500. What Exactly Is College For?

<p>We think of them as intellectual enclaves and the surest route to a better life. But U.S. colleges also operate like firms, trying to differentiate their products to win market share and prestige points. In the first episode of a special series, we ask what our chaotic system gets right — and wrong. (Part 1 of “<i>Freakonomics Radio</i> Goes Back to School.”)</p>