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100 Top Colleges Vow To Enroll More Low-Income Students (npr.org)

Research shows that just 3 percent of high-achieving, low-income students attend America's most selective colleges. And, it's not that these students just aren't there -- every year tens of thousands of top students who don't come from wealthy families never even apply to elite colleges. Universities are taking note -- and banding together under something called the American Talent Initiative -- a network backed by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Aspen Institute and the research firm Ithaka S+R. To join the club, schools have to graduate 70 percent of their students in six years -- a qualification that leaves just under 300 schools in the U.S. eligible. Nearly a third of those schools -- exactly 100 -- have signed on. Their goal? Enroll 50,000 additional low- and moderate-income students by 2025. From a report: Each school has its own goals, too -- many want to increase the number of Pell Grant students on campus, others aim to improve graduation rates -- but they're all on board to share strategies, learn from each other's missteps and provide data to monitor their progress.

96 comments

  1. smart by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Maybe they are too smart to want to attend "elite" colleges?

    1. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What would be "smart" about getting a less valuable education?

    2. Re:smart by alvinrod · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My guess is they don't bother to apply because those elite colleges are expensive as hell and the sticker shock turns people off even if they could receive financial aid that doesn't involve debt hell afterwards. I suspect another reason is that those colleges tend to attract a lot of students from the upper class part of society and they don't feel as though they'll fit in with someone who spends winter break at their uncle's place in the Hamptons or going on a European ski trip.

      The fact is that you don't really need to get an undergraduate degree at an elite university. Most students will do just as well by a state school at a much lower cost. If they're really good they'll have the grades to prove it and I believe that the graduate programs at those elite universities offer a lot more value.

      I also wouldn't be surprised if those elite colleges are under-recruiting from this segment because they've been trying to push a more culturally diverse recruitment policy for a while now. If you're recruiting goals call for for more students from some category, you'll wind up with fewer from some other category by definition.

    3. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People who attend Ivy League schools earn more than their non -Ivy counterparts, and the difference is more than enough to justify the cost. This is true for both undergraduate and graduate level educations.

    4. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This. I considered MIT. Once. Then I saw it was 30k a semester plus room and board.

      I went to State.

    5. Re:smart by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Harvard != Brown

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    6. Re:smart by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People who attend Ivy League schools earn more than their non -Ivy counterparts

      C!=C. Students that are accepted by Ivy League schools but choose to enroll elsewhere, do just as well as those that do enroll. So the evidence is that these schools are not better at educating, but just good at attracting applicants and filtering admissions.

    7. Re:smart by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      There are a lot of factors.
      Normally a lot of smart low-income students have a harder time getting the grades to get into these schools especially competing with wealthier students. Who can have paid tutelage. Study conditions that allow the child to learn. And just a more stable home environment.

      Metrics such as grades. Only work with like students.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    8. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would think the grades wouldn't be too hard - the problem is that an A from an underachieving inner city school often reflects nowhere near the level of achievement that an A in an affluent suburban district will.
      There are other issues, like lack of AP classes, but the grades shouldn't be an issue.

    9. Re:smart by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      I also wouldn't be surprised if those elite colleges are under-recruiting from this segment because they've been trying to push a more culturally diverse recruitment policy for a while now.

      I don't believe that "upper class" has been a recruiting priority for diversity programs for many years now, so they will not be overloading the mix. I think it is more likely that "lower class" and even, perhaps, "ethnic" are high-value recruiting targets, and thus those groups are not going to be under-recruited.

    10. Re:smart by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      My guess is they don't bother to apply because those elite colleges are expensive as hell and the sticker shock turns people off even if they could receive financial aid that doesn't involve debt hell afterwards.

      Well, this is the main reason I didn't go to an "elite" college.

      I suspect another reason is that those colleges tend to attract a lot of students from the upper class part of society and they don't feel as though they'll fit in with someone who spends winter break at their uncle's place in the Hamptons or going on a European ski trip.

      This was a minor factor for me. Not nearly as important as the money, but would've made things dreary as hell if I'd had the money but found myself the token "poor boy"....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    11. Re:smart by sexconker · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Realizing that the "value" of the education from these institutions is bullshit?

      The ivy league is about already being connected, and nothing else. The rest of the big players are all about selling the lie that college is for everyone and college guarantees success. More and more people are realizing that's bullshit. So higher education is increasingly being marketed to the dumb and poor as a path to financial success. It's about as truthful as marketing cigarettes and beer to the poor as a path to social status.

    12. Re: smart by haonlladdis · · Score: 2

      Can confirm for the American tech industry, at least anecdotally. Having talked with both private and public employers prior to choosing a higher education, the message I received was this: It's better for an applicant to be a big fish in a little pond [i.e. graduate with an IT degree in the top 10% of your community college class], than a little fish in a big pond [spend the same amount of effort, more money, and end up middle-of-the-pack with an IT degree in an "elite college/university"].

    13. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have interviewed, but never hired people from ivy league (mostly MIT). As a professor who'd graduated from MIT once told the class, the education is exactly the same. The only difference is that the people around you will challenge you more but you get out what you put in and you learn the exact same material.

      If you want to spend an extra 45 hours a week at po dunk U researching unassigned material and doing extra problems, there is nothing stopping you except you. If you do, you'll do well in your career and few people care after your first job anyway. The business world is more interested in experience than what prep school you went to.

    14. Re: smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You browned your pants.

    15. Re: smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ellie college usually offer low income student free rides. But they need the rich student's parents to pay the bills.

    16. Re:smart by dgatwood · · Score: 2

      This. Similarly, the graduation rate doesn't tell you how good the school is at teaching. It just tells you what percentage of bad students they filtered out before admission. The higher the percentage of weak students, the lower the graduation rate. Each drop of one point in high school GPA corresponds with a 2x reduction in graduation rate.

      In other words, this program doesn't give people a chance to attend the best schools, but rather gives people a chance to attend the most expensive, most elite schools. The burden of proof for whether the schools are "best" or not is whether the people brought in by this program end up with better graduation rates than similar students who attend other schools that didn't make the cut.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    17. Re:smart by erice · · Score: 2

      People who attend Ivy League schools earn more than their non -Ivy counterparts

      C!=C. Students that are accepted by Ivy League schools but choose to enroll elsewhere, do just as well as those that do enroll. So the evidence is that these schools are not better at educating, but just good at attracting applicants and filtering admissions.

      Not necessarily. The students at Ivy League schools tend to come from wealthy, well-connected families. If they do just as well by not attending an Ivy League school, it may just mean that coming from a wealthy and well-connected family is sufficient advantage that going to an Ivy League school doesn't change much. The students that stand to gain the most from an elite education may very well be the very poor students who don't generally apply.

    18. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ivy league schools are not about education. They are about networking with other rich people, having the correct schools and fraternities listed on your C/V and maintaining appearances. They sell access and price accordingly.

      These schools will not reduce the number of under-performing or average children of the wealthy that they enroll to so much as make way for a single low income student.

      The degree is not so much important as the prestige. This is fundamentally how human beings operate: appeal to authority and familiarity. This networking works out very well for those who can attend. If you are from the correct zip code and racial background, even being a dropout from the correct school is enough to open the doors to power.

      The Ivy league sell access to those with money, not those with ability. You might not be able to improve the world there. You will be able to hook up with the next Jobs or Gates or Zuckerberg to change it for profit. The cynic in me says that the school admissions team is probably not wanting to miss out on those opportunities for their wealthy clients, so want to include more useful people into the mix. (You cannot have too many "poor" (low upper class) people becoming ultra wealthy from work without including more of the correct people from the old money.)

      The Ivy are the opposite of trade schools and community colleges. Beneficial to the elite but not so much for society as a whole. Each has their place. The price the Ivy leagues charge is not for the poor because their curriculum is not for those who are going to work for a living.

    19. Re: smart by kenh · · Score: 1

      Yes, that's how scholarships work

      --
      Ken
    20. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well of course you haven't hired them. You don't even know that MIT isn't in the Ivy League. Dumb!

    21. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What would be "smart" about getting a less valuable education?

      "An education" that isn't completed is of very little value. Students entering schools for which they aren't prepared are more likely to fail.

    22. Re:smart by thePsychologist · · Score: 1

      Might be true for some disciplines, but not for disciplines like math. You can get a really good undergraduate and graduate degree in math at places like Harvard and Princeton, where the course level will be much higher in standard than other institutions. For example, you can do a course in commutative algebra there whereas a good but not "top" school won't have this course.

      This is especially helpful for research areas that require a lot of background. If you can take the heavy course load/tons of problems, then going to a place like Princeton over a good but not great school can make a difference.

      --
      "What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." Ralph Waldo Emerson
    23. Re: smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is inaccurate, or at least a weird position. Does it matter at all if you earn more because you learn more, because you know more wealthy people, or because Xenu commands it? It doesn't to me.

        The FACT is that the average Harvard grad earns in the top 10% of their field. Meanwhile, the average state grad earns somewhere near the median. This is a huge difference, especially over a lifetime of earning. It haS been repeatedly studied, then restudied, and the results are always the same.

      The cause is irrelevant, if your goal is more earning potential.

      Telling young people anything else is saddling them with an irrational handicap, but I guess ruining a generation makes you feel better about your own poor choices, right?

    24. Re:smart by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Yeah sure. Tell that to the Wharton and Harvard Business Schools, or MIT or Stanford grads, The evidence is that starting salaries for grads are much higher, and there's a reason for it.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    25. Re: smart by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Than you confirmed with the wrong people unless you're only talking IT...nobody gives a fuck where you learn IT. But engineering, business, medicine...there's a massive difference in starting pay from top schools.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    26. Re:smart by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      So do metrics such as getting their work milestones done on time also act the same way? If so, then as an employer, I'm sorry their life sucked, but I wouldn't want them unless they could produce as much as their peers.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    27. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You go to an elite college to have elite classmates who will hopefully run banks and other sources of investment in the future.

    28. Re:smart by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      How do grades coinside with what they can produce.
      The grade metric is something that is often sold, or bargained for. The son of a senator may be dumb as a box of rocks, but he gets good grades because the teacher and the school doesn’t want to deal with such a powerful figure. Then he goes to a prestigious school he fails out in a semester, because such a school has so many powerful parents it just doesn’t care about the senator and his tantrums, and has their own resources to turn it around on him.
      While the poor student getting B and C grades may be able to shine in a college where there are resources they never had.

      Most employers don’t look at grades or GPA. They look at experience, length of stay at a job, assets their personality, in terms of education I look at their degree, majors, minors and certification. I find someone boasting a GPA above 3.5 on their resume actually to be a negative because it tells me they are book learned nd may lack out of the box thinking.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    29. Re:smart by Salgak1 · · Score: 0

      The only real value-added from "elite" colleges is the networking opportunities. For the most part, a college degree is a college degree.

    30. Re:smart by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      Who the heck modded this down? Education has *intrinsic* value. Being an educated person is a means of bettering yourself. Just like improving your physical conditioning. The goal of higher education isn't to build job skills. That's the role of vocational education. Higher education is about making the brain smarter, a form of mental exercise. The problem is that the cost has become so high that the intrinsic value no longer justifies the expense. That's a shame. It's why non-commercial gyms (i.e. YMCA) have scholarships and why institutions of higher education have them as well. So that education can be more than just an economic decision.

    31. Re: smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I will be curious to see how well this statistic holds up after several years of this initiative. A big part of the reason schools like Harvard produce high-earners is because of the connections you get by going there, and a big part of why you get those connections is because so many of the people going there already have them. Low-income students are far less likely to have those connections; by enrolling more of them, does Harvard risk reducing their âoeconnections poolâ?

    32. Re:smart by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you've touched on something here that others here aren't thinking about as a legitimate barrier: the disadvantaged group grows up in a much different world than even the middle class, mildly-affluent group. The disadvantaged learn different skills -- some of them faulty due to poor living situations -- and often miss out on knowledge that would help them make better, more informed, and realistic decisions in their lives.

      Perhaps we should consider college preparation as its own problem, and treat it the same way we treat other ignorance: teaching.

      If you're not prepared for the amount of work expected from a university, the value and skill of interacting with others, time management wrt working while attending, and how to use who-you-know to find work, then *duh* the disadvantaged won't be able to balance it all.

      If we want better results, we need to teach people how to succeed in college, how to make use of their education, and find a field of work they're good at and can contribute to.

  2. Need more information by crgrace · · Score: 1

    What percentage of high-achieving, middle income students attend the most selective school? Is it more or less that 3%?

    1. Re:Need more information by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      What percentage of high-achieving, middle income students attend the most selective school? Is it more or less that 3%?

      Doesn't matter.

      The difference is that nobody would get heaps of praise for trying to bring in more middle income students.

      Have to keep in mind what the goal is.

    2. Re:Need more information by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Many more middle-income kids go to top schools than low income. I work with these kids. You have no idea how hostile their culture is to academic success unless you live there. I recognize it, but as a rich gringo I still don't really "get it". Many in their communities truly believe that academic success is a betrayal to the culture.

    3. Re:Need more information by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In the 1970's I went to a magnet high school in NYC with some very smart black kids.
      One of them told me how in his neighborhood he had to hide his intellect or he would be harassed for "acting white".
      It was the dumbest think I'd ever heard. If intellect is "acting white" then what is "acting black"?
      It's pretty crazy

    4. Re:Need more information by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What percentage of high-achieving, middle income students attend the most selective school? Is it more or less that 3%?

      Doesn't matter.

      The difference is that nobody would get heaps of praise for trying to bring in more middle income students.

      Have to keep in mind what the goal is.

      Besides, those awkward, often 'bookish', middle-income college kids don't make nearly as good a violent mob to shut down invited speakers or violent Antifa rioters as hard-knock street kids from the 'hood.

      The showing lately from these schools has been pathetic. Hardly any Berkeley-scale riots, no buildings burned, no police stations torched.

      They need a serious upgrade to match their historic prestige. Can't have those California and Washington universities and colleges making them look...err...bad? /s

      Strat

    5. Re:Need more information by mrclevesque · · Score: 1

      "Many in their communities truly believe that academic success is a betrayal to the culture."

      It surely can be when academic success leads to the maintenance or reinforcement of disparities.

    6. Re:Need more information by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      Oops, yep that was me.

      Started to post AC and thought I'd unchecked the box.

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    7. Re:Need more information by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      It surely can be when academic success leads to the maintenance or reinforcement of disparities.

      Why are "disparities" important? If every household in a neighboorhood earns $30k per year, is that better than a neighborhood where some households earn $30k and others earn $60k?

    8. Re:Need more information by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      It surely can be when academic success leads to the maintenance or reinforcement of disparities.

      I think it is almost a by-definition kind of statement that academic success creates disparity in success compared to drop-outs. Sometimes "disparity" is not a bad thing, like when half the group gets a high school diploma and the other half does not. It is certainly better than 90% not having any diploma at all.

      Disparity is only a derogatory concept when one's success comes at the expense of another's failure. Getting a high school diploma or good grades does not force other people to get poor grades or miss out on a diploma. Schools are happy if everyone graduates; they'll print as many diplomas as it takes to give one to everyone who deserves one. It's not a zero-sum game.

    9. Re:Need more information by liquid_schwartz · · Score: 1

      Many more middle-income kids go to top schools than low income. I work with these kids. You have no idea how hostile their culture is to academic success unless you live there. I recognize it, but as a rich gringo I still don't really "get it". Many in their communities truly believe that academic success is a betrayal to the culture.

      I'd say that sounds like a culture of failure, but I guess it's easier to duck responsibility and blame racism instead. I'm always perplexed at how some will argue that all cultures are equal despite massive and obvious performance differences and claim racism instead.

    10. Re:Need more information by sexconker · · Score: 1

      It's not a zero-sum game.

      Yes it is. Everything is.

      No child left behind? Grade inflation? People with 4 year of even graduate degrees being stuck slinging swill at Starbucks? An entire generation mired in debt that prevents them from owning property or maintaining any sort of savings? In a competitive market/society, this shit doesn't make sense and it doesn't work.

    11. Re:Need more information by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      Yes it is. Everything is.

      No. Graduating from high school is not a zero-sum game. There isn't a limited number of diplomas to hand out, and only the first 100 get one. Everyone who qualifies gets one. The school will print as many as it needs. A program that results in a 10% increase in graduation for some group does not mean that another group loses 10% because there wasn't enough "graduation" to go around.

      The same applies to colleges. There may be limits on how many students can be enrolled, but if 90% of the class graduates instead of 50%, the college will just print more diplomas to hand out. And many colleges would be tickled pink to have a 10% increase in enrollment, so even class size is not a hard limit.

      No child left behind? Grade inflation?

      That's not what we're talking about.

    12. Re:Need more information by sexconker · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You're a clown.

      It's not about diplomas or lack of diplomas. It's about jobs, stupid.
      If everyone has a high school diploma due to no child left behind, then you've got more competition. Better get that 4.0 GPA to get a good job to differentiate yourself from the people who would have otherwise flunked out.
      If everyone has good grades due to grade inflation, then you've got more competition. Better get a 5.0 GPA instead to differentiate yourself from the people who benefited from grade inflation. ... Better get a college degree to separate yourself from the "basic" losers who only graduated high school. ... Better make sure it's from a $$$ 4-year "institution", not your perfectly respectable state/city/vocational college because that's worthless now too. ... Ivy league or bust. ... You're 28 and aren't yet working on your post doctoral research projects!?! How are you going to move out of your square foot studio???

      Employers simply see a wider market - of dumb and complacent fools. A bigger stone to wring more blood out of.

      Eventually society pays the price as we realize that churning out degrees for the sake of churning out degrees devalues the degrees, results in stupid people being in the same group as competent people, and ultimately gives oligarchs more control over everyone. Education is fine and dandy, but requiring people to take 4 years of a foreign language, 2 years of performance arts, etc. to get a basic job is absurd. As is making them spend 4 years of their life taking on debt and learning pretty much nothing applicable to the bleak job market they'll enter 4 years later into life than they need to.

      Higher education is marketed as a path upward. But for the vast majority of people, it's simply a path downward into debt and shitty job prospects. Most people would be better served entering the job market earlier and skipping the cost of college, or by joining the military, or by learning a trade (such as plumbing, carpentry, welding, etc.).

    13. Re:Need more information by oakgrove · · Score: 1

      I had you "foed" a long time ago for some reason I forget. Probably beefing over some shit I don't even care about anymore. You've redeemed yourself.

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    14. Re: Need more information by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The two are not mutually exclusive. I can't fix the bario, but I can give my students a fair education.

    15. Re:Need more information by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Forgot to take your meds, huh?

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    16. Re: Need more information by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      #MedicateDissent

    17. Re:Need more information by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      This doesn't add up. If a degree represents real education, you can never churn out too many. It may be "devalued" in terms of the ability to get a higher salary but you still get the same education. The education part is a non-competitive good. Knowledge wants to be free and all that. The challenge is that the cost of the degree will have to go down. The price one is willing to pay should be the worth of the intrinsic value (not affected by supply and demand) and the extrinsic value (additional earnings). If the additional earnings go away, the price/benefit ratio changes. The solution to this is not to have less people get degrees and lose the intrinsic value. The solution is to price the degree such that it is more approachable even without the extrinsic value.

    18. Re:Need more information by Obfuscant · · Score: 1

      It's not about diplomas or lack of diplomas. It's about jobs, stupid.

      No, moron. My comment was specifically about graduation. Here, I'll quote it for you:

      Disparity is only a derogatory concept when one's success comes at the expense of another's failure. Getting a high school diploma or good grades does not force other people to get poor grades or miss out on a diploma. Schools are happy if everyone graduates; they'll print as many diplomas as it takes to give one to everyone who deserves one. It's not a zero-sum game.

      The example of when disparity is not bad ("sometimes") is in getting a diploma. That's called "graduation" in English. I said nothing about disparity in jobs. You're response to that comment was, and I'll quote it for you:

      Yes it is. Everything is.

      Then you started some rant about other things as if that proved that everything is a zero-sum game. The existence of one zero-sum game does not prove that everything is a zero-sum game. I never said there were no zero-sum games in life, I just gave one clear example of when one of the games is not.

      If everyone has a high school diploma due to no child left behind,

      That's not the only way people get diplomas, and you're trying to use one example of a method of improving graduation rates as proof that all means of improving graduation create bad disparity. That's absurd. You're being absurd because you deliberately avoided responding to what I actually wrote and started of on your own tangent.

      In it's correct form, "no child left behind" is a reasonable concept. "Behind" doesn't mean "diploma", it means education. If 90% of the class gets a diploma due to "no child left behind" creating an environment where students who don't learn well in the existing system get the help they need to master the material, that's good. It does NOT mean that another other group doesn't get their diplomas -- the school will, as I said multiple times already, simply print more of them.

      This is NOT a zero-sum game.

      Since you seem to be arguing that "no child left behind" is somehow bad for society, fine. I can counter that argument, too. It's bad because it creates too many educated people for better paying jobs. "... then you've got more competition." Not enough better paying jobs for everyone then, and it creates an upward spiral. Ok. The obvious solution to that is we DO leave children behind deliberately. If it takes a different method of education for you to learn basic math or science or whatever, too bad, because the current system is producing enough employees. If we teach you the same material in a different way so you can graduate you will be "more competition" for those who are smarter than you. This is bad. Yes, let's make it absolutely clear that the schools are nothing but vocational training centers for a limited number of jobs, and not the general education of the next generation of adults.

      Is that really what you want to argue?

      Eventually society pays the price as we realize that churning out degrees for the sake of churning out degrees

      That is not what I was talking about. I said nothing about "degrees for the sake of degrees". Go rant at someone else.

  3. Because once you get their LENDED money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    and they drop out after never showing up, you get to keep the money!

    1. Re:Because once you get their LENDED money by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well, not after they drop out but it's kinda this
      they ain't taking them for free, or even for any less than any other student
      someone is still footing the bill
      not to mention they need to expand into new markets as the rich already go by default and they can't push chinese import students through fast enough

    2. Re:Because once you get their LENDED money by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 1

      and they drop out after never showing up, you get to keep the money!

      There have been legislative proposals to reduce or ban student loans to students at schools with excessive dropout rates.

      There have also been proposals to reduce or ban student loans at schools with excessive student loan default rates.

      Another reform proposal is to reduce the taxpayer funded Sallie Mae repayment guarantee from 100% to 80-90% to ensure that lenders have some skin in the game.

  4. To paraphrase Groucho Marx by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I donâ(TM)t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members.

    Why would low income students want to compete against an advantaged set of students. Provide enrollment in the state universities, free of charge, and go from there.

  5. Really by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Smart people don't waste years in college paying way to much for next to nothing. That is why they need more poor people to get into a life time of debt, smart people have shown that college is a scam and only the dumb poor people are left to steal from.

  6. so... by buddyglass · · Score: 1

    I want to see the list of which of the ~290 colleges with 70+% 6-year graduation rates have opted *not* to participate.

  7. That makes them elite? by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

    70% graduation rate in 6 years can be achieved in two ways:

    1. Only admit qualified students.

    2. Pass everyone.

    How about 70% graduation rate plus 70% get jobs, in field? Yes I know, they'd just corrupt the definition of 'in field'.

    I'd say that their current method has produced a list of 'elite schools' plus 'diploma mills'.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    1. Re:That makes them elite? by tomhath · · Score: 1

      There's also #3 - cook the books.

      Some schools have affiliated branch campuses that only offer two year degrees. Low achieving students from the main campus are "encouraged" to transfer away from the main campus, then they back fill with the top students from the branches; that magically makes the graduation rate go up.

    2. Re:That makes them elite? by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      > Do such a good job educating including things like tutoring that everybody learns the material. There was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon.

    3. Re:That makes them elite? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      That only works if they are qualified students. Otherwise you are tutoring them in middle school subjects, which they didn't get the first two times. Good luck.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    4. Re:That makes them elite? by edtice1559 · · Score: 1

      Middle school subjects are within reach of the vast majority of the population. So if they didn't get it the first two times, it's likely due to some systemic failing not their own lack of intellect.

    5. Re:That makes them elite? by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      The vast majority of the population that can be arsed to make an effort. After two failures, it's on them to learn how to learn and prove it. Enough disruption.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  8. Good idea by TimMD909 · · Score: 1

    Straddling low income people with loans that they'll never be able to pay off for overpriced education? Great idea... /s

    1. Re:Good idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      upon graduation we can then offer them an adjustable rate sub-prime mortgage!

    2. Re:Good idea by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Um, then don't take the fucking loan.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    3. Re:Good idea by frankrachel · · Score: 1

      A few of the Ivy's (not sure about all, but it may be) do not give loans at all. At Princeton if you make 65k/year or less, you will be 100% covered for tuition, fees, room and board. Heck, a family of 4 making 100k would only pay 5k for Princeton.

  9. Which Schools by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where is the list of the 100 schools?

  10. Volume over quality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Many colleges are acting more as short-term businesses. Getting more students to enter is good to build bureaucracies, and protect the mid-term and long-term careers of those bureaucrats. Turning colleges back towards academic testing grounds, where people come out with actual training in thought or in real engineering, is a thoughtful goal being overridden in the name of "safe spaces" where students feel engulfed in the endless womb of 4 years of complete protection, to be followed by another few years of grad school.

    I'm watching a stack of my daughter's friends enter and go through college "pursuing their dreams" and refusing to actually do any work, of any kind. The colleges they attend are fostering this: it brings in tuition, fills classes, and helps the students "feel empowered". I conversely, paid my own housing, took years off during college to rebuild my resources to finish, and was pursuing my research field as an undergrad. And I have the patents to go with it. But right now? When a college professor has the time, at a public protest, to "get some muscle to get rid of this guy" on a reporter attending the protest, they all need to be sent out into the real world and hold down a job.

    See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVq6Wk1m_p0

  11. Good idea: Poor Investment. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    People make this decision with every other kind of investment, and yet people will still recommend higher education* as a good thing. How will this hurt the country in the end? Not as bad as the current damage being done to all those out there who took a chance and bet on the wrong horse. Dragging themselves and the nation down.

    *Vocational can be a minefield as well. Lincoln Tech anyone?

  12. Affordability by BrookHarty · · Score: 3, Insightful

    There's a reason Colleges are called billion dollar hedge funds. The saying is Harvard is a hedge fund with a college attached.

    College tuition keeps going up, the colleges know they will get paid. Kids cant file for bankruptcy if they cant pay their loans because they can't find work.

    Go to a local community college, its the same price of buying a car for 4 years, and people can generally make car payments. In state online 5k, in state 10k, out of state 20k, Private 30k, Harvard 45k (starting). While everyone wants a Tesla, some can only afford a Prius. Costs matter.

    The whole thing is a racket, overpriced, scam.

    1. Re:Affordability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The cost of tuition of the worst college will always grow to meet the highest available amount of financial assistance.

      p.s. Q: What do you call the guy who graduated last in his class in medical school? A: Doctor.

    2. Re:Affordability by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      The whole thing is a racket, overpriced, scam.

      As long as it's mostly rich folks falling for it, I'm good with that.

    3. Re:Affordability by Bryansix · · Score: 1

      The other issue is that traditional college is extremely wasteful. You have professors all over the country teaching cohorts of maybe a few hundred students each. This means some students get great professors who align with the rare qualities of being simultaneously experienced in their field and able to articulate that knowledge in a way students can learn about it, and some students get horrible professors who can barely speak English. There is a better way.

      Take Khan academy as an example or any other MOOC course. What you do is you pay top dollar to attract the best in each field and have them record all their lectures which the stipulation that they have to update them yearly. Pay them enough that they can do this at least 50% of their time allotting some time to be active in their field at the same time. Then hire facilitators who can help out the tens of thousands who would take these courses. These lower paid personnel would offload the work of administering the actual classes. Then you get the best educational coursework and instruction at a cost efficient and time efficient manner.

    4. Re:Affordability by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On the other hand, this is the market at work. Most of these top colleges are rejecting upwards of 90% of applicants and can pick and choose the cream of the crop, they only choose to pick some of the lower hanging fruit because of pell grants and the associated stats filling a checkbox with various granting agencies which then puts those poor folks on the hook for thousands of dollars in debt for a place they, in a pure free market, wouldn’t be able to afford anyway.

      Hence Harvard/MIT getting a high graduation rate and this is just self-perpetuating the image and hence the applicants and a portion of poor folk getting poorer at the expense of filling a checkbox.

      And yes, I have had this conversation as part of the leadership in a top-tier University that is off track on the ‘minority hires’.

    5. Re:Affordability by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      Reminded me of my favorite joke of that genre...

      What do you call a girl who uses the rhythm method? Mommy.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
  13. Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While I think that increasing opportunity for undeserved communities is laudable, I do think that you should be honest about the issues in poor communities. From TFA:

    I'm 100 percent convinced that talent is distributed uniformly across society. There's no data to suggest that if you happen to be born into a less well-to-do family you are somehow less intelligent.

    This is just not true. SAT scores are or were roughly an IQ test. They show a clear correlation to income, as outlined in this article:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com...

    There may be any number of causes of this, but denying the facts will likely lead to under prepared students starting and failing at college.

    1. Re:Hmm by slew · · Score: 3, Informative

      While I think that increasing opportunity for undeserved communities is laudable, I do think that you should be honest about the issues in poor communities. From TFA:

      I'm 100 percent convinced that talent is distributed uniformly across society. There's no data to suggest that if you happen to be born into a less well-to-do family you are somehow less intelligent.

      This is just not true. SAT scores are or were roughly an IQ test. They show a clear correlation to income, as outlined in this article:

      https://www.washingtonpost.com...

      There may be any number of causes of this, but denying the facts will likely lead to under prepared students starting and failing at college.

      Interestingly, high SAT scores have not been shown to be correlated to student achievement in college. In face, many colleges are moving to test-optional admission strategies after a 2014 study involving 123,000 students at 33 colleges showed virtually no statistical difference between GPA and graduation rates between students that did and did not submit standardized test scores.

      Unfortunately a different study has also concluded that it is unlikely that adoption of test-optional admission policies would will boost enrollment of underrepresented minority and low-income students. The study examined 180 selective liberal arts colleges, 32 of which had adopted test-optional policies between 1992 and 2010. It compared colleges with test-optional policies against colleges that required test scores. The 32 test optional schools did not see any statistical increase in enrollment of low-income or black, latino, or native american students compared with the larger group of 180 schools. This result was unexpected, but the report authors hypothesized that this might be due to the fact that by de-emphasizing standarized tests, more weight was put on extra-curriculars and AP/IB coursework which continue to have unequal opportunities/access across income and minority status.

      Sadly, from my history of admissions work with my alma mater, the two highest correlating factors for academic success were: 1. parental income; and 2. one-or-more parents graduating from college. You might say #1 is probably highly correlated with #2 so a large driver of college success is a student fulfilling the expectations of their college educated parents, which sort of perpetuates the have vs have-not split.

      Next on the list that showed correlation is adjusted (i.e., no-extra points for AP/IB classes) High-school GPA in core-curricula classes (A's in underwater basket weaving don't count). The main complication with adjusted GPA comparison between applicants is normalizing them across schools (different grade inflation factors in different schools). In a highly selective school, it doesn't matter too much (most of your applicants will have mostly A's), but it's much more difficult to normalize the middle of the grading scales between disparate high schools to compare applicants.

      The SAT II (subject test) showed a reasonably correlation to college GPA, but not graduation rates.

      The general SAT score correlations to college success ranked below sustained (e.g., over 2 years) extracurricular activities, and coming from a well-known "feeder" school (a HS where lots of people apply to a specific college), but both showed weak-to-no correlation that varied from year-to-year like the generic SAT. The "feeder" effect seemed to indicate that groups of students that have a history of academic success tend to do better than isolated individuals (which indicated the advantage of support groups in college leading to higher college success).

      Your mileage may vary, though...

    2. Re:Hmm by oakgrove · · Score: 1

      With grade inflation, I find using GPA as a metric of "success" sadly suspect. What correlation is there between SAT scores* and success in life after graduation?

      *Under the old model. Not to be confused with that thing they call an SAT today.

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    3. Re:Hmm by slew · · Score: 1

      With grade inflation, I find using GPA as a metric of "success" sadly suspect. What correlation is there between SAT scores* and success in life after graduation?

      *Under the old model. Not to be confused with that thing they call an SAT today.

      As I mentioned, before adjusted GPA is a good measure of *relative* performance. People with higher GPAs from a specific high school have better college success than those with lower GPAs, although normalizing the grade inflation between different schools is hard.

      There are some studies that indicate higher SAT scores can lead to higher incomes, but this was a secondary correlation that is only significant when you corrected for different bachelor degrees (which made the most main difference in future income). The main effect in all of these studies is actually graduating from college (vs not graduating from college after 6 years).

      For me, most of what that says is if you can put up with all the bullshit about studying for SATs and doing busywork assigned by professors, it correlates to how well you can get along in a corporate world so you earn a better income. Since the correlation between *wealth* and IQ is apparently much lower.

      https://thesocietypages.org/so...

    4. Re:Hmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interestingly, high SAT scores have not been shown to be correlated to student achievement in college. In face, many colleges are moving to test-optional admission strategies after a 2014 study involving 123,000 students at 33 colleges showed virtually no statistical difference between GPA and graduation rates between students that did and did not submit standardized test scores.

      The fact that there's no statistical difference between GPA and graduation rates between students that did and did not submit standardized test scores does not mean that there's no correlation between those test scores and achievement. In fact, there is such a correlation. See:
      https://www.vox.com/cards/sat/...
      http://files.eric.ed.gov/fullt...

      Sadly, from my history of admissions work with my alma mater, the two highest correlating factors for academic success were: 1. parental income; and 2. one-or-more parents graduating from college. You might say #1 is probably highly correlated with #2 so a large driver of college success is a student fulfilling the expectations of their college educated parents, which sort of perpetuates the have vs have-not split.

      This leads credence to the assertion in the GP that the quote about "I'm 100 percent convinced that talent is distributed uniformly across society. There's no data to suggest that if you happen to be born into a less well-to-do family you are somehow less intelligent" is wrong. There is a lot of evidence that this statement is just wrong. Here's one example:
      https://www.washingtonpost.com...

    5. Re:Hmm by slew · · Score: 1

      The fact that there's no statistical difference between GPA and graduation rates between students that did and did not submit standardized test scores does not mean that there's no correlation between those test scores and achievement. In fact, there is such a correlation. See:
      https://www.vox.com/cards/sat/... [vox.com]
      http://files.eric.ed.gov/fullt... [ed.gov]

      Just a quick point, the study these articles are pointing to reference a College Board study indicating a correlation between SAT and college achievement. College Board is the publisher of the SAT test. This is like referring to a study funded by the pasta industry that concludes pasta is good for you...

      Other points in those articles highlight the same point I made before: HS GPA is a better indicator than SAT and SAT hasn't been shown by many admissions studies to have a significant statistically independent prediction of college success measurements despite what the publisher's of the SAT might want people to believe. This is why many college admissions departments are slow-walking away from the SAT. It appears to add very little value into their admissions criteria, but the alternatives aren't well vetted yet...

      Here's some interesting reading for those that don't know the history the SAT and its relationship with the UC system...

      https://senate.universityofcal...

      Similar reports about the effectiveness of the SAT have been going on since the 80's when I was in college and working with admissions. The only thing keeping the SAT alive is pretty much the UC system requirement (UC being a big "customer" of the SAT was the main driver to convince the SAT to change to be more like the ACT). I predict by the time my kids will be college aged, the UC system will finally drop the SAT and it will be a distant memory.

  14. Debt trap by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Speaking from experience.

  15. Of course they are... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Guaranteed money from state and federal gov'ts - why wouldn't they?

  16. Low-Income bad credit no credit no problem! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    Just about any one can get an student loan.

    1. Re: Low-Income bad credit no credit no problem! by apoc.famine · · Score: 1

      If I could loan someone money that they could never default on, and never declare bankruptcy to get rid of....I wouldn't, because I'm not a fucking sleazy asshole. But there are enough of them that they've both made this system and have taken advantage of it.

      The student loan racket is obscene. The year my wife and I paid that shit off was almost better than the year we got married. Because frankly, we can get out of marriage if it goes south. But we couldn't get out off student loans.

      --
      Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
  17. They are becoming more like tech schools with by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    They are becoming more like tech schools with there marketing with an degree you can make x an year and XX% Our Grads are working in their field. Starbucks seems to fit in to a lot Fields in their minds. But unlike the tech schools they are not as hands on, come with forced high cost meal planes and forced high cost dorms

    1. Re:They are becoming more like tech schools with by magarity · · Score: 1

      XX% Our Grads are working in their field. Starbucks seems to fit in to a lot Fields in their minds.

      And in turn, Starbucks has a generous tuition reimbursement program for employees. It's a vicious cycle!

  18. WRONG SOLUTION by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Instead of letting these top schools get away with false promises, a much better solution would be to divert more federal funding (NIH/NSF) to smaller (non top100) schools that do have more low income students.

  19. Waste of time by boundandgaggedwomen · · Score: 1

    This is going to be mostly a waste of time and money for these colleges, hoping to satisfy SJW's. There are already plenty of governmental or private programs for lower income students who actually make good grades and show promise. This just drives more marginal students who are not going to do well and waste everyone's time and effort into the school to achieve quotas.

  20. Not happening by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is a matter of fact, that people with low-income but high-ability are mostly white people. These people will not be getting any help going to these colleges.

  21. Enroll, but not Graduate by QuadEddie · · Score: 1

    UCLA did this. They wanted to be more "inclusive" so they got a lot more blacks and hispanics to enroll. Guess what? The had way more diversity enrollment, but embarrassingly the same graduation rate for those minorities. What is the takeaway? You can pull the kids from the ghetto and put them in college, but you can't make them learn. They have never learned how to learn so they suffer against classmates who know how to study and grasp concepts. The solutions that universities have come up with are to create bullshit curriculums for minorities so they can graduate in /something/. This includes bullshit courses in women's studies, the trans track and black history. There is no academic rigor in these tracks and they often can be completed in a week with packet work. UNC was busted for these easy tracks by the NCAA because they were vehicles for getting dumb black athletes through with grades high enough to play athletics. The only way UNC escaped disqualification is that the courses /could/ be taken by anybody, but no serious student would spend their money on that shit. By driving up poor people admissions (read: ethnic), the universities get to pat themselves on the back for job well done. But they won't talk about attrition of those students or their grades or level of rigor in their tracks (if they make it through). This is just a big marketing scheme to say "look, we care more".