely its impact on the individual’s cognitive capacities, earning abilities, or pro­ ductivity, must be positively related to prior test scores: The higher the test score the greater the expected return. If this is not the case, if low test scorers get as much out of college as high scorers, the argument that the policy of admitting the smartest must be maintained in the interest of social efficiency falls apart. And the evidence generally supports the view that the return from higher education is independent of prior test scores. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 969

Categorization

• SEED: Angle: the hidden empirical assumption buried inside ‘meritocratic’ admissions — that high scorers benefit more from college — which evidence contradicts.