The reasons education is the backbone of a society...

I've always believed that education is the backbone of a society. David Leonhardt writes a great column about what Amherst College is doing to ensure as much as possible that the backbone remains strong:

"The United States no longer leads the world in educational attainment, partly because so few low-income students — and surprisingly few middle-income students — graduate from four-year colleges. Getting more of these students into the best colleges would make a difference. Many higher-income students would still graduate from college, even if they went to a less elite one. A more educated population, in turn, would probably lift economic growth."

This is definitely a column worth reading.