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.

Comments

smart

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

Re:smart

[ShanghaiBill]

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.

Re:smart

[sexconker]

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.

Affordability

[BrookHarty]

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.