Top universities could take more poor students – Study

Far more low-income students are qualified to attend the nation’s most selective colleges and universities than they enrol, despite the fact that most have budget surpluses they could use to subsidise the neediest applicants, a new study contends, writes Jon Marcus for The Hechinger Report.

Most low-income students end up at community colleges and regional public universities with low graduation rates. But some 86,000 annually score on standardised admission tests as well as or better than the students who enrol at the most selective universities and colleges, the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce says.

The study contradicts the idea that low-income students aren’t qualified for top universities. In fact, said Anthony Carnevale, the report’s lead author and director of the Georgetown centre, enrolment in the best universities is often more likely to be based on family income.
Full report on The Hechinger Report site