As I was watching the Michigan State vs. Illinois game over the weekend, the announcers commented about Jeff Jordan and his famous father. Along with attesting to his defensive skills and usefulness off the bench, they also remarked that Jeff originally came to Illinois on an academic scholarship.

I know the economy wasn’t as bad Jeff’s senior of high school as it is now, but was it so good that he deserved an academic scholarship? I don’t know Jeff’s ACT scores or extracurricular activities, but could there be any reasonable explanation for giving a scholarship to a student whose parents are worth an estimated $400 million dollars?

In a time when tuition prices have skyrocketed over the last generation, the amount of loans students are forced to take out are staggering. Scholarships are rare and hard to come by as more and more people want a piece of the pie.

I don’t know if this was some ploy to get Jeff to attend Illinois in hopes his father might donate in the future, but I do know 30,694 other undergraduates who could have used the money before the Jordans.