THIS WEEK’S COLLEGE ADMISSIONS SCANDAL: I’ve been writing for years that minority students, particularly those who are interested in STEM, are worse off when they are given the kind of preferential treatment in admissions that is typical at colleges and universities today. Attending a school at which one’s entering academic credentials put one well below the median is usually not a good idea.

But does the same logic apply to rich kids like the ones in the current scandal?

Yes, of course, it does.  This may come as a shock to identity politics types, but it’s true: When it comes to academic success, entering academic credentials matter; race doesn’t.

Here’s an angle worth mentioning: It is often said that when the beneficiary of a racial preference winds up at or near the bottom of the class that the reason for his disappointing performance is a lack of role models on the faculty. Yet when a student with a mega-rich daddy or mommy with identical entering credentials winds up at or near the bottom of the class, nobody tries to blame the problem on the lack of mega-rich kids on the faculty as role models.  And with good reason.  It’s not about role models.