Amid the lockdown some American students have filed lawsuits to get refunds on their tuition fees. Shifting classes online has rekindled concerns about the high cost of college education. Last year an FBI investigation exposed wealthy parents paying to cheat elite university admissions. The perception that university is no longer a driver of social mobility - but the opposite - fuels the political divide. How true is that?

In this episode US policy correspondent Idrees Kahloon reports on a scheme that helps poor students complete college, we unpick the complicated history of American meritocracy, and hear from the frontline of the admissions process.

John Prideaux, The Economist’s US editor, hosts with Charlotte Howard, New York bureau chief, and Washington correspondent Jon Fasman.

Read The Economist’s full coverage of the coronavirus.

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