Fly Me to the U

Private jet tours are the latest perks offered to the über-wealthy when applying to U.S. colleges

ON A LATE August morning, in the dusky haze of the San Fernando Valley, a former Los Angeles politician boards a Gulfstream G200 jet with his teenage son. Inside the overwhelmingly beige cabin, varsity swag is neatly arranged on leather lounge chairs, cheerily setting the tone for what’s to come: a privately chartered trip to some of the nation’s finest liberal arts colleges, including Johns Hopkins, Colby College and Dartmouth.

Over the next nine days—during which the two passengers will visit nine schools—nearly every desire will be provided for, however large (chauffeured service between airports, schools and hotels) or small (Peanut M&MS). The jet’s refreshment bar will be stocked with Diet Sprite, brownies and vanilla ice cream. Grapes on the vine, chocolate chip cookies, watermelon cubes and an assortment of sandwiches will also be served, all according to the client’s specifications.

On a small dining table, an in-flight reference guide by Ivy League admissions experts offers strategies for maximizing the impact of each college visit. In the front seat is a handwritten note tucked between a Dartmouth baseball cap and T-shirt: “We know that this is an exciting and stressful time for you both and we are happy that Magellan Jets could be a part of this milestone.”

If this doesn’t sound like the way you explored your college options, blame your cheap parents. The recently launched college-tour package from Magellan Jets, a membership-driven private aviation company based in Boston, has been specifically designed for America’s top earners.

With a price tag greater than a year’s college tuition, the program aims to decrease both the headache and the time spent on college campus visits. Magellan takes care of details, arranging private tours and ground transportation. Base price is jet-specific: 10 hours of air time on a light-size, seven-seater Hawker 400XP starts at $52,000, while the same package on the aforementioned super-midsize Gulfstream G200, which can seat

up to 18, costs upward of $100,000. The service is completely customizable—magellan will extend flight time to accommodate additional schools and even make the hotel reservations.

Magellan says these packages are invaluable to the hyper-wealthy kids and parents who use the service (none of whom would speak to Newsweek). “Unless you’re flying private, there’s just no way to see 10 schools over the course of five days,” says senior aviation specialist Joseph Santo, who works on trip logistics. “Is it cost-effective? Absolutely not. But for people with busy schedules, it means dollars and cents at the end of the day.”

In fact, demand for this service has never been greater, says the company’s CEO, Joshua Hebert. With the designated college-tour package now in its third year, 22 families have bought it in the past two years, Magellan says. An additional 22 customers used their jets to visit campuses in that period, without purchasing the package.

YOUR MONEY OR YOUR GPA

It’s well-documented that America’s top schools target the wealthy and often lower academic standards for their progeny. It’s been dubbed “the preference of privilege” by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Daniel Golden in his book The Price of Admission: How America’s Ruling Class Buys Its Way Into Elite Colleges—and Who Gets Left Outside the Gates. Admissions departments favor wealthy students, even if their applications are weaker than those of the less privileged. Secondary education, after all, is a business. And no top-rated college got that way without donations for libraries, prestigious faculty hires and gaudy student centers.

Admissions practices are becoming less and less transparent, says college consultant Mimi Doe, co-founder of Top Tier Admissions, which provides reference material for Magellan’s customers. Doe estimates that roughly half the student body at any given institution had some sort of “in” or “hook” (either they were athletic recruits or alumni children or what Golden calls “development cases”—kids whose well-off parents are expected to make sizable donations). While Doe and her business partner, former Dartmouth admissions officer Michele Hernández, have been very successful helping the 1 percent (97 percent of their students get into their top choices, they say), they sympathize with those who can’t afford their $30,000 to $50,000 asking price, often offering up free advice on their blog. “Things just aren’t as they appear in admissions,” says Doe. “As a mom and an advocate for this generation, it kills me.”

College officials are tipped off to an applicant’s economic status in many ways: by an aggressive college counselor, by an alumnus or board member, or perhaps by a private-aviation company scheduling an exclusive tour for one of its customers. On behalf of those who sign up for their college-tour package, Magellan taps into its network of billionaires, many of whom are high-profile alumni or on the boards at elite universities. “We have a list of schools and customers who went there, and they’re able to make the [application] experience a little better by making the right introduction,” says Hebert.

Traditionally, universities sent recruiters to find rich kids at prep schools, says Golden. Magellan’s jet tour delivers them like a butler offering a plate of Strottarga Bianco caviar. If a major purpose of higher education is to facilitate upward mobility, the system is broken. Colleges favor families who have connections and can afford expensive SAT prep or private counseling from the likes of Top Tier Admissions. Evidence shows that merely interviewing at a college or university enhances one’s chances of acceptance, but not all applicants can afford to travel.

While elitism in colleges and universities is certainly not news, it’s symptomatic of the growing income inequality among Americans. At a time when the national conversation is so often focused on student-loan debt and the increasing cost of education, Golden finds it alarming that programs like this are flourishing.

“Here’s a group of applicants whose parents are willing to pay the equivalent of a year’s tuition just for the convenience and access of a private jet tour,” he says. “Meanwhile, the vast majority of Americans struggle to afford tuition.”

IF A MAJOR PURPOSE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IS TO FACILITATE UPWARD MOBILITY, THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN.