A new report from the Education Trust suggests that only a handful of colleges are prepared to meet the needs of lower-income students.
The report, “Priced Out: How the Wrong Financial Aid Policies Hurt Low-Income Students” looks at 1,186 colleges nationwide, which had comparable data on what lower-income students pay for college.
Success was measured in three key areas: colleges must enroll a proportion of low-income students comparable to the national average, low-income students must pay a portion of their family income that is no greater than what is paid by the average middle-income student and students must have a decent chance of graduating – about 50 percent.
“Of these, only five open their doors to a proportion of low-income students,” the authors Mamie Lynch, Jennifer Engle and Jose L. Cruz write.
It’s notable that the schools who do meet the criteria: California State University-Fullerton and Long Beach, CUNY’s Bernard M. Baruch and Queens and the University of North Carolina-Greensboro—are part of state systems which have taken proactive measures to lower access and achievement gaps between lower- and higher-income students, as well as Whites and minorities.
At CUNY, for example, lower-income students can participate in the SEEK (Search for Education, Elevation and Knowledge) program, which provides both educational and financial support.
Even so, all of these five colleges enroll lower-income students at a far lower-rate than other colleges. And despite their comparative wealth, the vast majority of public flagship universities do not target their financial aid to students who need it the most.
