Recently, I was speaking with the daughter of friends about a college trip organized by the independent school she attends in Virginia. The school arranged to shuttle a group of tenth grade girls around to ten colleges. Only two of the colleges were familiar to me and so I was interested to hear her impressions of the places she had seen. Of the colleges that were unfamiliar to me, two, in particular, stood out in her memories of the rather long bus trip. One college had recently brought Nicole Polizzi, better known as “Snooki” from Jersey Shore, to campus to talk to the students. While entertained by the appearance of this pop-culture icon on a college campus, overall this seemed to leave a negative impression of the place on my young friend regardless of whatever other benefits the college had to offer. Another college boasted of its recent $900 million investment in campus infrastructure…WiFi was available throughout, broadband connections were easily accessible, computers and other high-tech gear were in the hands of all of the students she saw, and the freshman dorms were “apartment” style with double beds and four rooms that shared two bathrooms. These amenities struck a very positive note. “That college,” she said to me, “cares about the students.”

Whenever I talk with young people who are visiting and considering colleges, I am struck by ...