Low-income enrollment at elite private schools

Interesting graphic accompanying a story today on the NYT's A1:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/07/31/us/varied-enrollment-of-low-income-students.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=US_VEO_20130731

In a nutshell, some schools (Vassar, Amherst, Stanford) are good at it. Some (Wash U, Princeton, Washington & Lee) are not.

 

Growing up in Northern California, Stanford was legendary for recruiting minority students. If you're a minority and you do well in school, Stanford will recruit you, almost like you're an athlete. We had one kid at my school who did not apply to Stanford (knew he couldn't afford it) and was set to go to Cal when Stanford offered him a full scholarship. I knew of another kid who had gotten in, but was going to one of the Ivy League schools and Stanford contacted him and basically said, "What would it take for you to come to Stanford?"

At least back in the early 1990s, Stanford would do that for African-American or Mexican-American students... You didn't exactly hear about that for white or Asian-American students.

 

Before 1965, if you could gain admission to Rice, your tuition was free. Needless to say, applications to Rice were (and still are) extremely competitive.

 

It's not like Pell Grants cover the entire cost of education. If you get a $10,000 Pell Grant, you're still $30,000 short of the goal at a lot of those schools. So there would be a very good reason for low-income students not to be going there. And in a lot of cases -- outside of the Ivies, Stanford, Duke, Northwestern and a few others -- the follow-up question would be why any low-income student is going there anyway. The obvious answer is there may be a total financial-aid package that makes the cost comparable to a state university, but if that isn't the case it's just kids and parents fooling themselves like wine snobs, thinking the more they pay the more they get.

Is Boston College better than Boston University? Is Colorado College better than the University of Colorado? Is Davidson better than the public universities in the Research Triangle?

 

Pell Grants can't even cover tuition except at lower-tier public universities. The max annual Pell Grant is less than $6,000 per year.

 

Miami used to give out a lot of Pell Grants.

 

I did have that thought when I noticed USC's high ranking.

 

We give $$ to Wash U because that's where wifey went; well I'm asking for refunds!!

Pretty sad because I believe that college is the best way for the underclass to advance.

 

Many football/scholarship athletes get Pell grants to I believe.

 

Any student who qualifies financially can get federal aid to reach a school's Cost of Attendance, which include tuition, fees, room and board, book, and personal expenses.

 

In what way does this story indicate that lower-income people can't go to college and can't advance?

It just says they have a hard time going to "elite" private institutions that are often not all that elite. There are thousands upon thousands of other schools.

Honestly I don't know what a good ratio is supposed to be, but something around 15-20 percent doesn't seem much different than what you'd expect. Income is tied closely to academic achievement, which would suggest most people admitted in the first place have some money.

 

People complain a lot about how standardized tests like the SAT and ACT harm low-income students. I suppose. But I believe they are also an enormous opportunity. A great equalizier. If you are from inner-city Chicago, you don't have to go on four church missions to Zaire and join six Honor Societies and perform an unpaid internship for the Albanian head of state to compete for admissions with the investment banker's daughter at Sprawl High. You just need a 1300.